The identity of the original terracotta bust of a young man wearing an elaborate breastplate is unknown. That bust has been painted to resemble bronze, and may have been the model for a bronze which has since been lost. Its unusual bulbous base perhaps indicates it was originally intended for a specific setting, possibly a tomb. Antonio Pollaiulo, along with his brother Piero, was active as a painter, engraver and sculptor in 15th-century Florence.