The present sculpture is based on a monumental bronze of the Sun King by the sculpteur du Roi François Girardon. Executed in 1699 in a single casting by the fondeur J. Balthasar Keller, measuring over six meters high, and weighing over thirty tons, the monumental original was unveiled in the Place Louis le Grand, now the Place Vendôme.

A popular and enduring model, a number of reductions were created in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, including the present group in the Louvre which was one of two in Giradon's personal collection until his death, another version in the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle, and one in the Hermitage, St. Petersburg. The 19th century also saw the production of many editions of a similar size, examples of which sold at Christie’s, New York, 7 June 2013, lot 457 ($43,750) and C'est Fou!, Christie's, Paris, 12-14 December 2018, lot 279 (€50,000).