This statuette represents a Neapolitain street urchin, known as a scugnizz, a type of child that was very familiar to Gemito, coming as he did from a humble background. In executing his work, the sculptor has captured the agility and vitality of this character. L'Aquaiolo may have been inspired by the success of Gemito's Neapolitain Fisherboy at the Salon of 1877. This figure was originally modelled for Francesco II, the former King of Naples, who had expressed a desire to own a work by Gemito. After the King's death, the bronze was bequeathed to his personal physician in Paris. The original wax model is preserved in the National Gallery of Modern Art, Rome. It was cast in bronze by Gemito's own foundry until 1886 and from then onwards, and as in the present example, by the Laganá foundry.