Cast Courts (Victoria and Albert Museum)

The West Court which predominantly contains casts of Northern European and Spanish sculpture and Trajan's Column.
The East Court which has casts of Italian monuments and the Porta Magna of San Petronio Basilica in Bologna by Jacopo della Quercia

The Cast Courts (originally called the Architectural Courts[1]) 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.[2]

  1. ^ Williamson 1996, p. 182.
  2. ^ V&A: The Cast Courts.