Schmalz was partly inspired to create the statue in 2013 when he visited Rome to discuss the creation of another sculpture, Homeless Jesus.

While in Rome, Schmalz saw homeless people across his hotel, building things with cardboard and getting ready for the night.

[5] The first cast of When I Was Naked was installed inside a portico at the entrance of San Pietro in Vincoli in Rome.

[3][5][6] In 2017, a year after the first cast was unveiled, a copy of the statue created by Schmalz was installed at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Peter in Chains in Cincinnati.

[7] By the end of 2019, there were copies of the sculpture installed in four other Catholic parishes, including the one in Cincinnati, one at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit,[3] one outside St. Patrick's Church in Toronto,[3] and another at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, D.C..[8] Another copy of the sculpture was unveiled in 2021 at Malachi House on Clinton Avenue in Cleveland.