The Roman workshop of Benedetto Boschetti, 74 Via Condotti, was active circa 1820-1870 and exhibited at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in 1851. The workshop was renowned for the exceptional quality of its copies, prompting F. S. Bonfigli to note in 1856 that "The establishment is particularly conspicuous for its great variety of marble works, bronzes, etc." (see A. Gonzales-Palacios, The Art of Mosaics, 1982, p. 166.
This bronze is a copy of an original statue found at Prima Porta, near Rome, which dates from the 1st century B C. and is currently in the Vatican collection. It is thought to have been the first work of sculpture in which the adlocutio stance was utilised, whereby the subject is given a bearing of power and influence by the use of a raised arm, suggesting that he is in the act of addressing his troops or an assembly.