This and its companion angel (V&A mus. no: Repro.1899-53) once adorned the altar of the Chapel of the Sacrament in the Lucca Cathedral and are made by Matteo Civitali in about 1496. They flanked a marble tabernacle, also by Civitali. Shortly after 1567 the angels and tabernacle were moved to the altar of a new chapel, where the angels remain today. Civitali's tabernacle is in now in the V&A (Museum no. 7569-1861; displayed in the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries). The plaster cast was probably made in Berlin in about 1899.

This a plaster cast from one of the two magnificent Cast Courts at the V&A. Since they were first opened in 1873, these galleries have displayed reproductions of some of the most significant monuments of medieval and Renaissance Europe.
In these galleries one can view plaster casts of sculptures from Renaissance Italy, notably some of the masterpieces produced by Donatello, Luca della Robbia and Michelangelo.
The sculptures are faithful copies of the originals. They were made in the 19th century, when the vogue for replicated works of art was at its height. Museum visitors at that time generally had little opportunity to travel abroad, and illustrated art books were costly. These superb casts could afford people a rare glimpse of the original sculptures, even if they could not visit Florence or Rome. Artists and designers then and now could likewise sketch and learn from them. The painted surfaces of these reproductions often mirror the original stone or bronze, and the casts seem convincingly monumental. But they are made of plaster, a relatively fragile material.