A sensual faun, a spirit of the wilderness with goatlike features, tenderly holds a goat that he has placed upon a tree stump. From this stump hang the faun's musical instruments, which, like his goatlike features, associate him with Pan, god of the pasture in ancient mythology, who loved music. The sculpture was inspired by two famous antique statues that the French artist Jacques-Francois Saly saw while studying in Rome: Faun with Kid, discovered in Rome in 1676 and now in the Prado, and the Satyr with Grapes and a Goat from Hadrian's villa. Saly first made a plaster model of the faun, which he submitted to the Académie Royale de peinture et de sculpture in Paris as the first step for Academy membership. He was then asked to execute a marble version. Made specifically to impress and demonstrate his skill, this marble Faun Holding a Goat is among the most exquisitely carved and carefully finished of Saly's works. On the basis of this sculpture, the Academy accepted Saly as a member in 1751.