Denys Peuch (1854-1942), sculptor and engraver of medals studied under Jouffroy, Chapu and Falguière. He made his debut at the Salon in 1875 and exhibited there throughout his entire career. In 1884 he was awarded the Prix de Rome, the first of many awards he was to receive during his career. He was enormously popular with critics and the public alike, becoming well-known for his public commissions and monuments all over Paris, such as at the Jardin du Luxembourg, the Comédie Française and the Opéra Comique.

The present group entitled La Sirène was a work first exhibited by Puech at the Salon of 1890 and subsequently purchased by the state. It had been executed in the Villa Médicis and previously exhibited at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in June 1888 where it was awarded a first class medal. Several alterations in composition were to be made before La Sirène emerged in the form it is in today. Originally Puech had intended to sculpt a naked man portrayed as a poisoned slave in the throes of death. The idea was then changed to The Slave of Cleopatra. However, he eventually abandoned this group, since a model could not be found, and in December 1887 decided on the new subject of La Sirène. The group depicts an original theme based on the legend of Homer, where a winged Siren carries off a young man in her arms. This particular group differs from the conventional interpretation, as here the man is shown as rather child-like and does not resemble the strong hero sailor of the legend.

Another example of this group, dated 1903, is in the collection of the Ny Carlsberg Glypotek, Copenghagen.