This is the most important work by the artist known as the “Spanish Canova”, in reference to the great master of Neo-classical sculpture, Antonio Canova, who was Álvarez Cubero’s master. The group was designed in the Castel Sant’Angelo in Rome where the sculptor was imprisoned in 1808 for refusing to accept Napoleon’s brother Joseph Bonaparte as King of Spain. The sculpture represents the siege of the city of Zaragoza by the French troops during the Peninsular Wars (1808-14), with an old man wounded in combat and protected by his son. Inspired by classical sculpture, particularly in its composition, it presents a heroic nude and symbolises the concept of war.