Adriaen de Vries was an artist trained under Giambologna in Florence in the early 1580s. He depicts the scene of Vulcan' forge as an image of labour. The relief was commissioned by Emperor Rudolf II, who appointed the artist as court sculptor to Prague. It bears the inscription: ADRIANVS / FRIES / HAGIENSIS / BATAVVS F/1611 - the Dutchman Adriaen de Vries from The Hague has created it in 1611.
