Running Boy with Rooster (sometimes known as Winner of the Cockfight) was Alexandre Falguière’s first important work, sent to be exhibited at the Paris Salon from Rome, where he was a student. Drawing its subject from depictions of cockfighting youths in Greek and Roman art, the sculpture depicts a boy in a triumphal sprint, the victorious bird clutched under his arm. Appreciated for the figure’s idealized, athletic body, which recalls classical and Renaissance sculpture, as well as its exuberance and dynamic pose, the piece was awarded a medal at the 1864 Salon and later was widely reproduced.

Despite being accused by some critics of demonstrating an excess of realism, Falguiere’s sculpture was well received and popular. At the height of his career, he ran five workshops and worked quickly and prolifically, producing monuments and architectural sculptures that adorned the Paris Opéra, the Trocadero, the Arc de Triomphe, and the Paris Pantheon.