Jean Alexandre Joseph Falguière (d.1900) was one of the most highly regarded sculptors in France during the second half of the nineteenth century. His career epitomised that of a successful academic artist, receiving most of the established and respected rewards available and exhibiting - usually several pieces - at thirty-seven successive Paris Salons. Having studied in his home town of Toulouse and then working for Carrier-Belleuse in Paris, he entered the Ecole des Beaux Arts and studied under François Jouffroy. Throughout much of his later career, he operated a large and successful studio, attracting numerous students.

The present bronze of a female torch bearer was originally executed to be placed on the main stairs of the Palais de Compiègne, Paris, where it was probably one of a pair.