Discovered sometime in the first quarter of the seventeenth century and owned by the Ludovisi family in Rome, the Roman marble of the Dying Gladiator was one of the most admired classical sculptures and was extensively reproduced. The French sculptor Michel Monier made a marble copy of the statue in 1684 for Louis XIV for the parterre de Latone in the gardens at Versailles. This bronze is a reduced version of Monier's marble. The gladiator, depicted nude and looking down, is seated on his right leg over his shield, his right hand supporting his upper body. He has his unsheathed sword by his right hand, and his horn at his feet. The bronze has a dark brown patina and is set on a oval base mounted on an ebonised wood plinth.