Meisonnier began establishing a reputation in the late 1830s as a painter of historical genre scenes. Largely self-taught, copying after the Old Masters was an essential component of his artistic education. The knight is based on the left-hand figure of Giorgione's Madonna and Child with Saints (circa 1504) in San Liberale Castelfranco in Veneto, that artist's native city in northern Italy, and exemplifies Meissonier's meticulous attention to detail and historical accuracy, especially on a small scale.

Meissonier first first visited Italy in the summer of 1859, when he joined the French army at the front lines against the Austrians, not to fight but to observe. He returned to Italy the following year and visited Milan and Venice, on which occasion he might have seen Giorgione’s celebrated sacra conversazione in situ.