Carpeaux drew this in preparation for a modeling stand to be used in the creation of his fifth-year project at the French Academy in Rome, Ugolino and His Sons (1861). It includes a finalized design of the pyramidal sculpture. The wooden modeling stand was constructed to hold the clay version of the group from which a plaster cast was made. The stand's top was designed with an embedded rotating circle, allowing the sculptor to turn the piece and view and work on the group from various angles.

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