The statue depicts a stolen moment: a chubby little boy is pressing a goose against his side, strangling it. The bird is trying to escape, standing with feet apart, angrily opening its beak. In ancient cultures, the goose was often represented as a playmate of children. The playing child was a frequent motif in Hellenistic art. The model for the Roman statue was a lost bronze (230—200 BC) created by Boethos of Calchedon, which was erected as a votive offering in the Sanctuary of Asclepius in Kos. We know ten adaptations of the original statue from the Roman period. Most of these were fountain statues, with water pouring out of the mouth of the goose.
Az a példány, amelyről a gipszmásolatot öntötték Rómában, a Quintiliusok villájában került elő és ma a müncheni Glyptothekban őrzik.
