This plaster bust of Filippo di Matteo Strozzi is made by Signor Stiattesi after the original marble bust by Benedetto da Maiano that was originally in the Strozzi Chapel, Church of Santa Maria Novella, Florence and is now in the Musée du Louvre, Paris. Filippo Strozzi (1428-91), called Il Vecchio, was a wealthy Florentine banker for whom Benedetto da Maiano executed several commissions, including his funerary monument in Maria Novella (see V&A cast 1866-5, Virgin and Child with a border of Cherubin, for this monument). The cast of the portrait was purchased by the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1864.

Benedetto da Maiano (1442-1497) was a sculptor and wood-carver and the brother of Giuliano da Maiano. He was one of the most accomplished marble-carvers of the 15th century and the foremost sculptor in Florence of the generation following Bernardo Rossellino.

Plaster casts were especially sought after during the 19th century, when reproductions of great works of sculpture and architecture were thought crucial for the training of artists. A separating substance was applied to the surface of the work to be reproduced, and a plaster mould made from that. The mould would then be used to make any number of additional plaster copies. These were often sold to artists, and later in the century to art colleges for study purposes.