Anton Štefic trained in sculpture with his compatriot Alojzij Progar in Klagenfurt after completing the Arts and Crafts School in Ljubljana. In 1911 he graduated from the Higher School of Arts and Crafts in Zagreb, then came to Ljubljana. In 1914, he met the sculptor Ivan Zajec in Rome. His traveled in Italy – first to Florence, then to Rome – were funded by the Carniolan Provincial Committee in order to allow him to study the works of the old masters. In a very short period of time, Štefic produced works in a wide variety of styles.

His sculpture Job was created in 1910. The bust of Job, characterised by a smooth finish and realist design, is cropped at the sides in a classical manner. The austere features of the figure are heightened by a devout upward gaze and tormented expression, drawing inspiration from the 1887 sculpture Suffering (The Martyr) by Belgian sculptor Constantin Meunier (1831–1905). The influence of contemporaneous European sculptors of Štefič’s work is evidenced by the stylistic heterogeneity of his sculptures, which range from academic realism to formally stylised works.