Although he is dressed as a Roman soldier, this figure probably represents a warrior saint or figure from the Old Testament. It is probably from a series that would have decorated piers within a church. The Quellin family were an artistic dynasty active in the southern Netherlands throughout the 17th century.

Artus the Younger’s style marked an evolution in Baroque sculpture in Flanders towards a more dramatic and expressive form. This distinguishes him from his cousin Artus I who had worked in Rome in the workshop of François Duquesnoy and upon his return in Flanders in the 1640s had helped introduce the Baroque style developed by François Duquesnoy, which was based on classical sculpture. This style was less expressive than the Baroque style of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the main competitor of François Duquesnoy in Rome.