The present bronze group is an unusual rendering of a subject treated by many of history's great artists. As Betsy Rosasco notes, Virgil's story of Aeneas and Anchises had achieved prominence because of its historical significance in both the secular and the religious worlds (op.cit., pp. 4-5). Aeneas, leaving Troy with his father and son, would eventually arrive in Italy, and his descendants would be the legendary founders of Rome. The subject was popular among the ancients, but it was equally important to Christians because it was the Roman Empire which facilitated the spread of Christianity, and gave the Church its capital.
The flight from Troy was therefore charged with imperial and papal connotations, and artists such as Barocci, Bernini and Le Pautre each rendered the subject with subtly different emphases. In the 18th century, it was a particularly popular theme. In view of this tradition, the present work stands out, not only as a heroic moment in history, but as an intimate gesture of filial affection. Bernini's treatment is typical of earlier renderings of the subject in its division of father and son, each of whom is isolated in his own thoughts. The present group breaks with that tradition by physically turning the two bodies in upon each other, and through Aeneas's intense and caring gaze up at his aging father.