Magritte, together with his dealer, Alexander Iolas, conceived the idea of translating the imagery of eight of his paintings into sculpture. Although he supervised the works in progress and finally signed the waxes, Magritte died before the actual casting took place.

The image of the present sculpture is taken from Le Puits de Vérité of 1962-1963 (Sylvester no. 965) in which the conception of the standing leg as a three-dimensional object is already apparent.