Homer, the Greek author of the Iliad and The Odyessy is traditionally thought to have lived around 950 BC. Most representations of him in all visual art forms seem to be based on a single bust of him at The Naples Archaeological Museum. This variant of the bust still maintains the appearance of Homer, albeit with a slightly aged face, and is believed to have originated from a plaster cast from Hoskins and Grant (moulder and caster of the Royal Academy, London) yet the original sculptor is unknown. 

The mould would have been obtained by the foundry at The Academy of Fine Arts in Saint Petersburg and cast by an 'E. Gastecloux' whose name features on the reverse of most busts at Ekaterinesky Park's Cameron Gallery.

The bust holds a similar resemblance to Rembrandt's 'Aristotle with a Bust of Homer' of 1653.