Soldani executed a series of bronze statuettes after various ancient and modern sculptures in the Uffizi, which are recorded in the form of two separate documentary sources. One is the 1730 inventory of bronzes in the Düsseldorf Gallery, where it features as 'Ein von Bronso gegossene Statua mit einer Krug in der Handt'; the other is a list of Doccia porcelain models, in which it is described as No. 18 'Atleta con un vaso in ambo le mani, e albero di Palma alla gamba destra' (this latter feature being a later addition).
The present bronze is based on one of the antique marbles in the Uffizi; other examples are in the Bargello (gilded and therefore a pendant to a gilt Leda, also by Soldani, in the same collection), the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum in Munich, the Herzog Anton - Ulrich Museum in Brunswick, and the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto (Avery and Keeble, loc. cit.).