The Italian sculptor, painter and graphic artist Marino Marini was born in Pistoia, Italy, 1901. He trained in painting at the Academia di Belle Arti in Florence. Marini worked at an intensive level, painting small subjects from life, such as birds, insects and plants. He also experimented at this time with painting on different mediums (terracotta, wood, etc.), and sculpture.

In 1928 he went to Paris where he studied with Picasso, and became acquainted with Henry Moore, who became a close friend. It was here that sculpture became his main focus. He later returned to Italy and settled in Milan. In the 1950s he gained international renown and had three major exhibitions of his work in Amsterdan, New York and Brussells.

Marini's work is full of symbolism and his own take on mythology. He also focused on three fairly continuous themes: the female figure, the rider and horse and dancers and jugglers.