These tall imposing figures were inspired by two fifth-century Greek statues of warriors found in the sea off Calabria, southern Italy, in the 1970s. Frink is known for her preference for the male figure over that of the female. She also had a tendency to work in series, and in these figures she brings together her preference and her inclination. The Riace figures are typical of her mature work, and her technical excellence shows through this subject-matter. The models from which her figures were cast were made in plaster, a material introduced to her by Bernard Meadows when he was teaching at Chelsea School of Art. Plaster built up round a metal aperture can be modelled and carved as well as used to support other materials. Frink's great sensitivity to surface is seen in these figures through this working method; the face of one of the group shows quite clearly where scrim had been applied to the surface before it was cast in bronze.

'The original figures,' writes Frink, 'were very beautiful, but also very sinister, and that is what they are supposed to be. ... these were warriors who would go out and fight your battles for you, mercenaries, but in return they had to have certain sacrifices made to them. In other words they were thugs. Even though I don't particularly like sinister things, thuggishness is a bit of a preoccupation with me. It all hinges on my humanitarian sentiments.' Quoted from Frink: A Portrait, written with Edward Lucie-Smith and published by Bloomsbury in 1994, after her death.

Frink's fascination with the fact that these figures had two sides to them is brought out in her set of Riace figures. She has used different coloured patinas to put masks on them. 'It's a way of showing that their beauty in a sense hides what they are up to.'