In an article in the December 19, 2018 issue of the Wall Street Journal (“
Worthy Imitations Worth a Visit”)
about the reopening of the Victoria and Albert Museum Cast Courts after a seven year long restoration of the casts, Richard Cork describes what a revelation these casts of great works of art from around the world were to the first visitors to the Courts in 1873 and how new technologies like electrotyping were used to produce them. Now, when we can experience original works of art though many means, casts may have lost their original purpose. However, in their day, the V& A casts offered a proto-virtual reality art viewing experience. #conservationinthenews