In an effort to be saved from the Furies who were pursuing him for matricide, Orestes turns to the altar of the goddess Athena. Athena Pallas is depicted on the altar, an epithet that corresponds to the mythological cult image of the deity. The goddess is shown holding a spindle in her left hand and a spear in her right hand while wearing the aegis and standing with her joined legs.

In commemoration of the French sculptor Pierre-Charles Simart, who was born in Troyes, a modern bronze replica of Orestes was placed in Saint-Nizier. Simart's original marble statue, which was made in 1840, is currently on display in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Rouen.