The rarity of this work makes it difficult to place in the sequence of the studies which led up to the finished figures for "The Burghers of Calais," for which Rodin received the commission in 1884. In all probability this study for the figure of Eustache de St. Pierre was part of the process of finalizing the "Grandes Modeles." Rodin sent a bronze cast of the composition at half the specified height for the finished figures to Calais for the approval of the town councillors in July 1885.

The prominent seams on "Study for Eustache de St. Pierre" indicate that this plaster was cast from the molds developed for the figure in bronze. It functioned as a proof state which Rodin used as a guide for the final figure.