The Collection of the Museo Nacional de Reproducciones Artísticas, now in the Museo Nacional de Escultura 1877–2021

Abstract

This article provides an overview of the Museo Nacional de Reproducciones Artísticas (Spain) within a brief history of art replicas. After a brief mention of its historical and plastic foundations, centered on the ideas and artistic forms of Antiquity and its resurgence throughout the Modern Age, an account is given of its emergence throughout the 19th century. It was then when the Museo Nacional de Reproducciones Artísticas, whose trajectory is the central theme of this work, was created. After an initial boom from its foundation until the first decades of the 20th century, its long decline was followed by an equally long occultation, but it is currently re-emerging as part of the collection of the Museo Nacional de Escultura.

Keywords

• Copy
• Antiquity
• Museum of Artistic Reproductions
• National Museum of Sculpture
• Collections of plaster casts