The original version is an oil on panel and measures 44 cm x 33 cm (17 in. x 13 in.). It depicts Aretino standing as he confronts the emissary who stands at the left. Fearing the satirist's mockery after the debacle of Charles' Algiers expedition of 1541, the emperor has sent the ambassador to present Aretino with a gift of a gold chain, intended as a bribe. Holding the chain, Aretino declares: "Here is a trifling gift for so great a folly". A young man is in the background at the right. The painting is in a private collection, though a preparatory compositional sketch entered the Musée Ingres at Montauban in 1867.