This is a plaster cast of the tomb effigy of Henry VII (1457-1509), after the original in gilt bronze in Henry VII's Chapel, Westminster Abbey, completed in 1517. The bronze effigy of Henry VII lies next to that of his Queen, Elizabeth of York, at the centre of the chapel which bears his name, at the extreme east end of the Abbey. Torrigiani was a Florentine sculptor, who had worked alongside Michelangelo in Rome. He worked in the Netherlands, and then spent some years in Britain, working for the Tudor court, notably in terracotta. He was subsequently active in Spain, where he was to die in 1528. The plaster cast was almost certainly made in London in the 1850s.

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.