Renaissance Casts

Juvenal, the Roman writer and poet, commented rather cynically on the use of plaster casts for decorative purposes.

They’re ignorant, though their houses you’ll find filled with plaster busts of Chrysippus; for the most perfect is he who’s bought the most lifelike Aristotle, or Pittacus, and ordered an antique Cleanthes to watch over his bookcase. Put no trust in appearances. (Juvenal, Satires, 2.1-35, from A.S. Kline, 2011, www.poetryintranslation.com)

Juvenal’s passage allows us to understand that plaster casts were used for artistic purposes as well as being easy to purchase and replicate. In cases like Juvenal has described, casts could be bought to reflect positively upon the status of the owner. Literary evidence such as this shows that contrasting views on casts were topical to the ancient Romans.

Josiah Wedgwood, practicing in the eighteenth century, believed that copies displayed good taste in both educated and uneducated people, and could train the eye to appreciate the quality of Classical art. In his words, “the more copies there are of any works, as of the Venus Medici, the more celebrated the original will be.” The value of casts, and their effect on the prestige of the original artwork, is still debated today.