Salvatore Albano (1841-1893) was born in Florence, but studied primarily in Naples under Sorbilli and later at the Academy under Tito Angelini. He was awarded prizes for his 1864 marble Conte Ugolino and his 1865 marble Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. Amongst his prolific output of marbles, Albano received special acclaim for his mythological and sensuous maidens such as the 1869 Calypso abandoned by Ulysses now in the Prefect's Palace, Naples; the 1870 Ariadne Abandoned for the Marchese della Cava de'Tirreni; the 1872 Venus for the Duca du Dino and the celebrated Sleep and Love for the Tate Museum. Many of Albano's commissions were for foreign patrons, both in Europe and in America, where the remarkable virtuousity and elegant hedonism of his marbles were widely admired.
The present maiden may well be related to the Statue d'Esclave in the Simu Museum in Bucharest. As with many of Albano's female figures, the present slave girl is langourously voluptuous, her style a blend of classicism and realism is typical of this period in Italy. The girl's pose is closely related to that of Psyche in Albano's group of Cupid and Psyche of 1881, and it is likely that the sculptor re-worked the successful Psyche into a more orientalist mood for his 1891 vulnerable slave.