page_title: Cast Courts (Victoria and Albert Museum)
section_title: Other notable casts
hierarchical_section_title: Cast Courts (Victoria and Albert Museum) / Major exhibits / Other notable casts
caption_attribution_description: In the Cast Courts of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Photographed January 2006. Legend reads: St. George, after marble original by Donatello in the Museo Nazionale (Bargello), Florence Florentine; 1415-17 Purchased from M. Desachy, Paris 1864-36 Executed for the niche of the Arte Dei Corazzai, the Armourers' guild, on the church of Or San Michele, Florence. The original figure was transferred from Or San Michele to the Museo Nazionalae in 1892 and replaced in the niche by a bronze copy.
context_page_description: The Cast Courts of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, England, comprise two large halls. Unusually for a museum, the Cast Courts house a collection not of originals, but copies. Here are to be found reproductions of some of the most famous sculptures in the world. Most of the copies were made in the 19th century and in many cases they have better resisted the ravages of time, 20th-century pollution and over-zealous conservation than the originals. In a few cases, such as the late 15th century Lübeck relief of Christ washing the Apostles' feet, the original has been destroyed and the cast is a unique record of a lost work.
context_section_description: Early in the 20th century, there was something of a reaction against copying works of art and interest in the collection — and other similar collections — declined. Only more recently has revived interest in the collection led to its once again being fully appreciated.
  In recent years, the Cast Courts have been used to display the works of contemporary artists. From November 2003 until June 2004, artist Rachel Whiteread's cast of Room 101: the BBC office where George Orwell worked some years before writing his famous novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. The original room 101 was demolished in the restructuring of Broadcasting House.
caption: Saint George, after marble original by Donatello in the Museo Nazionale (Bargello), Florence.
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