The present bust is a reduction of the full-length figure of Helen which Clésinger (d.1883) executed in Rome in 1864. The foundry Barbedienne cast both the full-length and half-length figures in bronze in varying sizes. The original marble full-length figure of Helen was exhibited at the Paris salon of 1864, though Clésinger had exhibited a bust of the same subject earlier in 1861, which also relates to the present model. Clésinger has chosen to depict Helen of Troy with an idealised classical beauty, but has enlivened the figure by the turn of the head and the realistic movement of the hands and arms. The fine texture of the tunic is successfully conveyed through the multitude of folds, some hanging over her arm, others pulled tight across her waist.