Cast Collection
Our Casts
The cast collection of the Museum of Classical Archaeology comprises over six hundred plaster casts of Greek and Roman sculpture. Around 450 casts are on display in the Cast Gallery, which is the public face of the Museum. The collection not only brings together sculptures which are today scattered around the world in both private collections and museums open to the public, but also provides an unparalleled resource for studying and researching Roman and Greek art.
The Cast Gallery houses some of the best known and most important examples of classical sculpture, arranged broadly chronologically. Each plaster cast is a direct copy of its original created through a painstakingly laborious process; many do preserve, too, the restorations added to the statues after their rediscovery – some of which have been removed today, meaning the cast collection also freezes in time its statues in their previous incarnations.
The most famous exhibit in the cast collection is the painted Peplos Kore, which has been reconstructed to capture its original glory.