This bust is modelled on one in the Pasquino Group which depicts the retrieval of the body of Patroklus by King Menelaus. Patroklus had entered battle in the armour of Achilles after the latter had refused to take the field following a dispute over spoils. Patroklus had hoped to frighten the Trojans into a withdrawal, but instead was killed under the walls of Troy by Hector.