European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 6, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Once shunned the casts Are now considered valuable representations of monuments that Are fading from weather and age. At left Trajan s column of Rome in the West court of the museum. Photos by Gus Schuettler romanesque door of glory from the Cathedral at Santiago de Compostella Spain represented a formidable technical achievement. While the use of piece holds for the reproduction of famous greek and roman sculptures had been adopted As Early As the 16th Century it was t until the 18th Century that cast collections of any size became common. By 1800, galleries with extensive and systematic collections of antique casts could be seen in Berlin Paris Vienna and elsewhere. Cast collections had their heyday in the 18th and 19th centuries but by the 1920s considerable doubts had risen about whether the casting process damaged the originals and a Strong reaction had begun in Art schools against the use of casts. The museum s staggering cast collection is divided into casts of Northern european and Spanish sculpture and Trajan s column of Rome in the West court and casts of italian monuments in the East. The holds Are so exact that original Graffiti can be clearly read. Today the casts provide an increasingly valuable record of lost or damaged works As Well As an intriguing reflection of the tastes of the curators and the Public of 100 years ago. Anarch 6,1986 stripes Magazine