ICOM Intemational Committee for Museology

Comite intemational de I'ICOM pour la museologie

Symposium
ORIGINALS AND SUBSTITUTES IN MUSEUMS
ORIGINAUX ET OBJETS SUBSTITUTIFS
DANS LES MUSEES
Zagreb, Odober/octobre 1985
155
8 ICOFOM STUDY SERIES
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Contents
In the spirit of the theme:
Substitute for an editorial by Vinas Sofka
Museums and authenticities
Provocative thoughts by Peter van Mensch
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list of the contributors to the symposium
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Contributions to the symposium
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Sub-topic No. 1
Originals versus substitutes
- concept and definition
Bellaigue-Scalbert, Mathilde - Le Creusot, France 27
Deloche, Bernard - Lyon, France 35
Gluzinski, Wojciech - Wroclaw, Poland 41
Hellstrom, Pontus - Stockholm, Sweden 49
Konare, Alpha Oumar - Bamako, Mali 57
Perrot, Paul N - Richmond, Virginia, USA 61
Schreiner, Klaus - Alt Schwerin, GDR 63
Sub-topic No. Z
Justified and unjustified substitutes
The ethical implications and legal aspects _
Benes, Josef. - Praha, Czechoslovakia 71
Desvallees, Andre - Paris, France 93
Pischulin, Joury - Moskva, USSR 101
Weil, Stephen E - Washington D.C., USA 105
Sub-topic No. 3
Typology of substitutes ___
Gluzinski, Wojciech - Wroclaw, Poland 113
Maroevic, Iva - Zagreb, Yugoslavia 117
van Mensch, Peter - Leiden, The Netherlands 123
Miguel, Domenec &Morral, Eulalia
-Sant Cugat del Valles, Spain 127
Suler, Petr - Brno, Czechoslovakia 143
Sub-topic No. 4
Substitutes - the implications for the work of museums
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9
13
21
25
25
69
111
155
USA 191
Bro-J0rgensen, Marianne - Viborg, Denmark
Forrellad i Domenech, Dolors - Sabadell,
Maranda, Lynn - Vancouver, Canada 185
Mazzini, Menotti - Firenze, Italy 177
Whitlock, John J - Carbondale, Illinois,
157
Spain 161
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Views on substitutes
by specialized institutions ___
Gallery of Frescoes of the Narodni Muzej 197
Komnenovic, Nada - Beograd, Yugoslavia
195
Continued overleaf
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Gipsformerei, Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz 207
Weski, Ellen - Berlin (West), FRG
Musee des monuments antiques de Versailles 213
Besques, Simone - Paris, France
Views on substitutes
by IeOH International Committees
Besques, Simone - Paris, France 219, 213
ICOM International Committee for Museums and
Collections of Archaeology and History,
Working Group for museums and collections of casts
ICOfOH publications available __
Museological Working Papers - MuWoP
ICOFOM Study Series - ISS
Museological News
This issue of ISS
has been prepared
by Vinos Sofka, Chairman of ICOFOM,
with the assistance
of the Museum of National Antiquities,
Stockholm, Sweden
Closing date, Stockholm - August 10, 19B5
217
221
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Sommaire
Dans l'esprit du theme:
Substitut pour l'editorial par Vinas Sofka
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Les musees et authenticites
Reflexions provocatives par Peter van Mensch
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Liste des contributeurs au colloque
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Contributions au colloque
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Sous-theme no. 1
Originaux contre objets substitutifs
- concept et definition __
Bellaigue-Scalbert, Mathilde - Le Creusot, France 27
Deloche, Bernard - Lyon, France 35
Gluzinski, Wojciech - Wroclaw, Pologne 41
Hellstrom, Pontus - Stockholm, Suede 53
Konare, Alpha Oumar - Bamako, Mali 57
Perrot, Paul N - Richmond, Virginia, USA 61
Schreiner, Klaus - Alt Schwerin, RDA 63
Sous-theme no. Z
Objets substitutifs justifies et injustifies
Les implications deontologiques et aspects juridiques _
Benes, Josef - Praha, Tchecoslovaquie 79
Desvallees, Andre - Paris, France B7
Pischulin, Joury - Moskva, URSS 101
Weil, Stephen E - Washington D.C., USA 105
Sous-theme no. 3
Typologie des. objets substitutifs
Gluzinski, Wojciech - Wroclaw, Pologne 113
Maroevic, Iva - Zagreb, Yugoslavie 117
van Mensch, Peter - Leiden, Pays-Bas 123
Miquel, Domenec &Morral, Eulalia
- Sant Cugat del Valles, Espagne 135
Suler, Petr - Brno, Tchecoslovaquie 149
Sous-theme no. 4
Les objets substitutifs - les implications
pour Ie. travail de musee _
Bro-Jargensen, Marianne - Viborg, Danemark 157
Forrellad i Domenech, Dolors - Sabadell, Espagne 169
Mazzini, Menotti - Firenze, Italie 181
Maranda, Lynn - Vancouver, Canada 185
Whitlock, John J - Carbondale, Illinois, USA 191
Exposes sur les objets substitutifs
par les institutions specialisees
Gallery of frescoes of the Narodni Muzej 197
Komnenovic, Nada - Beograd,Yougoslavie
9
13
21
25
25
69
111
155
195
A suivre
5
O'O'
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Gipsformerei, Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz 207
Weski, Ellen - Berlin (West), RFA
Musee des monuments antiques de Versailles 213
Besques, Simone - Paris, France
Points de vue sur les objets substitutifs
par les comites internationaux de l'ICOH
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Besques, Simone - Paris, France 219, 213
Le Comite international de l'ICOM pour les musees
et collections d'archeologie et d'histoire
Groupe de travail pour les musees et collections de moulages
ICOFOH Publications
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Museological Working Papers - MuWoP
ICOFOM Study Series - ISS
Museological News
Ce numero de 1'155
a ete prepare
par Vino Sofka, President de l'ICOFOM,
avec l'aide
du Musee des antiquites nationales,
Stockholm, Suede
II a ete h e v ~ a Stockholm, Ie 10 aoQt 19B5
217
221
7
In the spririt of the theme:
Substitute for an editorial by Vinos Sofka
The Concise Oxford Dictionary, 1976
au'b.dtjiite no, a., & lI. 1. If. & 4. (Penon or
thing) acting or serving in place of another j
artificial food tucd in place of a natural food
(buIld sui>Jlituu); (Sc. Law) deputy (,hlT1ff
,u.Jti/ute). 2. ./. Make (person or thing) fill a
place or discharge a function for or for another;
(vulg.) replace (person or thing) bf or with
another; put in exchange (jar). 3. lI.i. Act as
substitute Uor). Hence or eOi'D. -utABU
4., -ii'tION n., -ij'tiODAL, -li'tiOIlARyl,
-UUVE,. a4j,. (ME, f. L sui>,tilutu.r p.p. of
WB($Sil"!",:::=I st4tun, set up)]
The io 4Ub4titute6. They 06 -
06 a4 well a4
We accept the 06 06 by
To teplace people w.<.th people, To keplace
To To a whole 60k anothek one; to
keplace by othek
The acceptance 06 io not a 06 the la4t
It io a4'old a4 -
pkacUcal maybe a 6ew youngek, but not than
to the that the act 06
could be done.
the exiotence 06 can ke-
place, can be kepla.ced by othek And
the 06 man, 06 human we who
and who out. io
know to human 06 ke-
placement?
An attempt to tljpu 06 4Ub-6utution.
pkobably an. liot, a4 an e660kt to make an analyUcal
on and to the
they keplace a4 well a4 between would lead to
Jtwt 06 when they came the
06 metal and made Ok 06
a - a by one ,
by an. one, not to youk own teeth a on
the table! The 06 the concept 06
a the the Concioe
could an back
down to own 6kom the wOkld to ltttle
the 06 io put anothek a
on and to a between an object
and a 6uncuon a4 a 06
06 the 4Ub-6ti.t.u.ti.onaUtlj 06 objeca
howevek, only when one to
and Then an numbek 06 and
to be an.6Weked couu keep the 06
9
In evekY day peopte do not CaAe much about the 00
that 00 the OOk
money; the 06 what they need Ok want. Not Theke the
ketaUon hM .taken a oundamentat M a
06
Atot hM been on and Okom
on "that" WkM an object a
object, to much make pkagm,:ttic on and
mOke come. The aAe oaA okom ended, and the
kote 06 on
(and way.!> 00 the
and - tMt but not teMt - the 06 theoky an
00 need aAe 06 the to
an accetekaUon 00 keotectioM, even In
It thekeOoke no wondek that hM been an ptace
the a6tek The InteknaUonat 00lt
- ICOFOM, by ICOM, and ICOM, OOk
theolteticat and 00 hM
tong tekm pltogkamme 00 M one 00 the
to be A6tek the
00 "to be Ok not to be" and ltetatioM
1982, touched on the ukgent 00 the - -
population J983, and the 00 cottecting
on the theaketicat que.otioM 06 object M 1984, the
hM now come to attack the 06 and
The lCOFOM .oqmpo.o.Wm 1985 wat do
The Committee hM, the pMt oew to
tong tekm pilogkamme M wett M to and devetop the
methoM, account the 06 a
votuntaAy okgani.oaUon an .nteknaUonat make
to keach .the 00 and pkomoting mu.oeotogy and
knowtedgl. We oound that the way to combne the
a paAattet 06 the documentation. Theile-
oolte, Wl aAkange each yeaA a a exchange 06 among
the and and, 00lt the ileMon, W.l OUk pke-
ICOFOM Study - ISS, ate the papek4 - M weU M
the on them and the at the - aAe made
60lt att 00 who aAe the
theoketicat 06 OUk
In 1985 the above modet The Zagkeb,
gathek togethek OOk a and
and 00 ICOFOM, OOk and othek
mu.oeum and pkoducek.o,
the pkoduction and/ok u.oe 06 and oilom otheil
00 ICOM. MOke than 20 - exactty 24
have atileady been .oent and aAe ilepkoduced, any
enciloachment and 00 ICOFOM Study
advance to the and att
the they con.otitute a
OOk commena on the pke.oented the papeil.o. The
aLoo be kepiloduced beooke the 00 the
the next 00 ISS, togethek ate the a6teil
the date 00 Ab.ouacu 00 the
Okom the be tatek on
- MuWoP. Evekybody can a copy
10
00 ISS :to be -<len:t :to h-<.m M OM M the -<I:tock aUOW-<I, M weU M oJtdeJt
MuWoP.
I:t a del-<.ca.:te pJtoblem ooJt the Ed-<.:toJt M well M the oJtgan-<.zoJt 00
a -<lympo-<l-<'u.m :to o-<.nd a wa.y how :to keep the con:tJt-<'bu:toJt-<l -<.n the oJta.me.woJtk 00
the :top-<.c, how :to avo-<.d mean-<.ngle.-<l-<l geneJtal-<.:t-<.e-<l oJt :too :techn-<.cal and
pJtagma.:t-<.cal de:ta.-<.l-<I. Th-<'-<I lM:t po-<.n:t :touche.-<l -<.n gJtea.:t pM:t ICOF0,\1 M a
comm-<.:t:tee conceJtned w-<.th the theoJte:t-<.cal and methodolog-<.cal pJtoblem-<l 00
mu.-<leology. In oJtdeJt :to -<I:teeJt the WOJtR -<.n the Jt-<'gh:t d-<'Jtec:t-<.on, a bJtea.kdown
00 the :top-<.c -<.n oouJt -<lu.b-:top-<.c-<l hM been ma.de. The bM-<'C papeJt-<l a.Jte
pJte-<len:ted -<.n oouJt cOi1-<leQuen:t -<lec:t-<.oi1-<l accoJtd-<.ng :to wha.:t WM JteQue-<l:ted
the a.u..thoJt-<l oJt agJteed w,i.th them:
(1) OJt-<.g-<.na.l-<I veJt-<lu.-<l -<lub-<l:ti:tu.:te.-<l {concep:t and deo-<.n-<.:t-<.on).
Sub-<l:t-<.:tu.te.-<l -<.n geneJtal alld -<.n mu.-<leu.m6 -<.n pa.Jt:t-<.wlM.
Need.<l 00 a.nd demand.<l upon .<Iub-<l:t-<.:tu.te.-<l thJtough :t-<.me and -<lpace.
Ma.k-<.ng -<lub.<l:t-<.:tu.te.-<l - a pJtoce.<l.<l w-<.th a.n -<.nput 00 cJtea.:t-<.v-<.ty?
{ll Ju.-<I:t-<.o-<.ed a.nd unjU.<l:t-<.o-<.ed -<lu.b.<l:t-<.:tu.te-<l/cop-<'e.-<I.
FoJtgeJt-<'e.-<I veJt-<lu.-<l cop-<'e.-<I on Jteque.-<lt.
The eth-<.cal -<.mpl-<.ca.:t-<.oi1-<l and l-<.m-<.a 00 u.<l-<.ng a.nd
pJtov-<'d-<.ng .<Iub.<l:t-<.:tu.te.-<l/cop-<'e.-<I, a.nd peJtm-<.:t:t-<.ng
Legal Mpeca :to be Jte.<lpec:ted.
(3) Typology 00 -<lub.<l:t-<.:tu.te.-<l.
Sy.<lte.m-de.-<lcJt-<.p:t-<.on6-0-<.eld.<l 00 U.<Ie.
(4) Sub.<l:t-<.:tlJ.te.-<l - a pMt 00 m:weu.m coUec:t-<.oi1-<l M jU.<lt
a.n a.dd-<.:t-<.ona.l .<IouJtce 00 eommun-<.ca.:t-<.on?
The -<.mpl-<-ca.:t-<.Oi1-<l ooJt the woJtk 00 mU.<leUm.<l (documen:ta.:t-<.on,
educa.:t-<.on, :tJta-<.n-<.ng etc.).
The v-<.e.w.<l 00 the .<Ipec-<.al-<'z ed -<'i1-<Iu:tu. UOn6 M weU M the otheJt ICOM
Comm-<.:t:tee.-<l a.Jte collected -<.n :the o-<.oth and -<I-<.xth -<lec:t-<.oi1-<l, wh-<.ch ate
-<.n:tended to develop -<'deM on -<lub-<l:t-<.:tu.:te-<l Jtelated to concJte:te eX-<'-<I:t-<.ng bod-<.e-<l
and the-<'Jt wOJtk. .
The 6-<'Jt.<lt .<Itep 00 the pJtepMa.:t-<.on 00 the ICOFOM.-<lc-<.en:t-<.o-<.c ae:t-<.v-<.ty ooJt 1985
hM heJte.w-<.th been oulo-<.lled. The bM-<'C papeJt.<l JtepJtoduced -<.n -<'-<I-<lue 00
ISS, No.8, a.Jt2. ava.-<.lable ooJt youJt .<I:tu.dy a.nd The Jte-<lul:t 00 :the
next -<ltep, w-t-<.:t-<.ng down commena a.nd ga.:theJt-<.ng :them M :<Iell M the 00
-<lpec-<.al-<.zed -<'i1-<I:t-<.:tu.:t-<.0116 and ICOM Comm-<.:t:tee.-<l w,i.ll be pJte-<lented -<.n ISS No.9,
now alJtea.dy undeJt w-a.y. It my pleMant duty to expJte-<l-<l my wa.Jtm thank-<l ooJt
excellent collaboJta:t-<.on to all :the con:tJt-<'bu.toJt-<l heJte, and my
deepe-<lt hope 00 -<.a -<lucce.-<l-<loul con:t-<.nu.a.:t-<.on.
At lMt, one maJte :th-<.ng hM to be -<la.-<.d. Com-<.ng back :to :the Conc-<'-<le Oxootd
O-<.c:t-<.orta.Jty and -<.a deo-<.n-<.:t-<.on 00 an e.dmlt-ULl M "a.Jtucle w-t-<.:t:ten by oJt
undelt :the Jte.-<lp0i1-<l-<.ba-<.ty 00 :the ed-<.toJt . " I hav2, to a.dm-<.t :that, -<.n the
mU.<leum woltld, I would comm-<.t an -<.nexcU.<lable cJt-<.me -<'6 I -<lhould not bJt-<.ng
-<.nto the. pltopelt peJt-<lpe.c:t-<.ve wha.:t the hea.dl-<.ne announce-<l: Sub-<lu:tu.te ooJt an
ed-<.toJt-<.al. The :tJtu:th tha.:t wha.:t you have. jU.<lt plowed thJtough no
-<lub-<l:t-<.:tute ooJt an ne-<.theJt :tJtue noJt oal-<le. In :the 00 the
Jteolec:t-<.oi1-<l on and -<lub-<l:t-<.:tu.te-<l above you have Itea.d an
by an oJt-<.g-<.nal ed-<.toJt, jU.<lt M you now Jtead
pJte.-<lented papeJt-<l by (Jteal) &
IcJtea:t-<.vel .
Stockholm, July 1985
Sooka
11
12
Museums and authenticities
Provocative thoughts by Peter van Mensch
Mention the use of copies, and feeling ,rill run high in
museum circles. Seldom have opinions diverged so much on
any museological topic. The purpose of the present
article is to some general observations on copies,
focussing om the key_issue: what is a museum?
On one point all authors are uIlanimous: forgeries are"
objectionable.
From the 1950s onwards at least fifteen exhibitions on
the theme of forgery have been mounted in Western Europe.
The most recent one ("A real fake" in the Allard Pierson
Museum, Amsterdam and the Lakenhal Museum, Leiden)
actuated a special issue of the Dutch museums journal
" Museumvisie" in 1983, in which this article first
appeared. The catalogue 0 f this exhi bi tion inven tory
fairly accurately the ingenuity of the forgers as 'well as
the inability (sometimes reluctance) of the so-called
experts to forgeries for what they are.
The art world provides the best-known examples in this
respect: no pUblication on forgeries is complete without
reference to Van Meegeren. Quite recently the find of
sculptures attributed to Modigliani caused some sensation.
Very soon it was proved that these were forgeries. Other
spectacular precedents can be sampled from archaeology:
the Saitapharnes tiara, the palaeolithic artefacts made
by "Flint Jack", etc.
Forgeries can be roughly divided into four categories:
fakes
forgeries without a model
forgeries with a model
imitations
The first category refers to interventions in original
"iorks: adding a (forged) signature, altering a date,
adding a coat of arms, etc. In German this is called
13
"verfalscht" as opposed to "gefalscht", which is used for
new objects. The notorious quasi old-Frisian Oera-Linda
Chronicle was, for instance, "gefalscht", as were the
Piltdown jaw, aHd the \'ell-knawn pseudo-fossils, known as
the "Behringer LUgensteine". None of these were based on
existing examples, and could therefore, strictly speaking,
be labelled originals.
Van Meegeren's forgeries are not originals in this sense.
His"paintings were not imi tations of existing paintings,
but imitations of a style. Imitations of style are called
stylistic copy or free copy ("Freie Falschung"). When
elements are derived from existing works the object is
called "pastiche".
The fourth category includes copies in the narrower sense
of the word: painstaking imitations of existing objects.
Of course not all copies are deceptive. Forgeries and
fakes imply malafide intentions of the maker. But bonafide
copies can be used by other persons for malafide purposes.
But, let's concentrate on genuine copies.
Genuine "free copies", pastiches and quotations have
always been fairly common in art. Michelangelo ~ h i e v e
fame early in his career when his statue "Cupid Asleep"
was sold in 1496 as a Classical work. In the seveHteenth
century blue Delft ware was very popular as cheap earthen-
ware copies of expensive Chinese porcelain. Not until the
19th century originality in art became more and more
important.
Presentday appreciation of copies varies considerably.
Delft ware, Renaissance sculpture, Gothic Revival, etc.
have obtained a place for themselves in art history and
are appreciated accordingly. The "A real fake" exhibition
mentioned above showed a sixteenth century reduced copy
of a Roman copy of a Greek statuette (Apollo Saroktonos).
This sixteenth century copy was originally considered to
be an authentic Roman statuette and was consequently
housed in the Ri jksmuseum van Oudheden (National Museum
of AntiqUities) in Leiden. After it had been proved to be
14
a copy it was moved to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and
displayed in the department of applied art as 16th century
piece of art.
Modern copies fare differently. The "Vereniging Repro
Holland" unites amateurs specialized in copying Old
Although they aim at the closest possible imitation of their
originals, their objective is absolutely bonafide. "True"
pro fessionals usually consider this "ki tsch". Fa rmerly,
however, this was the way in which painters learned their
craft. Moreover, it was common practice for painters to
sign studio-copies, painted by pupils or assistants. Painters
also copied their own sometimes reducing them in
size. Incidently, Picasso. was fully prepared to sign
successful copies 01' his work.
Modern museums often sell copies of objects in their
collections. The exhibition "A real fake" in the Allard
Pierson Museum actually started on entering the museum shop
in the entrance hall of the museum. Kitsch? In Roman times
there was a flourishing trade in copies of Greek statues,
sometimes reduced in size, sometimes in different material.
Art?
Appreciation of copies vary in time. The nineteenth
century strive for individuality and originality in art
is playing us tricks. The catalogue of the "A real fake"
exhibition, for instance, points out the "danger" inherent
in every copy for our perception of art and our appreciation
of it.
It is clear that the whole issue of copies in museums is
a complex and intricated problem. In order to get to grips
wi th the phenomenon as such, j t may be use1'ul to start f,am
the object as data carrier.
If we restrict ourselves to artefacts, an object may be
described as matter, given a certain form by intentional
human intervention. An artefact may then be defined as the
material carrier of an idea, or "fossil thought".
15
Material object information concerns:
material
construction
morphology, to be subdivided into:
spatial form and size
surface structure
colour
colour patterns and images
text (if any)
Certain material aspects of the carrier are irrelevant
to the expression of the idea: tree rings in wood, spore
elements in metal, diatoms in earthenware, etc. This
could be called unintentional information. Another part
of the information provided are the side-effects of
manufacturing procedures: traces of stilts in ceramics,
air-bubbles, nails and screws, etc. This is
unintentional information as well, because it
Vias not deliberately incorporated by the maker to express
his or her idea.
The most important information is, of course, the
intentionai information, deliberately put forward and
included by the maker. "Not all information is equally
important: the ay in which a canvass or panel has been
prepared may be important for the expression of a painting,
but the main issue is on the whole the colours and images
imposed onto it.
The key-question is: what is the most essential information
in an object? This is, in fact, the key problem of the
whole issue of the what.why-how in preservation, research
and communication of our natural and cultural
Leaving out machine-made mass-products and self-reproducing
objects, and defining copies as imitations of existing
originals, then we can start from the preilliss that copies
are always different from the originals.
Every copy is, ipso facto, an interpretation. Every copy
is the reflection of a subjective view on the original;
subjective in is seen as essential information and
in the relative .:;;ttention for non-essential information.
A sighted person will obtain other experiences from an
16
object than a blind one: a copy that looks exactly like
the original, for instance, may feel or smell comp10tely
different from the original.
The interpretation depents on experience and knowledge.
If an art-historian, a historian and a motor
were to make a copy of a T-Ford the result would be three
different cars. In this connection it is interesting to
find that forged paintings are easily recognized as such
after some decades. Van Meegeren's interpretation
of Vermeer can now easily be detected.
"The closest copies are contemporary. The longer the amount
of time which elapses between the creation 0 f an original
work and the making of a copy the more easily the
difference become apparent. The original artist was
working in the tradition of his own time. He knew nothing
of what was to come. C ) The later copyist, howver, is
bur'dened wi th knol'll edge 0 f subsequen t styl as; and all tho se
tendencies which he has absorbed from his earliest years
stand between him' end a full realization of the spirit of
the work he is copying" CSa vage 1963).
Therefore a copy is also the reflection of an iuea, namely
a particular view of an idea. As concrete documents copies
are thus just as interesting as the originals.
Copies are made to replace originals in cert<lin cases:
for research, display education by lack of the original
or extreme vUlnerability. How much and what object information
is copied will depend on the required use of the copy. For
a researcher vallting to make a typological analysis of a
particular category of pottery, casts of synthetic material
will suffice, but if he were to determine whether it was
made by men of women, by analysing fingerprints, most casts
would be useless. And if he wanted to determine its origin
from diatom fragments in its clay, any copy woul d be
futile.
From an archival point of view the original is irreplacable.
Only the original can be approached for new research in
times to come. The of the original is therefore
indisputable when it is a question of research. But what
17
about communication?
The requirements for an object on display are all the whole
restricted to a very limited part of its total information
value, the emphasis being on its visual impact. Its visual
value is the essence of the object in communication. Whether
this visual information. is interpreted historically or
aesthetically is irrelevant. From a materialistic point of
view a synthetic cast of the Venus of Milo holds its own
the original. One could object that the texture of the
original marble cannot be copied in synthetic material,
but to what extent was the use of marble relevant to the
sculp tor? To what exten twas its t exture a fundamen tal
aspect of the visual value? Many statues were painted.
S 0, do we copy a Greek statue, or a nineteenth century
view of a Greek statue?
ssential for Jan Steen's painting of a St. Nicholas Eve
Celeoration is the narrative and symbolic character of his
represen tatiol! . Colour and composi tion are only of
secondary importance, and his brush stroke technique is
completely irrelevant to its visual value. From a materia_
listic point of view a reproduction would
serve its purpose just as well. Even its format van be
considered of minor importance. In short, the Rijksmuseum
may be closed, back number of the Connaisseur will serve
the purpose excellently.
Tnis, of course, is pure heresy when we are talking about
art. But are copies absolutely anathema? A colour reproduction
copies colour and colour patterns (the image) of the original.
For cert",in purposes this, very limited, form of imit"tion
is accepted. Curiously enough less limited forUlS of
reproduction, when e.g. material and construction are
also copied, are less easily accepted. A "Vereniging Hepro
Holland" member is not likely to be asked for his or her
contribution to a Jan Steen exhibition.
The German Democratic Republik is less severe in this
respect. The Museum fUr Deutsche Geschichte in East-berlin
has many copies, including copied paintings. Its presentation
18
is more idealistically than materialistically directed:
ideas are more Lnportan t than their ma terialis ti c forms.
Statues seem to cause fewer problems than paintings.
Flaster-casGs already played all importaut role ill the
first official art school (the Accademia di San Luca,
established in Rome, 1593), and notably the nineteenth
century experienced a brisk trade in plaster casts. The
Louvre has its "Atelier des Moulages", the nerlin :Jluseums
their "Gipsformerei", the latter dating back to 1030, and
a t present comprising 7000 models. There seem to be a
revival of interest in plaster casts of old sculptures.
The re-opening of the Cast Court in the Victoria & Albert
Museum is symptomatic of the increased interest in copies.
An important part of this interest is due to the fact
that old plaster casts are in a way more cOlllplete than
the originals. In certain cases the originals have ev",n
disappeared entirely.
An object per se is not static. Important changes in
object information may occur thrJugh frequent usage,
deterioriation (influenced by endogenous or exogenous
factors), and through conservation or restoration, if
any. Old copies (casts, photographs, etc,) sometimes
record an old situation of the original
At this point I would like to add that by successive
restorations an object can gradually become a copy of
i tsel f. Espc:.cially when conserving monumeu ts therei s
a t ~ n e n y to neglect the material information value
of a bUilaing. An arthistorical, aesthetic approach
UiOStly emphasizes visual values at the cost of archival
value.
A complicating factor in the case of bUildings is the
dichotomy between their value as something meant to be
used, and their value as monuments. A similar pI'oblem
occurs \',i th means 0 f transport, <nachines ana instrumell ts.
Their dynamism is a fundamental part of their information
value. Dynamislo implies change. Change and consc;rv",tion
are incompatible. We have to chose: COli serve the original
and use a copy for demonstration or accept that the
19
original gradually changes into a copy of itself.
Objects are the manifestation of ideas. Western culture
is preoccupated with the preservation of objects,
than the preservation of ideas. is not a
popular attitude with the cultural elite. Non-western
cultures are more f2miliar with the preservation of
traditions. Since the tradition is kept alive, it is
not necessary to preserve objects. When a mask or a Shield
is worn, a new one is made.
This implies a totally different view on copies. The
Uividing line between copy and original becomes blurred:
copies are new originals elaborating a visual laHguage
based on the of the peoples involved.
The history of museums and of ethnological collecting
is full of stories of western antropologists looking
for "o!'iginal antiques" but actually collecting qui te
recent "original copies".
An ubjective, analytical approach of the object as
bearer of information does not fully explain, the curious
craving for authenticity. In their policy statements, etc.
maliY museUms emphasize that they are providing authentic
experiences, i.e. honest confrontation original
objects. Original objects have an emotional connotation,
not inherent in the material object as such, which can
never be copied. Copies can never adopt the "surplus value";
surplus value which is often no more than a tradition, not
al\'.ays possible to prove, but certainly essential. One
can get enthousiastic about Disneyland, Madame Tussaud or
the London Dungeon, but the'real Stone of Scone has that
extra something that makes him stand out above all comparable
objects. This mythical, almost metaphysical meaninG can
ill our Western cuI ture nev"r be equalled by any copy.
20
List of the contributors to the symposium
Liste des contributeurs au col/oque
BELLAIGUE-SCALBERT, Mathilde
Directeur de l'Ecomusee de la Communaute Le Creusot/Montceau-les-mines,
Le Creusot - France
BENES, Josef
Museologist, former Secretary of the division of cultural heritage at
the Ministry of culture of the ESR, Praha - Czechoslovakia
BESQUES, Simone
Conservateur en chef honoraire, Charge du Musee des monuments antiques
de Versailles, President du Groupe de travail ad hoc des musees et
collections de moulages du Comite international de l'ICOM pour les
musees et collections d'archeologie et d'histoire, Paris - France
BRO-J0RGENSEN, Marianne
Curator at the Viborg Stiftsmuseum, Viborg - Denmark
DELOCHE, Bernard
Maitre de conferences a 1'Universite Jean-Moulin, Lyon - France
DESVALLEES, Andre
Directeur du Musee national des techniques, Paris - France
FORRELLAD i DOMENECH, Dolors
Directeur du Musee d'Art de Sabadell, Sabadell - Espagne
GLUlINSKI, Wojciech
Curator at the Muzeum Narodowe, Wroclaw - Poland
HELLSTRbM, Pontus
Head of the Greek and Roman Department at the Museum of Mediterranean
and Near Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm - Sweden
KOMNENOVIC, Nada
Museum Counsellor at the Narodni Muzej, Beograd - Yugoslavia
KONARE, Alpha Oumar
Professeur a l'Institut superieur de formation et de recherche appliquee,
Charge de'cours a l'Ecole normale superieure de Bamako,
Vice-President de l'ICOM, Bamako - Mali
LAHANIER, Christian
Chef du Laboratoire de recherche des Musees de France,
President du Comite international de l'ICOM de conservation,
Paris - France
MARANDA, Lynn
Curator of ethnology at the Vancouver Museum, Vancouver, B.C. - Canada
MAROEVIC, Ivo
Professor at the Filozofski fakultet, lagreb - Yugoslavia
MAllINI, Menotti
Curator at the Museo di geologia e paleontologia dell'Universita
di Firenze, Firenze - Italy
21
22
van MENSCH, Peter
Lecturer in museology at the Reinwardt Academie,
Leiden - The Netherlands
MIQUEL i SERRA, Domenec
Collaborator at the Museo d'Historia de Sabadell (Barcelona),
Sant Cugat del Valles - Spain
MORRAL i ROMEU, Eulalia
Collaborator at the Museo d'Historia de Sabadell (Barcelona),
Sant Cugat del Valles - Spain
PERROT, Paul N
Director of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts,
Richmond, Virginia - USA
PISCHULIN, Joury
Editor in chief of Sovetsklj Muzej, Moskva - USSR
SCHREINER, Klaus
Director of the Agrarhistorisches Museum,
Alt Schwerin _. German Democratic Republic
SULER, Petr
Museologist at the Department of museology of the Moravske Muzeum,
Brno _. Czechoslovakia
WELL, Stephen E
Deputy Director of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden,
Smithsonian Institution, Washington. D.C. - USA
WESKI, Ellen
Director of the Gipsformerei, Staatliche Museen
Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin(West) - Federal ~ p u l i c of Germany
WHITLOCK, John J
Professor of museology and Director of the University Museum at the
Southern Illinois University, Carbondale - Illinois,USA
23
24
Contributions to the symposium'
Sub-topic NO.1
Originals versus substitutes - concept and definition
Contributions au colloque
Sous-tMme no 1
Originaux contre objets substitutifs - concept et definition
25
26
Mathilde Bellaigue Scalbert, Le Creusot - France
CREATIVITE POPULAIRE ET PEDAGOGIE MUSEALE
---- SUBSTITUTS OU ORIGINAUX ?
....- _::c.;.....
. . ". "
L'imagination n'est pas, comme ie suggere ('etymologie,
la faculti de former des images de fa rialiU "eUe est fa
faculti de former des images qu dipassent la rialiti,
qu chantent La reaiiti.
Gaston Bachelard, L'eau et les Reves.
27
CREATIVITE POJ?ULAIRE ET PEOAGOGIE MUSEALE
SUBSTITUTS OU ORIGINAUX ?
La presence d'objets substitutifs dans un musee implique qu'il y a quelque-
chose d'indispensable a representer pour lequel manque le temoin original.
Les raisons d'une telle necessite peuvent etre soit d'ordre pedagogique
(maillon manquant dans la description d'une evolution ou la demonstration
d'un processus, objet absent d'une typologie)" soit d'ordre esthetique
(qualite d'une copie dans le domaine de l'art)" soit enfin d'ordre commer-
cial (vente de reproductions, de moulages et de maquettes). Dans tous les
cas on se situe ici du seul point de vue du qui juge de la
de teJs artefacts. De tels substituts sont l'oeuvre de speci-
alistes;et instruments museographiques' de communication. Ils sont reconnus
par le public pour leur valeur informative, documentaire ou de souvenir a
emporter. A la limite indefiniment reproductibles I ils sont totalement de-
pourvus de valeur et opposent au caractere d'unicite de l'oeuvre
leur possible multiplication.
L'evocation de tels objectifs sur les concepts de representation,
reproduction, reconstitution d'une part (cOte mus.eologue), de cannaissance
ou reconnaissance d'autre part (cOte public).
x
x x
Copies et substituts ne jouent d'aLlleurspas exactement le merne role selon'
qu'il s'agit de musees de beaux-arts, de musees techniques au de musees
ethnographiques. Ce texte, se situe dans la perspective de ces derniers et
peut-etre meme legerement en marge du theme de ce calloque. On aborde ici
le sujet de la miniaturisation et des' maquettes dues aux savoir-faire
populaires, voulues elles aussi comme des representations fideles de la
realite et qui seretrouvent au musee pour d'autres raisons que celles
evoquees plus haut, tout en assumant a leur maniere la mission confiee aux
substituts. Tout cela leur confere donc le double statut de substitut et
d'original avec tout ce qui s'attache a ces deux qualites. Il faut donc
etudier tant l'identite'profonde d'un tel objet, liee aux motivations et
au processus de sa creation, que les reactions qu'il declenche chez le
visiteur, et cela dans le cadre merne du musee et de la pedagogie museale.
Les reflexions proposees ici sont nees de la presence a l'EcOrnusee du
creusot-Montceau-Les-Mines de plusieurs maquettes realisees Par des ouvriers
des usines Schneider et de la frequentation de ces objets par les visiteurs :
28
l'un est la maquette animee au 1/10e des ateliers du ereusot, realisee a
la fin du XIXe siecle par un ouvrier de fonderie qui visita probablement
les ateliers Schneider du creusot. Les autres objets sont des maquettes des
fameuses locomotives "Pacific II/ construites au Creusot, dues. a. un ancien me-
canicien-ajusteur de ces memes usines. Les auteurs de tels artefacts sont
donc loin des museographes professionnels dont Ie travail s'oriente
tairement vers la communication. Ces ouvriers, artisans, hricaleurs de talent,
sont avant tout createurs, et travaiIIent pour leur propre expression.
certes iis representent, reproduisent, reconstituent fidelement, mais clest
dans Ie sens de rendre present, de produire une oeuvre, de se constituer
leur propre monde. II suffit de s'entretenir avec certains maquettistes pour
voir a quel point leur proj et est egocentriste. Parfois la maquette, realiste
devient peu a peu prototype, c'est-a-dire, autre, novatrice, deviant deja
de l' exacte realite grace a 1 'irruption du sens de l'invention, derive
incoercible parfols chez Ie bricoleur genial, Dans les maquettes, la valeur
de temoignage, de document, vient par surcroit : "il est fondamental que la
representativite, traduite par' Ie temoignag.e ("temoignalite") et par la
"documentalite" (docere
d' etre vrai, fidele" (l)
enseigner) ait fidelitec'est-a-dire la qualite

"
'.,."
..-i.:- :
.1-'''- .',;,
.......... __ . "f,' _.>C. *
(1) Cf. Waldisa Russio Guarnieri. - Leyden, 1984
29
Un tel produit se rapproche du "chef-d'oeuvre" de cornpagnon et passe insen-
siblement et mysterieusement de la prouesse technique prodaite par le
savoir-faire, l
1
art de faire, a faisant en affet que ce qu'il
sait faire - par metier, par adresse - ce createur ne peut empecher que
soit present dans sa realisation 1e caractere specifLque de Sq vision et
de son ""cu personnels de la realite. Tout en communiquant l' essentJ.el de
l'information, il est egalement l'interprete d'une realite la fiction
"colle" a 1a realite grace a.. la virtuos"ite du creataur mats celui-ei n I est
----. ---,-.--_.
Catalogue expHcatifdllMusee du Creusot
.: .
FORGES
I. Machine .. vapeur'" condensallolT verticale. Ell..
fait mouvoir. diverses machines- pour Ies besojna de-
l'usine.
. 2. Machini.le, pendantles courts loisirs, profite pour
lire Ie journal. .
3. Pompe d'alim""tation: verticaiL
4. Four .. rechauffer. Les lapins de ler riuni. en
paquels a.eignent dan. c:et appare;l un.. tenlptralure
suffiS.1nte pour se souder par l'action dl.l travail qu'l1s_
ret;oivent de II: part des. cyllndr'es. l laminer- ou des
pilons .. vapeur.
.5. Un automate chauffeur_ .
6. Oent!rateur vortical compl... La chaleur duo lour,
3yant exerce son influence sur Ie fer, eM dirigee. par
des canaux .ur les fl= du genemeur au olio lorme,
SiU1' aucune autre depense, Ia vapeur qui doit a1lmenter
In divers moteurs de rosine.
7. Trains de cylindles. pour ponts, lers,. poulreS,.
rails, etc. ete.
8. Martin.. servant .. lorger les de ruslne.
9. Marleau de forge, utilise seulement daus Ie. uslnes
ou rOlf tabrique Ics ters au bois; CO" apparails donnaieat
Ia I",!"t; et Ie t..nail; de. fer avaal: l'IIl-
v'Cluiuu ues iamiuuirs.
10. Machines Corfitx doubles. .i condensation hori-
zontale; eUes servent l faire mouvoir divers trains de
cyUndreo. Oerrrier ayant paru .. rExposition-
de 1889. Celle machine remptit d'admiratlOD les vi.i-
teurs par Ia combl ...ison do SOn mtani...e.
II, 12, 13, 14. Trains de cylindres pour laminer Ie
fil de ler; II. sont mus, pat la madliDe Carlia.
15. Orue .. yale. double hamai. et chariot mobile;
elle sort au IDOIItage des lonrdes pieces de diff&entes
machines de l'usine.
16. Train do cyllndre vertical pour lOla, baodes et
bllndages; Ia marcbe, Ivant et arrl.....'ef!ectua alter .-
nadvement par un piston avapeur.
17. Machlae aVlpeur aCOIIdOllll1lOll 1lorUonta1e.
18. Osallla potlr lrancher I.. lOla mboas. _ .
19. Vendlalellr aetlvant II combustloll. du chatbon
dan. leo lours, pour leur donner un.. chlleur d'..
. mains 1600 degrea, ....t1grades. . ,. ... . _
ATELIERS DE CONSTRUCTION
20. Tours -panlWes a double hamal.
. 21. apm:a' et aalUer les de toules
,. dimculOlll. . .
22.. Ouvrier condulsanl Ia machine apereer;
Elablla des ouvriers ajusteun.
",,*'24.. Duvriers percelllS.
Iimeurs. .
un trou .. I'lldtel.
des ajuatews.
des lorgernna.
-..:.-.> ..:......
30
I
I 30, 31, J2, JJ, 34. Ouvriers forgerons pour 11 prepa..
ratioa de toutes pih:es ruec.aniques. Bien remarquer
qu't lui- moment dOGne,: Ie maitre- ouvrier toumant la
I
du COle de SOlI aide, au commandement. raide
relOanI.. I.. pib et les quatre bommes:contiuuent ..
lrapper les UDS apres les autres.. Ce mt!c:anisme demaude
f Que p-aDde ,atteDtfOIL
.!! J5 et J6. (Deux.automatesl. Duvriers lorgeron. po1Ir
la n!paraliorr de loutillag.. de Iateller.
BUREAU DU CONTRE-MAITRE J
UD oDvrier YeIWIt dema1tder du lravail, Ie contre-
maitre. ne lrOavant pas 10 IIvret bien en orore, hesite
lui en dOODeI".
J8. MacltiDeS a' rabater I.. metaux.
39. Ouvrier raboteur.
---
FORGES (salle)
40. Grosses cisaillu pour trancher 10' grosses tOI..
de- towes epaisseurs aux. dimensions convenues.
41. Four' souder les lapin. de ler n!unl. en paquels
potlr la prtpanIdOlT des grosses tOIes. G..erateur hori
lontaL
4!: etlailof paL hsilS? hie: 1 Fe 'ill 5 "0 i ., _,.._
uu au laminair.
43. Dlrecteur de l'usine.
..... Machiae a vapeur a.vec: pompe: dalimentation.
45. (Cinq' automat...) Gr.. pilon vapeur pour la
des grosses 101... Cette machine remplit
d'admiratiolr In visiteurs; tous ses mouvements inter.
mlttenls en font une pike unique. .
46. Tour .. CODfeeliollner I.. cylindres .. laminer.
47. (Slx automat..., Scie clroulaire .. pendule. pour
a1IraDCbit I.. barres de ler sortant du laminoir_
018. Duvrier redressant une barre sortant do la scie
. .ciI'Ctllaire. .
49, Four a puddler, avec generaleur hori1Olltai pour
traasformer Its IIDK011 de lonte en ler au moyen d'uu .
bruag< et d'un mllang< IV" de la lename.
50. Duvrier puddler. .
. 51, (Deux autnmates.) Pilnn a vapour, uno soule
colonne, resserrer I.. molecules du ler, au
moment oil il .ort du lour .. puddler. .
ATELIERS DE MENUISIERS
52. Ouvrier rabotanL
. 53. Duvrier sciant .. la scie .. chantnumer.
54. Ouvrier faisant des mortaiseo. (Remarquer Ie de-
placement de l'outiL)
". Duvrier po""nt au:vilebrequin.
56. Duvrier sciant un gro. ruban.
57, Scie .. rubin.
58. Tour pour Ie bois.
LA Dimtlon: BEUCHOT.
cependant plus absolument maitre de ce qui se dfgac;e de son chef-<l'oeuvre. Si
l'on depasse les qualificatifs sommaires de "naif
lf
, II pittoresque
ll
, t1amusantll
- que l'on entend de certains visiteurs ignorant tout du mende de ce
"bricoleur
lt
et que leur inspirent peut-etre la miniaturisation, les rapports
de proportions, les mouvements d I automates ,-c
1
est justement Ie surplus de mes-
sage qui nous importe aesolument, car c'est par la. que l'objet se communique
au public: par cette subjectivite essentielle qui est l'aura sensible de
l'objet par rapport a la froideur des substituts professionnels, cette limite
si etroite,et parfois a peine et merveilleusement transgressee,qui existe
entre la reproduction exacte de la realite et la realite tout naturellement
outre-passee, par l' expression creatrice qui a. la fois maitrise la teci'lnique
et domine Ie reel, Une telle accumulation de reels finit en effet par produire.
l' irreel, I' illusion, par mettre en hranle I' imaginai,re '" II Y a da,ns: "1' usine
animee", comme Ie prouvent les photographies de l' usine a. la meme epoque,
"\Ielicr Oc:; ll)qn. peruWoeS. monill!iCU!>CS. tAAlJ ILts Glandes U,in,s, TUTJ"" (/3 <i,m/t J"" PWOfQllltl.
31
un realisme absolu du processus technique, du geste (cf. "catalogue explicatif
ll
)
PLACE DES FETES
E:z:hi6it;on complete
DIS
FORGES ET ATELIERS
DU
CREUSOT
TRAVAIL ANUIJ1
u s'tcit d'IlU ridaedoo,'1lI lDIolatlu"., det fort'" III AI*len d.
CztuOt. OU d. oalllln In phu impolUotel d. la rADM It __ d.
1'2....,.. 0 U'OllI" Ul p........ d'o.. : q1M 1'0. ,.
1(11" UI 9trillbf. uto rep,ochlila du. _ 1JIOl. .u. dttaill a9M _
c:oaIpI"': tou "II roKll_ It s'","," UII \WtcIIIR
,-
OM 01ll'tTI.n. :ada!nbl....l UUc:llWa. aiailWlrt I. I. ___
9T'IDt. In j)rIIIOllll daDS I'ordre 'OaJll 1111 pllou, 111& !'OPIUM, IU
lamloolrs: lIS lDOUMlIlb d.s bru, d.. Jlmbu, d.. rel'Cll. I. Illdl.w...ou
d. ItW. toIlt est. c::r.leaJe ... r.odll 191K 1I1l1' IUWI1llM .toOIllO....
0. rnl.I lI.'lIpttait l la ,. dl 6t caoecill lOillUCllt.. ltt9l.i1lut ell ordn
IU dh..... /D&dllliM qol foodloL, da.peal.. I.sillllllt t. r
lII&11OGM:tteI. piatou. lllyall" tH.1l1ei It cMlTlIi. dl ltt_
IObiiou, I"il"', tollt 10ll:tlo001 IbtcMllca,lIl co_a daDs
1'u11l1 cat_, dOllt llQ cootlmpll la rtdlle!ioll euet.
L'HASILE CONSTRUcrUR DE CET tl'fr.I::,"m:UI.'111i:CAl'fiSIlIE EST AG
DE 18 MIS: ,j <I "IIOplo!f\ll jJA&lll't:!O <1M <0$ u.,jUts n. ",-.rj louin q.. I ...
_ pt",iWa lclH.", II ...r r.i-i... por.6 II ,.t, .0" II _0....' oW
"ct.. t_",,_ mooct_ ,_. /4uIf 101. <J.rrTVtr ,It. t.
tNm ._u"V.ooc.o.....
Oa til lo.iIiAi d'dlllin.tloD eo :i 11111 pareillo _. do tnuil
et de plU.oce. F.II .bilallt I"ullt', I.. p8t30IDn I. pi.... 6tn.tlc6l'ft , I.
IlltitIJlQl'(i. et i 11 lIIk1olqoe compreoll8Dt qaeU. pbues lDo.ltIplflS
j)UM II fer uut qQ. d'arrlnr d. 1"6l11 de rto(Olllmi c:t'Ial de nils, de
JQ1I9u poor pl.n.bln OQ tOI .. pcJlIJ' coqon dl ultra
L......" d. Col cllefod'ae.-.rt .." Ina! ilUU'1Kli( qll'&Unyut; 00 p..u
MIlC "'.. cniall1 alllea... I. ItlalllS.
Tod II ae ,- bit _.u.s ;; .,,,.,..
.. BEOCll:OT,l',--1U4e o. __llJDaAt
,.. 1& o;.oG(l1U'TeDoe. otfnl to,OOO tn..eo _0 n"..I.
J.fGlIl /<I.io.rr .. ,.. $lIUt' tovUUrlWII ,..1'10'" OM ,I II altiW _ lot-
.-tiooI, J.r ol'inlftftr IIIiI u,Irrr p." .... uns " ".,;.,. ...... cdk "'"'.
L, DirtI-u, BEOCBOT.
II Y a, par ailleurs,la volante du createur de II reproduiLe dans les maindrGs
details" (cf. affiche) l'usine en question_ Materiaux et pieces-ont probahle-
ment , pour beaucoup, ete "sortis" clandestinement des ateliers le.s person-
nages sont habilles comme alors (probablement avec des chutes de tissu, des
vetements d'ouvriers) I vaues aux taches exactes. Alors ou se situe done le
super flu de message. Qui fait que ce substitut realiste est bien autre
chose que l'usine reproduite a petite echelle ? Ceux qui la contemplent,
meme - que dire alors des ouvriars et techniciens creustotins !
s'expriment s1.lr bien autre chose que le seul processus technique qu'ils
apprehendent i15 evoquent auss Ie contexte humain , soctal , l'atmospnere
(Ie bruit existe, en reduction). Ales ecouter, on ne saft plus tres bien
s'ils parlent de la representation qu'fls ont sous les yeux, ou de La realite
qu'ils ont frequentepar ailleurs ; ils sont a la fois dedans et dehors,
32
spectateurs et acteurs e.t eprouvent le besoi,n de se souveniz a naute-voix,
d'expliquer, de s'interroger sur le pourquoi et surtout le comment de cette
realisation, eux qui savent Ie prix du travarl, qui peuvent evaluer Ie
nombre d'heures qui lui est necessaire, la et l'tngeniasite inqia-
pensables qu'il a coutees. Or aucune reproduction technique, aucun substitut
museographique ne sera capable de faire resonner ce registre, celui sur
lequel le visiteur saisit giobalement (intelligence, affectivite, memoire,
sens) ce qui lui est presente et a travers quoi il et echange.
avec ses compagnons. C'est 103. que reside la valeur pedagogique d'un te.l objet,
x
X X
On voit, bien evidemment, quecet artefact ne se range pas dans les substituts,
quel que soit lepcint ou soit poussee la reproduction du reel, mais bien
dans les originaux. Il reste pour nous eminemrnent eloquent et significatif de
ce que nous pensons que doit-etre, dans ce monde contemporain, un
d'anthropologie industrielle : loin des Centres de Culture scientifique et
technique - dont la floraison en France s'apparente aune mode -,loin des
musees d'art et traditions populaires OU sonttrop de spectateurs avides de
naivete et de charme rafraichissants au milieu d'un monde technicise. Non pas
quelque part entre les deux poles, mais sur une toute autre voie : celle ou
une expression populaire de leur propre culture, la culture technique, est
possible par ceux-la meme qui la secretent,ou l'explication puisse en etre
fraternellement fournie par eux-memes, ou cette culture ne soit pas donnee
en spectacle a des visiteurs mais en permanence appropriee par ses auteurs
sur les lieux memes ou elle fleurit,
X
X X
Alors il y aurait substituts et suhstituts ! ? Ceux qui permettent la sagesse
du discours et la demonstration rationnelle, et puis ceux qui, se substituant
ala realite, permettent l'irruption de la folle du logis, la petite Imagina-
tion avec laquelle Bachelard dialoguait affectueusement. Est-ce trop s'eloi-
gner du tneme de ce colloque ... ?
:'3
34
Bernard Delache, Lyon - France
Les substituts dans les musees d'art: de Ia fonction patrimo-
niale a la dimension epistemologigue
Une photographie, un moulage, une video-cassette favorisent,
certes, les contacts du grand public avec les chefs-d'oeuvre
de I'art, de Ia technique et de la nature: ils exportent Ie
musee aupres de populations qui n'auraient aucune occasion d'y
penetrer. S'ils peuvent parfois couper Ie public des originaux,
qU'il leur arrive de denaturer (cf. par ex. Iesreproductions
Rkitsch" de L'Angelus de Millet), il semble, en revanche,
qu'ils aient vuIgarise tres largement la culture artistique et
historique, permettant ainsi une diffusion de masse sans risque
a courir pour les chefs-d'oeuvre eux-memes. Sans vouloir juger
ici des avantages et des inconvenients de ces moyens de demo-
cratisation de la culture, on ne peut manquer de souligner l'un
des enjeux les plus importants de l'entreprise, a savoir la
portee epistemologique de cette substitution d'un analogon a
l'objet original.
La question n'est pas de savoir si l'original est bien repre-
sente ou s'il subit des deformations qui tendent a Ie
il ne s'agit pas d'un probleme de norme. Ce qui compte plut5t,
c'est d'evaluer l'importance de la mutation imposee au musee
dans ce processus, car il serait illusoire de penser que les
substituts restent a la porte du musee et ne reI event que du
commerce parasite. Non seulement il existe des musees dont les
collections sont essentiellement composees de substituts (ex. Ie
Musee des monuments Ie Musee'de la diaspora juive a
Tel-Aviv), mais depuis longtemps deja les substituts ont envahi
tous les autres musees d'une generalement plus discrete:
les livres d'art (ex. Ie "musee imaginaire" de Malraux), les
classiques fiches d'inventaire, les bases de donnees informati-
ques d'oeuvres d'art sont aujourd'hui presque universellement
repandus, et, a cause d'eux, Ie musee ne peut plus comprendre
de la meme maniere sa relation avec ses collections. II semble
meme que s'opere la une bouleversante mutation, par laquelle Ie
musee, de lieu de culta et/ou de jouissance qu'il etait jadis,
se transforme secretement en laboratoire d'analyse et en memoi-
re informatisee, qui ouvrent la voie a l'idee d'une esthetique
experimentale. 35
II faut done examiner Ie principe de cette mutation pour en
evaluer les consequences. Bref, l'hypothese que je voudrais
proposer est la suivante: un substitut de l'objet de musee en-
gage avec lui l'ebauche d'une veritable demarche scientifique.
L'origine des substituts dans les musees
L'idee de recourir aux substituts est d'abord nee du souci de
preserver lesoriginaux en raison de leur fragilite materielle,
d'une part, mais aussi et surtout au nom de leur importance
symbolique. Le phenomene est propre a la culture occidentale
qui, tres tOt, fut tentee de voir dans l'oeuvre d'art Ie double
du sujet humain, fait tout a la fois de matiere et d'esprit, de
temps et d'eternite, -de relatif et d'absolu, comme l'evoquent
les premieres pages du petit livre d'Henri Pocillon, Vie des
formes (Paris, PUP, 1943). Humanisme herite de la Renaissance
et confiant dans le legs universel de la culture, qui trouve sa
figure la plus elevee dans l'oeuvre d'art (cf. Bernard Deloche,
Museologica, Paris, Vrin, 1985, pp. 11-60). De la l'idee de
soustraire ces temoins de notre identite spiri-
tuelle a toute forme de contact dangereux avec un public.parfois
inconscient et irresponsable. Cela justifiait une sequestration
jalouse, engendrant l'interdiction de toucher, poussant parfois
a proscrire, pour les inestimables tresors,toutepresentation au
public. Bref, l'exigence de cacher l'objet semble motivee tout
autant par sa valeur symbolique que par les risques effectifs
que lui fait courir une exposition directe.
Toutefois, l'objet offert a la veneration des foules ne saurait
demeurer dans l'obscurite inviolable d'un coffre-fort. Les hom-
mes d'etat Ie savent bien, aussi leur faut-il choisir entre la
voiture aux vitres blindees et le recoursaux sosies. L'idee de
presenter des copies des oeuvres d'art repondait a l'imperatif
irreductible de montrer aux hommes ce patrimoine culturel dans
lequel s'enracinait leur humanite: sans ce processus de reappro-
priation patrimoniale, le public devient indifferent a l'herita-
ge collectif et la conservation des originaux perd son sens. II
convenait donc de montrer tout en preservant du vol, du toucher,
des intemperies, etc. Aucun stratageme ne donne entiere satis-
faction: on n'est jamais sQr d'un coffre-fort ou d'un blindage,
les vi trines escamotables ant leurs techniciens et leurs cam-
brioleurs specialises; et la copie, aussi parfaite soit-elle,
n'est jamais le double rigoureux de l'original, les epoques
36
a 1a copie une part d'interpretation, 1a matiere et son
grain different, 1e moulage est prive de substance, 1a
photographie creuse une distance. Bref, toute solution n'est
jamais qU'un pis-a11er, un compromis entre 1es deux exigences
irreductib1es - et peu compatibles - de preserver et de montrer.
I1 semble toutefois que 1e souci de protection inconditionne11e
de l'origina1 ait ete assez vo1ontiers favorisp par l'ideologie
occidentale, entralnant avec lui 1e sacrifice de 1a presence
ree11e de l'oeuvre. Ce choix, fonde au depart sur 1a sacra1ite
de l'objet de musee, a11ait entralner une strategie des substi-
tuts porteuse de consequences epistemo1ogiques dont Andre Mal-
raux avait entrevu quelques unes des perspectives dans sa theo-
rie du "musee imaginaire".
Le substitut comme principe de reappropriation patrimoniale
On pouvait 1egitimement craindre que 1es substituts n'accusas-
sent 1a rupture entre l'oeuvre d'art et 1e public; i1 faut bien
avouer pourtant que l'on a dO observer 1e phenomene inverse.
Loin de briser tout a fait la relation avec 1 'oeuvre, 1a diffu-
sion des substituts et tout d'abord de 1a reproduction photo-
graphique - a permis au contraire une ample diffusion et une
tres large democratisation de 1a culture. Grace a ce support
aisement transportable et indefiniment reproductib1e, i1 nous
est donne de connaltre des oeuvres que nous n'aurons sans doute
jamais l'occasion .de voir ree11ement. Une bib1iotheque d'art
devient un veritable musee portatif, a 1a fois efficace et con-
dense, donc 1a portee didactique est au moins aussi grande que
ce11e de 1a traditionne11e vi site guidee du musee.
Mieux - et Malraux, cet humaniste petri de pensee existential i-
ste, l'avait parfaitement compris 1a reproduction photogra-
phique n'abo1it pas 1a sacra1ite de l'oeuvre d'art, e11e contri-
bue a 1a renforcer. 5i 1e musee suppose une appropriation
collective, par 1aque11e nous faisons 1e patrimoine uni-
verse1, l'image n'interdit pas l'appropriation mais el1e 1a pu-
rifie et la spiritua1ise. Au desir de possession individuel1e
des oeuvres, qui sommei11e au fond de tout amateur d'art, se
substitue l'appropriation symbo1ique par l'image, a 1a fois de-
sinteressee et car l'image idea1ise et cree 1a
distance. Ce ne sont plus 1es quelques tableaux accroches aux
cimaises de nos musees regionaux, mais bien l'immense heritage
de l'histoire universel1e de l'art que l'image nous a ouvert
37
d'un seul coup. "L'immense d'rive de nuages qui emporte les ci-
vilisations vers la mort, et qui effa9a tour a tour les astres
de Chald'e et l"toile des bergers, semble aujourd'hui passer en
vain sur la premiere constellation des images" (A. Malraux, Le
mus'e imaginaire, p. 233). L'image rassemble, diffuse etarrache
a la mort les oeuvres de l'humanit'.
Le substitut comme outil d'une nouvelle science de l'art
Alors qu'il pensait avoir d'finitivement sauv' la sacralit' du
patrimoine artistique, par le "mus'e imaginaire" et son sub-
stitut iconique, Malraux ouvrait la voie a un champ d'investi-
gation tout nouveau porteur de profonds bouleverements pour Ie
musee.
Tout en favorisant la r'appropriation patrimoniale, l'image
opere un "d'placement de l'oeuvre sur un support 'tranger (chi-
mique ou 'lectronique) charg' de la de la signifier.
Ainsi traduiteen image, l'oeuvre perd son au profit d'une
neutralit' homogene qui la a la m'morisation, a l'archi-
vage, aux diverses techniques de traitement matriciel, donc
aux diverses confrontations que r'clame une d'marche cognitive.
Le passage de l'oeuvre a son substitut la convertit en objet
d'une s'miotique universelle, outil d'unw connaissance m'thodi-
que. Ainsi repr'sent'e par son substitut, l'oeuvre d'art cesse
d'etre un absolu; devenant 'l'ment d'un systeme, elle perd sa
r'alit' substantielle pour gagner une identit' relative au sein
d'une organisation structurale. Vicq d'Azyr l'avait bien com-
pris, lui qui, des 1794, proposait de repr'senter chaque objet
par une fiche cod'e charg'e d'en consigner la description et
les coordonn'es. C'est dans cet esprit qU'est n' Ie premier pro-
jet d'Inventaire g'n'ral en France; il ne sera repris que beau-
coup plus tard par Malraux dans les ann'es 1960.
Quelle secousse pour Ie mus'e d'artl Cessant un temple,
Ie voila qui tend a se transformer en laboratoire d'une science
nouvelle, l'esth'tique experimentale. Conversion insidieuse
toutefois: Ie mus'e traditionnel engrangeait les oeuvres d'art,
il constituait sans Ie savoir Ie plus grand silo culturel qU'on
pat imaginer; il conservait et classait les oeuvres, mais les
operations scientifiques - celles de l'inventaire par exemple -
'taient ravalees au rang de contraintes annexes. Sans les sub-
stituts, Ie musee jouait deja son rOle de collective,
38
mais maladroitement, sans une reelle ma1trise des res sources
qu'il abritait. Avec Ie recours aux substituts, on est passe du
musee pre-scientifique, naivement realiste, au musee scientifi-
que compris non plus comme un lieu ou un bStiment mais comme un
systeme de connaissances rationnelles.
Dans ce processus epistemologique que favorise Ie musee, non
seulement Ie substitut tend a remplacer l'original comme objet
d'analyse (jeu de photographies, releve photogrammetrique, etc.)
mais celui-ci s'efface derriere ses multiples re"productions au
point de n'etre plus conserve que comme l'ultime referent de
recherches ulterieures. Tendance a la derealisation et a l'aban-
don du fetichisme de l'objet qui devait conduire a substituer
a l'image, trop polyphoniqueet redondante, un nouvel analoqon,
la representation codee qui se prete mieux a l'enregistrement et
a l'analyse des donnees (scalogrammatique, analyse factorielle
des correspondances, synthese graphique, etc.). Desormais, un
musee ne peut plus ignorer qu'il est un fonds documentaire que
les substituts ont permis de convertir en memoire organisee.
Alors, decloisonnees, les oeuvres d'art confessent leur appar-
tenance a des series que l'on peut desormais reconstituer et
dont on peut suivre l'histoire. La stylistique, dont les pre-
miers principes furent poses dans les annees 1920 par Vladimir
Propp, cesse d'etre tentee par l'empirisme intuitif, elle tend
a se formaliser, permettant rapprochements et recoupements,
mise en evidence des traits d'identite d'un artiste ou d'une
ecole, reconstitution des reseaux d'influence stylistique. S'ou-
vre desormais la perspective d'une formalisation des methodes
d'attribution des anonymes (par interpolation/extrapolation).
~ v de visionnaire, angoissant pour les uns, exaltant pour les
autres 7 Une chose est sare, c'est que l'introduction des sub-
stituts au musee n'a pas eu, comme on Ie croyait, pour unique
effet la protection des originaux et une meilleure diffusion de
la culture: un conversion majeure s'est operee. Le musee se de-
couvre hors de lui-meme, il se reconna1t dans des pratiques ar-
cheologiques ou ethnologiques deja vieilles de 25 ans. II se
voit arrache malgre lui a sa vocation sacralisante et patrimo-
niale pour devenir l'outil d'une memoire efficace des produ-
ctions culturelles. OUtil simultanement retrospect if (archivage)
et prospectif en vue de la decision et de l'action. Un phenomene
epistemologique que l'on aurait tort de negligerl
39
Remplacer une oeuvre d'art par un substitut n'est pas un geste
quelconque, mais un acte d'une portee epistemologique conside-
rable. A l'origine, le recours au substitut est ne de la double
exigence de preserver et de montrer les tresors artistiques: la
reproduction fidele constituant un equivalent, sans valeur, de
l'original. Le pUblic, eloigne de la presence reelle et sensi-
ble des oeuvres, allait-il se desinteresser de son patrimoine
artistique 1 Malraux a montre, au contraire, que l'image comme
substitut de l'oeuvre d'art favorisait la diffusion aupres d'un
large public et le caract ere sacre du patrimoine
culturel. Toutef6is, il s'est avere que la representation de
1 'oeuvre d'art par un analogon ouvrait des possibilites de me-
morisation, d'archivage et de traitement, auxquelles ten-
dait a se constituer une veritable science de l'art (une stylis-
tique experimentale) par le biais des technologies modernes
telles que l'informatique (computer). Dans cette evolution, la
destination du musee se trouve bouleversee: il cesse d"tre Ie
temple de la culture universelle pour devenir un laboratoire
d'analyse des formes. Voila qui ne peut manquer de mettre en
question sa signification profonde.
40
Wojciech Gluzir'lski, Wroclaw - Poland
1.0 The word "original" derives from the Latin origo -inis - i.e.,
origin, source, beginning. An original is, therefore, a thing
of a real origin and as such can appear in the role of a sour-
ce of external phenomena reflected in its matter, giving a
beginning to
The \"lord "substitute" derives from the Latin sub-stituere
(-statuere) - acting or serving in place of another. It
is, therefore, a thing replacing another, filling its place,
bonai'ide or malai'ide. As regards museums, malai'ide substitutes
will not be considered-here. The word "statuere" signifies,
among others, to constitute, and this meaning will appear in
the function of substitutes in museums. As a rule it is accom-
panied by the establishement of the sense of substitution, the
sense of merits, as a defined relation between the substituted
object and other objects of this set into which it was included
and the pragmatic sense in the form of the objective of sub-
stitution.
3.0 The notion of an original, one of the principal notions in
museology, invested with a nimbus of majesty in museum practice,
has not yet been thoroughly explicated and, relying on its
apparent obviousness, continues to function as an unspecific
general notion. The notion of the sukstitute, in turn, seems to
be invested in an odium which in practice, however, has often
been overcome in exhibition practice. In this situation, if we
exclude emotions and aim at defining the relation of a substitu-
te to an original, the role of a substitute in a museum, we
ought to specify what an original is. This \dll mclce it possible
to determine whether, in what circumstances and to what degree
an original can be replaced by a substitute.
4.0 Every thing in our environment 'somehow "expresses" something
about itself - through its properties and structures composed
of these attributes. If it concerns, for example, utilitarian
or aesthetic values, it will be possible to empirically check
this "expression": directly, situational, Things
"speak": "I am' a comfortable arm-chair" - I sit down and am
comfortable, "I am an attractive picture" - I look and experien-
41
ce an aesthetic emotion. Together with the thing I am in an
actual, real state of being situation, I can check and test
Ivhat the thing "expresses" about itself.
4.1 It is a different matter when what the thing expresses about
itself concerns itself besides the actual, real state of being
and suggests a real situation perhaps in the past, but at
present bygone, inaccessible, as though in reserve - let us
call it a para-onto situation (in relation to our actual
temporal-spatial co-ordinates). Such "expressions" of things
correspond to the para-onto situation: "I am a renaissance
picture" (there appear appropiate stylistic chara.l::teristics
indicating the origin of the picture when this style prevai-
led), "I am a picture by Rembrandt" (there appear characte-
,
ristics corresponding to the master s personal style, sugges-
ting a past, 'real onto-situation: the master paints the picture),
"I am Hapoleon's snuff-box" (stylistic Empire traits, the
personal sign with the letter N, suggesting a real but bygone
state of being: the emporer keeps this snuff-box in his coat
pocket). The empirical verification of these "expressions" :
directly, situational and observational, as it truces place in
a real onto-situation is simply impossible. If we are convinced
- justifiable to a degree - ,that defined socio-clutural rea-
lity there may appear forgeries of a particular class (e.g.,
relics) and if the object of interest to belongs to this
class, and if on the basis of our knowledge and the scale of
values we accept, we are anxious for certain reasons, to verify
the "expression" of this object on its para-onto situation, the
problem of originality will arise. It does not appear in a real
state of being, general situation prevailing in ordinary life
but in a particular para-onto situation. \IIhy'?
4.2 According to these exemples, characteristic of para-onto situ-
ations, "expressions" of things about themselves concern circUI:l-
stances which , on the basis of our knowledge and the scale of
values of our culture have for some reasons beens i g n i -
fie ant, to which we have attached certain val u e s.
The fact that the object preserved until our times (which in
itself is good luc]c) originated in bygone times provided it
with a That an object was produced by someone who
played an important role in the history of culture, or its lillie
42
with a personality of great importance in social history or
with a similar occurence - provides it with a historical value.
If we have a sentiment for these persons, based on a community
of ideas or only admiration, the recognition of the greatness
of the.ir achievements, we also attach a certain emoti.onal value
to objects belonging to them - the value of a (national, group
or personal) An emotJb.onal value is also
a (a masterpiece) resulting from admiration
for the perfection of the work, a liru{ed with
the recognition of the role the work played in the development
process and in itself (the work is ori-
ginal, to be discussed below. If a thing supplies - in our
oIJinion -" thorough information, we connect it ';Iith a
value and assess it in relation to its
The" values referred to may be treated as specific signs of cul-
tural at a higher rank such as tradition, the feeling of
(national, group or cultural) community, inter-human solidarity,
autonomic value of cognilion and an autonomic value of a worthy
act, whatever it All these values can also be examined from
the aspect of their education, socialization role - within
the range of didactic
4.3 The above analysis sufficiently explicates the mechanism of the
genesis of the problem of originaiity. The axiological importance
of the para-onto situation to which the object "refers", shifting
to it as though beyond the time and place of its actual, real
state of being situation oblige"s us to verify the "genuineness"
of its "expression", because the object becomes representative
of values we acknowledge, their personification, only on the
basis of this "genuineness". Only then are they realized for us
in the object and through it. In this way the object as such be-
comes important to us as "expressing" something "trUly" about
itself, it acquires the value of originality which is realized
in a direct, personal confrontation with the" authentic evidence
of phenomena, characterized in our culture by important; meaning-
ful values. The authority of a museum ensures the survival of
this value without being personally involved in the problem of
originality. This has ?een done for the public by museum experts.
5.0 A substitute is an object replacing another thing, acting in its
place at least in a museum, in place of the original which for
some reasons is not available. It results from this characteris-
tic that the substitute must, for some reasons, be identical
43
with the original if it is to act in its place. Above all, it
must be or an indy-
vidual identity (an individual object replaced by another which
is structurally identical with it), or an object identical from
the typological or genre aspect (an object representing a
specific typological class or genre is replaced by another sho-
wing the same typological characteristics). The structural iden-
tity concerns both the structure of the object as a structural
entity (someness of elements and the relation between them) as
well as the microstructure of the surface, facture, often imita.-
ted. The visual aspect of identity should also embrace colouring.
All this gives the visual impression of an illusive similarity
the original and its replacement. There may also occur
a functional identity between objects involved in substitution,
without the necessity of structural identity (an object not at
all resembling the replaced thing fulfills the same function in
a specified functional system), but this possibility does not
concern museums.
5.1 Within the scope of museums there usually occurs between the sub-
stitute and the original a basic difference as regards the
sub s tan t i a 1 aspect (material) or the t e m p 0 r a 1
index (identical material but processed with contemporary
methods). It may be said, therefore, that the relation between
the substitute and the mriginal is comparable with the relation
between a photograph and the model - the substitute is only its
likeness patterned (substantially or temporally) on another
material. The substitute is are pre s e tat i 0
5.2 The essential meaning of a substitute is defined by the same
relations which determine the position of the original absent
from the set of respective objects. If the original were to be
included in the sequence of objects arranged in accordance with
the development principle as one of the links of this develop-
ment would perform the same function. It may be termed a sub-
stitute in a development, historical and evolutionary function.
\'Ie can speak in a like manner about a substitute in an ideolo-
gical (rhetoric) function if it appears in the place of an origi-
nal which was supposed to represent a specific idea in a defined
group, just as it previously represented a development phase. The
substitute will appear as a functional element in a group repre-
44
senting a certain functional entity a workshop, the
interior of an apartment, etc.). It may also appear in a su-
perior function of a setting for a group of original objects,
simulating and original interior, enclosing its contents into
one functional and also stylistic entity. In such cases, we
prefer the use of "imitation" (imitation interior) to the word
"substitute". Such realizations were fashionable at the end of
the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries. In all des-
cribed cases the function of a substitute assumes the same mea-
ning. as the function ascribed to the original in a defined
-group, arranged according to a specific
5.3 Compared with the richness of the original a.substitute repre-
sents a very poor repertoire of values. It may be ascribed a
cognitive value but it spreads <mly over its external visual
cover and fails to penetrate its matter even only to a depth of
a Moreover, it is linked with a particular type of cog-
nition, not so much revealing and creative as would be the case
with an original but with a secondary cognition. satisfied with
the already existing knowledge. In this sense, the substitute
shares a didactic value with the original.
5.4 A substitate among originals is so strange and out of place as
an artificial flower in a bunch of live flowers. There arises
the question how it found its way to museums always fascinated
with the value of originals and spread there to such a degree
that it finally became a subject of a museological symposium.
6'.0 The fact that substitutes appear,ed at museums is not accidental
neither was it caused only by the lack of specific originals.
In the past museums did not exhibit substitutes, they were satis-
fied with and proud of the originals they owned. \'l e may assume,
therefore, that the need for substitutes does not result from
the essence of a museum bui it is historically conditioned, it
depends on external factors. It is a consequence of an otherwise
correct education conception of the role of museums which was
born at the turn of the centuries: "Die Museen als Volksbi-ldungs-
st!!.tten", also interpreted in a restricted scientific manner in
the spirit of the 19th century positivism and education slogans
fashionable in those days. Accordingly, a museum was to impart
scientific knowledge, improve undereducated groups of society.
Although the situation changed essentially in this regard with
45
the passing of time, the conviction in the mission of museums
thus understood has continued together with scientistic _
hibition methods. They are based on the prevalence of the refe-
rence function over all other functions,
which the use of epistemological codes and in some
cases the addition of persuasion functions with the use of rhe-
toric codes. But the demand for substitutes is,created only in
this situation since the applied codes reveal the lack of parti-
cular significative elements, they reveal gaps which have to be
filled. This is when substitutes are used. nut the harm is not
restricted to these problems. Due to the subordination of origi-
nals to the codes referred to, only two values are relevant in
the of values relc.ting to originals: the cognitive and
the sourqe value, all the others are effectively stifled, pus-
hed into a deep shadow. Moreover, originals are in this way re-
duced to the role of signs in the code system - the same role in
which also substitutes Consequently, the pecularity of
originals diminishes, they are in the semiotic function brought
into line with substitutes. The disgusted public roams in a
labyrinth of codes, mixes with originals and if any
knowledge is gained the experience is irrelevant. This was
nicely expressed by Otto H. FBrster (S,inn und Aufgabe de:c Bffe:l.t-
iichcn Sarnmlungen "in der Gegem1art, KBln 1926): lII'Ian soll das
l':useum so verlassen, ':Iie man eine Kirche verl1!.sst oder ein schll-
nes .Konzert, erhoben, gest1!.rkt, besser als man I'jar "
6.1 Scientific knowledge in the form of pocket-books reaches every-
one and there is no better way of its popularization than
audio-visual mass media. Considering this, are museums still
obliged to "bring education to the people", pressing the delicate
tissue of value, represented by originals, into strange and
stiff' systems of epistemological or rhetorical codes ? If the
cinema, once using circus language, was able to discover its own
artistic language, I see no reason why museums could not find
their OIVIl exposition language allowing to express all these
deeply contents which we focussed in the original. Valu-
es essential for our culture are centered in it and, in turn,
museums have been the principal keepers of preserved originals
and thus dispensers of these values. !1useums must not allol1 to
waste these values in the name of a program tclcen over by the
force of inertia from the past epoch and at present realized
46.
even more effectively Idth more adequate means. ~ s values
must be revealed, they must be allowed to speclc out again
because their messaee is indispensable to the present-day
world.
47
48.
Pontus Hellstrom, Stockholm - Sweden
Equal Rights? No!
In the platonic philosophical theory all objects were considered as substi-
tutes of originals that existed in an unattainable World of Ideas. One is
indeed reminded of this theory, when one visits certain museums where some
or all of the original objects are replaced by substitutes. The World of
Ideas with all its original objects is the museum store-room, open only for
the deified few: museum curators and scholars.
In Europe, copies have been made for millennia, sometimes with, sometimes
without an intention to decieve. Roman copies of Greek sculpture is a well-
known example where it is sometimes impossible even for the specialist to
distinguish an original from a substitute. One famous example is the Hermes
of Praxiteles in Olympia. Is it a Classical Greek original as one of the major
specialists maintains, or is it a Roman substitute fromthe 1st century A.D.?
Since in any case the sculpture is very old, this may seem to be a problem only
for scholars. This is, however, not so. The Hermes involves the same psycho-
logical and practical philosophical problems for layman and scholar alike as
every substitute regardless of age. For anyone having admired, or just having
observed an object in an exhibition it will be a shock to learn that the object
was a copy. The object does not change by the information but the person in-
volved changes radically in relation to the object in question.
Other examples of ancient substitutes are plaster casts of antique gems.
Such substitutes were made for centuries with the apparent intention not to
deceive but to present study material, three-dimensional illustrations for
the interested antiquarian. They were made by moulds and in plaster, which
makes a great difference from the first example.
The last centuries have seen a large production of substitutes of ancient
sculpture in plaster casts made for study purposes, and sometimes for decor-
ation. Even in this case, nobody can be cheated because the material used is
plaster of Paris.
To-day, substitutes for exhibition (and I am now speaking mainly but not ex-
clusively of archaeological and historical exhibitions) are made primarily
for two reasons:
(1) As substitutes for objects considered too valuable to be exhibited, or too
vulnerable in one way or another. In this case the originals normally belong
to the same institution as the one which exhibits the substitute.
49
(2) As substitutes for objects considered necessary for exhibition on didact-
ical grounds, but which are unavailable in original for the exhibiting inst-
tution.
I have a strong impression that for one reason or the other, sometimes for
both, the use of substitutes in exhibitions is growing more and more common.
I believe that there is an additional reason for this, namely that museum
curators because of their daily handling of ancient and valuable objects tend
to lose some of their respect towards the originals. By their regarding of
originals with less solemnity, the distance between original and substitute
diminishes automatically for them. By observing that the public is not able
to see the difference between originals and copies, they are soon strength-
ened in their belief that substitutes are as good as originals at least so
far as exhibition purposes are concerned. This is, in my opinion, a very
dangerous evolution for the museums.
First, the public is fascinated by their o n f ~ o n t t i o n with original objects.
They have not had the opportunity to establish the same kind of relation to
the originals as museum curators have. They are not satisfied with. the didactic
content of a perfect copy. They want the original and expect it to be on dis-
play, they react against substitutes and they consider themselves deprived of
their fair excitement when they are shown a copy and not the original. It is
true that a good copy carries most of the' didactic messages of the original
but at the same time only the real object can give the exciting fascination
inherent in an object which has actually been part of a historical process.
So, why should we expect the public to be satisfied with substitutes?
Besides, I do not think that it is necessary to follow the trend of today
regarding substitutes. If the reason for exhibiting copies is the risk of
theft or damage, I can understand the curator, but I do not think that it is
always necessary to go -to such extravagancies as some museums do. In such
cases, when one considers it necessary to exhibit substitutes, one should
first of all signal very clearly that the objects are copies. This must not
be hidden away. It has to be shown in a way that nobody can miss, not even
those who do not read the labels. If, however, the exhibition of substitutes
is considered necessary for safety reasons, I think it is the duty of the
museum towards its visitors to make the originals available elsewhere, prefer-
ably in a secluded, well-guarded and well-protected treasury, which does not
necessarily have to be kept open many hours a week. The possibility to see
the originals should be provided for the public. And I am now, of course,
speaking only about the originals of the exhibited substitutes, not of the
large collections of unexhibited objects in the museum store-rooms. That
is an entirely different matter.
50
A question which is intimately related to the exhIbiting of substitutes is
the making of substitutes. I think it is advisable for every museum that can
afford it to make such copies but not in order to exhibit them. If an origi-
nal should happen to be stolen or accidentally damaged or destroyed, this is
one of the best ways to preserve information about the object, especially
for future research. I believe that such copies should be made as true to the
original as possible in scale, form and colour but not material. The
material information can only be given by the original itself and can never
be perfectly copied. Therefore the copies should be made in a material wide-
ly different from the original to provide an easy means of detecting copies
in the future.
The second reason for exhibiting substitutes, viz. that the museum does not
have suitable originals to illustrate the exhibition theme, is not really
a valid argument. Ideas do not have to be illustrated by three-dimensional
objects. They can as well be accompanied by photographs, drawings or other
kinds of mainly visual complements. Many museums are now producing, as a
matter of routine, didactic displays completely without three-dimensional
objects, for instance slide shows, films and photographically illustrated
thematic exhibitions. Mostly these media are used as accessories to tradition-
al museum exhibitions with original objects in show-cases. I think that the
common obsession among museum curators to illustrate every chronological or
thematical stage in an exhbition with three-dimensional objects, either
originals or copies, only serves to show how out of date the museological
thinking is in wide circles of museum curators. It shows that people, who
pretend to have a didactic approach in their museum work, cannot free them-
selves from a very often completely unnecessary object syndrome.
Last but not least: There is the aspect of the credibility of the museums.
If originals and substitutes are exhibited as if they were merely inter-
changeable, the risk is apparent that the information that some objects are
substitutes will not be observed. Sometimes, such information does not even
exist in the exhibition, which in my view is identical to exhibition of fakes,
not copies. Museum visitors who afterwards discover that they have been
studying substitutes without knowing it, will inevitably feel hurt and will
interpret this as contempt shown to them by the museum staff. I would be
ready to agree with them but, basically, what has been shown is not primarily
contempt to the public but to the original objects themselves, and I believe
that this is the essential issue: So far as objects and museum collections
are concerned, it is the most important part of the work of the museum curator
to show respect for the original object. This respect has been neglected,
ignored and disregarded when substitutes are not treated as three-dimensional
51
illustrations but as equivalents to originals. To show contempt of the general
museum public would be a serious offence. To show disregard for the originals
would be treason against the curator's profession and against the ultimate
aims of the entire museum work. Anyhow, in the choice between these two evils
it would not be an easy task to pick the worst.
In conclusion, my contention is that in today's museum, which intends to
be and which also should be a 'World of Ideas', substitutes cannot be given
Equal Rights.
52
Pontus Hellstrom, Stockholm - Suede
Egali Non!
Dans Ie systeme philosophique de Platon tous les objets sont consideres comme
substituts d'originaux qui existent dans Ie Monde inaccessible des Idees.
On se rappelle, bien sur, souvent cette theorie quand on visite certains
musees dans lesquels quelques-uns ou, dans certains cas, tous les objets
originaux sont remplacees par des .copies. Le Monde des Idees, avec tous ses
objets originaux, est constitue dans ce cas par les depots du musee, ouverts
seulement pour Ie peu de monde qui appartient au cercle elu des conservateurs
et des savants.
En Europe, des copies ont ete fabriquees depuis des millenaires, tantot avec
l'intention de tromper, tantot pas. Les copies romaines de sculptures
grecs est un exemple bien connu, ou il est parfois impossible meme pour Ie
specialiste de faire la distinction entre original et substitut. Un exemple
fameux est Ie Hermes de Praxitele a Olympie. Est-ce que c'est un original
grec classique comme une des grandes specialistes Ie croit ou est-il un substi-
tut romain du premier siecle apres J.-C.? Parce que de toute la sculp-
ture est tres vieille, cette question pourrait sembler un reserve
seulement pour des savants. Ce n'est pas Ie cas, cependant. Le Hermes, comme
tous les substituts independamment de leur age, contient les memes questions,
psychologiques et philosophiques, aussi bien pour Ie public general que pour
Ie specialiste. Pour tous les gens qui ont admire ou seulement regarde un
objet dans une exposition, c'est un chock terrible d'apprendre que cet objet
est une copie. L'objet n'a pas change par cette information mais la personne
dans ce cas a bien change dans sa relation avec l'objet en question.
Des autres exemples de substituts anciens sont les moulages en platre des
pierres gravees antiques. Tels substituts ont ete fabriques pendant plusieurs
siecles pas pour tromper mais pour donner aux savants interesses des mater-
iaux en forme d'illustrations en trois dimensions. Parce qu'ils ont ete faits
par moule et en platre, il y a dans ce cas une grande difference par rapport
aux copies romaines des originaux grecs.
Les derniers siecles ont montre une grande production de substituts de sculp-
tures antiques en platre pour des besoins d'etudes et parfois pour la decoration.
Dans ce cas aussi, personne ne peut etre trompe par ce que Ie materiel employe
a ete Ie platre.
Aujourd'hui, des copies (et je parle maintenant essentiellement, mais pas
seulement, des expositions archeologiques et d'histoire) sont fabriquees en
premier lieu pour deux motifs:
53
(1) Comme substituts pour des objets consideres trop precieux pour etre expo-
ses, ou trop sensibles d'une ~ o n Oll d'une autre. Dans ce cas les originaux
normalement appartiennent au meme musee dans que1 les substituts sont exposes.
(2) Comme substituts pour des objets consideres indispensables dans l'exposi-
tion pour raisons didactiques mais qui sont pas disponibles pour Ie musee
exposant.
J'ai la forte impression que pour une raison ou une autre, parfois pour
toutes les deux, l'emploi des substituts dans les expositions augmente de plus
en plus. Je crois qu'on peut ajouter un autre motif, a savoir que certains
conservateurs, etant donne qu'ils manipulent tous Ie temps des objets anciens
et precieux, sont en train de perdre peu a peu Ie respect pour les originaux.
A cause d'un moindre egard pour les originaux, la distinction pour eux entre
original et substitut diminue peu a peu. En observant que Ie public n'est
pas capable de voir la difference entre les originaux et les copies, ils
peuvent croire que les substituts sont aussi bons que les originaux, du moins
pour les besoins des expositions. Cette evolution est a man avis un fait
tres dangereux pour les musees.
Le public est tout d'abord captive par l'idee d'etre confronte avec des
objets originaux. lIs n'ont pas eu 1'occasion d'etablir la meme relation avec
les originaux que Ie conservateur. lIne .se contente pas du point de vue
didactique d'une copie parfaite. II desire l'original, et il presume de
Ie voir expose. II reagit contre les substituts, et il est d'avis qu'il est
derobe de son legitime experience quand il trouve une copie a place de l'ori-
ginal. C'est vrai qu'une bonne copie porte la majoritedes messages didac-
tiques de l'original mais en meme temps seulement l'objet veritable peut
donner la fascination d'un objet qui a fait partie reellement d'un processus
historique. Alors, pourquoi demander au public d'etre satisfait de substituts?
En plus, je ne crois pas qu'il est necessaire de suivre la voie negative
d'aujourd'hui relative a des substituts. Si la raison d'exposition de copies est
la crainte de vol ou de dommage, je Ie comprends, mais je ne crois pas qu'il
est toujours necessaire d'un tel exces comme dans certains musees. Dans les cas
au on considere necessaire d'exposer des substituts, on doit Ie signaler
tres distinctement. On n'a pas Ie droit de cacher cette information. On doit
Ie faire voir d'une telle ~ o n que Ie public ne puisse etre trompe, pas
meme les personnes qui ne regardent pas les etiquettes. Si l'exposition de
substituts est consideree necessaire en raison de la securite des originaux,
je crois, cependant, que c'est une devoir de la part du musee pour son public
d'exposer les originaux ailleurs, de preference dans un tresor separe et
bien protege. II n'est pas necessaire que ce tresor soit ouvert beaucoup
de temps pendant une semaine. On doit, cependant, donner au public la possibilite
de voir les originaux. Et dans ce cas je parle, naturellement, seulement des
originaux qui appartiennent aux substituts exposes, et pas des objets qui ne
54
sont pas exposes et qui se trouvent dans les depots du musee. Ca, c'est
completement une autre chose.
Une question qui est intimement liee a 1 'exposition de substituts est la fabri-
cation meme de ces substituts. Je crois qu'il est judicieux pour tous les musees
de les faire produire mais pas pour des besoins d'exposition. En cas d'un vol
ou de dommage d'un original ceci est une des meilleures methodes de conserver
d'information sur l'objet, particulierement pour des recherches a venir. Je
crois que telles copies doivent etre produites aussi fideles aux originaux que
possible quant a la grandeur, la forme et les couleurs, mais pas aux materiaux.
L'information scientifique concernant les materiaux ne peut pas etre, bien
sOr, etre reproduite dans urie copie. Pour cela et pour donner un moyen aise de
'-detecter des copies a l'avenir, on doit les produire en materiaux tres diffe-
rents des materiaux des originaux.
La seconde raison pour l'exposition des a savoir qu'il n'y a pas
dans Ie musee des originaux convenables pour la theme de l'exposition, n'est
pas un argument valable. II n'est pas toujours necessaire d'illustrer une idee
avec des objets en trois dimensions. On peut aussi bien l'illustrer avec des
photographies, des dessins ou d'autres types de moyens visuels. Quantite de
musees aujourd'hui produisent par routine des media didactiques sans aucun
objet en trois dimensions, par exemple des diapositives, du film et des expo-
sitions thematiques avec des photomontages. Ces moyens sont normalement des
complements des expositions traditionelles avec des objets originals dans des
vitrines. Je crois que la manie commune parmi les conservateurs d'illustrer
chaque phase chronologique ou thematique dans une exposition avec des objets
en trois dimensions,'originaux ou copies, est seulement une indication d'une
mentalite "archaique" dans la domaine museologique. indique que des per-
sonnes, qui, selon lui-memes, ont une orientation didactique dans leur travail
au musee, ne peuvent pas se degager un "complexe des objets" qui souvent est
completement inutile.
Last but not least: C'est l'aspect de la credibilite des musees. Si on expose
des originaux et des substituts comme vraiment interchangeable, on risque
evidemment que Ie public n'observe pas que certains objets ne sont pas des
originaux. Quand Ie public n'est meme pas averti qu'il s'agit de substituts,
je vois ceci comme un fait identique a une exposition de falsifications, et
pas de copies. Le public qui plus tard apprend qu'il a regarde des substituts
a son insu, il ne peut pas. eviter d'etre voir meme indigne. II va l'inter-
preter comme un cas de mepris envers eux de la part du musee. Je voudrais
bien etre d'accord avec eux, mais, en effet, c'est plutot un cas de mepris
55
pas contre Ie public mais contre les objets originaux et je crois
que ceci est Ie fait essentiel : concernant les objets et les collections
du musee, Ie travail Ie plus important du conservateur est de mJntrer son
respect pour l'objet original. Ce respect est neglige et ignore quand des
substituts ne sont pas traite seulement comme des illustrations en trois
dimensions m3is des equivalents desoriginaux. A mepriser Ie public et
son desir d'authenticite, ce serait deja tres grave. En finir par mepriser
les originaux, ce serait trahir Ie metier de conservateur et Ie but de
toute activite museale. II m'est bien difficile de dire des deux est
Ie pire.
En conclusion, dans Ie musee d'aujourd'hui, qui veut etre et qui doit etre un
"Monde des Idees", on ne peut pas, a mJn avis, donner au substitut Ie privilege
"d'Egalite".
56
57
Alpha Oumar Konare, Bamako - Mali
SUllSTITlJ'I'S DE W.. ET STATm."'ITES AU HALl
Vue d'JLfrique la production generalisee de faux et de copies est un
heritage de l'Administration coloniale et une des consequences de l'attri-
bution d'une valeur marchande a. des biens cul turels.
Traditionnellement la fabrication des copies se faisait selon des
rites donnes, dans des circonstances connues, par des hommes attitres ;
elles etaient ainsi utilisees dans des occasions pr4cises.
Un objet deteriore, juga irreparable est remplace par une nouvelle
creation identique.
Un objet ayant accompli son cycle rituel cede la place a. un nouvel
objet identique forme, m3me constitution).
Les objets retires du circuit etaient immediate:ll3nt detruits selcn
des regles en vigueur. Une'copie et son original ne pouvaient pas exister
en temps. La copie tirait sa vie, sa puissance de l'original defunt.
La permanence de l'usage et du ceremonial qui 1'accompaGlle conferait le ca-
ractere "original" au nouvel objet cree. "Le Roi est mort, Vive le Roi",
Toutes ces fabrications etaient faites par des forgermls assermentes, selon
des rites et des periodes. Ils se devaient de se concilier les manes des an-
les"maltres et les esprits" des ceremonies.
Il a=ivait que pour des besoins d'appreiltissage on fabriquait des
objets miniatures : c 'etaient des objets "vulgaires", profanes, qu'on ne
devait pas laisser tra1ner lonctemps. Ces objets qui n'etaient pas des jouets,
n'etaient pas realisables, ni utilisables par qui le voulait.
Toute cette vision etait conforme a. la cmception africaine de la
conservation. 'Il etait moins important de conserver l'objet, de respecter les
rites, la fa90n de faire.
Tant que vivait l'artisan la permanence de l'objet etait assures. Il
faut rappeler que les oeuvres etaient anonymes, 'lU' sUes n' etaient pas signees.
Les responsables de la communaute savaient qui en etait le fabricant. Le fa-
bricant representait toute une famille, toute une li;:;nee. Son talent personnel
se confondait avec l'heritage re9U. Il le devait a ses parents. n avait ainsi
le devoir de creer les conditions d'une bonne transmission de ses
ces.
Un probleme demeure par ailleurs : si dans la societe il ne
pouvait exister deux copies identiques, le objet se retrouver
dans plusieurs societes. On ne alors parler de copies compte tenu
de l'autonomie des et puisque les artisans ne sont pas les
meme si l'usage et rites sont les memes.
Le premier desordre cree dans cette vie culturelle a ete Ie fait de
l'Islam qui n 'y voyait que continuation du paganisme. Reproduire des 3tres
humains soua forme de statuettes et de sienifierait tenter d'imiter
Dieu.
I.e pire des sacrileges I L'Islam mettra au feu tOllS les objets cul-
turels traditionnels recuperes et jettera l'anatheme sur les artisans, con-
vaincu que leur conversion pouvait mettre fin u ces praticlues.
Des Ie debut de l'occupation coloniale (fin XIXe siacle) les militai-
res et les administrateurs se sont beaucoup interesses ices curiositcs. C'est
generalement par la qu'ils les reouperaient : des nouvellement convertis
au christillniSllle qui dewi t remettre les objets cul turels au cure, des "collec _
tes" de chercheurs, des derobades sur. les lieux de culte.
Ces objets etaient gardcs dans des salons ou dans des reserves dans
les en attendant leur envoi en metropols dans deD maisons privees ou
des institutions tels que les musees.
Il s'agissait dmlc au depart d'objets authentiques, d'originaux defonc-
tionnalises.
La demande se faisant croissante avec les participations aux nombreu-
ses foires il est apparu indispensable de fabriquer des copies. Pour faciliter
la participation des colonies aces rencontres et pour faire face aux exizcnces
du tom'isme naissant des musees seront crees. A defaut de pouvoir "peupler"
ces musees d'objets vrais mais defonctionnalises les muaees identifieront des
artisans (en des de caste) qui seront charses de fabriquer des
copies i partir de modeles reels (qui ne seront pas detruits) ou de gravures
ou photographies.
A cet effet artisans seront formes dans des ecoles artisanales.
Il s'agit d'une evolution a l'occidentals qui privileeie l'objet, qui fait de
l'objet une finalite.
Les premiers fabricants de copies ont ete installes par l'Administra-
tion coloniale. TIs vivaient dans les villes, principalement dans la capitale.
Ils etaient soua la coupe de l'administration jsqu'au developpement des activi-
tes antiquariales, apres la deuxieme guerre mondiale.
Ces copies etaient fabriquees en series en dehors de toutes traditions.
CiI::l recherchait la belle, la meilleure imitation. Le "copieur" n'etait "copie=,'
que par son talent. Son statut social importait peu. TI revendiquait ses reali-
sations sans pourtant y apposer sa signature.
53
La copie etait l' imitation reussie ; Ie fau.'C etait I' imitation non
reussie (dans 180 fome). Une copie reussie dans 180 forme mais con9Ue dans
une autre matiere est un faux. Ne peut-on pas considerer comme des faux
tous les objets utilises en dehors des nomes traditionnelles ? Les faux
suivent Ie meme chemin que les copies. Ils etaient destines aux touristes.
Les fabrications de faux etaient souvent l'oeuvre de jeunes citaltiJls dera-
cines installes dans des arriere-eours de quartiers populaires, caches des
Services des Faux et Forets et des Services des Aifaires Economiques.
TOllS ces facteurs n'ont fait que s'accentuer avec les Independances
qui loin d'avoir ete des ruptures ont ete des continuations.
Le ch8mage grandissant et l' exode rura.l ne font qu I accro! tre Ie nom-
bre de fabricants de masques et statuettes. Certains villages sont devenus
meme des siages. Leur presence ne para-It indisposer ni les responsables des
societes cul turelles ni les religieux. Les premiers yo voient une fac;:on de
preserver ce qui leur reste encore; les seconds doivent etre satisfaits de
la tion" des "bouts de bois".
L'offre est souvent plus importante que la demande. Les masques et
les statuettes font aujourd'hui l'objet de tous les usages (decorations,
sieges, etc... )
L'usage des faux et des copies se fait de nos jours a une tres gran-
de echelle. Dans nombre de musees des objets de cette categorie sont plus im-
portants dans les reserves que les leces authentiques. Les boutiques d'anti-
quaires (dans les marches, les hatels, les aercgares) en regorgent. La copie,
la b=e, n'est plus vendable par elle-meme. Il existe de nombreux procedes
de "vieillissement" pour essayer de contrefaire des pieces originales. Comme
si l'originalite et la qualite d'une piece etaient liees a son age !
La responsabilite des museolozues et des antiquaires est grande dans
cette situation. Les musees et les antiquaires(en dehors de leurs structures)
ont a leurs dispositions des agents copieurs, parfois les memes pour les deux.
Consciemment des museologues achatent et meme fraudent. Ceci denote un mepris
pour les cultures concernees ; il s'agit aussi d'un' comportement snobe, exo-
tique.
Peu de textes legislatifs et reglementaires existent dans ce secteur
des substituts.
Si Ie museologue relave de la Fonction Publique, l' Antiquaire du re-
gistre du commerce, Ie fabricant de masques et statuettes paye seulecent des
patentes pour la coupe de bois. Il n'existe pas d'autorisations de copie.
Toutes les pieces destinees a l'exportation doivent faire l'objet d'une auto-
risation speciale. Ceci devrait permettre un contrale plus suivi des sorties.
59
pourrait se concevoir dans la clarle
pour favoriser les echanges et la
autre politique de substituts
a l'interieur des musees
Halheureu::;ement nombre d' objets sortent frauduleusement par nos larges frontie-
res. l'ralheu:reusement nombre d'agents des musees sont incapables d'apprecier cor-
rectement une piece.
Une
et Ie respect
formation.
Leur f04mation (de que celle de nos nambreuses ecoles) n'implique
pas une bonne connaissance des cultures nationales. Les cadres des cul tuxes na-
tienales sent marginalises ainsi que leur savoir et leuxs moyens d' expression
(langues nationales).
Il importe de reglemanter Ie metier de fabricants de masques et sta-
tuettes, de reglementer celui d'antiquni:re.
Toutes les copies devraient porter une etiquette indicative, elles
devraient 3tre presentees telles dans les musees.
La qualite des musees se mesurera alors par Ie faible pgurcentage des
copies dans ses fonds, par des objets defonctionnalises ou mieux
par la prise en compte de societes cul turelles "desacralisees".
La multiplication des copies est le signe d'une sta;natien de la crea-
tivite. Il n'existe pas nouvelles, d'apport des generations
actue+les.
Le passe demeure la grande reference, souvent une reference paraly-
sante.
Seules de nouvelles approches muscales prenant ent compte davantage
les cocmunautcs, leur espace de vie, l'homme, valorisant Ie savoir et Ie savoir-
fai:re national, ne privileeian.t pas l'arzent et l'appropriation privee des biens
cul turels, pourront gar:.1J1Lir'\Une boru'c s,tuvegarde du patrimoine cul turel c I est-
a-dire une bOIUle conserrdticn, un enrichissement cor:.stant.
60
Paul N Perrot, Richmond, Virginia - USA
Thoughts on Casts
It should be an axiom of our profession that
museums ought relentlessly pursue the truth that is
represented by the existence of the original object,
itll ma:erial form, as well as its symbolic content.
Our concern for truth should extend to the manner
in which the objects are presented and interpreted.
Indeed, we are only their temporary custodians, pre-
serving them in trust for future generations as a
source of learning, enjoyment, and as testimonies
of human creativity or natural evolution.
It is perhaps these considerations that have
led many museums to reject the plaster casts or copies
in other materials which loIere so central to the in-
stallations of major institutions in the latter part
of the 19th and early 20th century.
The new perspective, that developed since the
1930 's primarly, suggested there loIas something loIrong,
false, or demeaning in showing such casts. It was
felt that they provided a distorted view to the
museum I s visitor: tha t they suggested a wrong sense
of value. Thus, a de facto international campaign
banished them from galleries to basements and from
basements to other repositories where many have turned
to dust.
This may be uncharitable, but one cannot help
noting that loIhile these objects were banished from
our sight, there was far less zeal on the part of
many museum curators and directors to remove from
their galleries objects loIhose attributions they often
knew to be questionable but which they continued to
exhibit because of the sensitivity of donors or
trustees or because to remove them might admit that
the unerring eye of the' specialist had somehow gone
astray!
Clearly there is a fundamental difference betloleen
a .plaster cast, honestly presented as such, and works
of questionable attributions, overly restored, of
dubious quality, let alone authenticity.
A cast can, indeed, eVQke, an original, as the
photograph does, but in a more telling sense. Contrary
to restoretimwhich can introduce new stylistic elements
that seriously affect one I s view of the development
of a style, the contribution of a period, or the char-
acter of an artist, a cast evokes the form and style
61
of the original. I do not
behalf of casts, but merely
have a new and important role.
mean to make a
recognize that
plea on
they now
In decades .past, when travel was difficult and
distances great, and only a. tiny fraction of the popu-
lation visited foreign countries and before film or
even photographs were widely available, the presence
of a cast, from a far off monument or work, might
be the only three-dimensional perception that a person
might have.
Today, with an increasingly mobile population,
an inexhaustable supply of slides, photographs, publi-
cations, films, and television programs, the most
distant monuments have become part of our familiar
surroundings. Yet, in many cases, due to pollution,
vandalism, or neglect, these objects and monuments
may be but a shadow of their former appearance and
their very existence may be denied to future genera-
tions. Some, like the Parthenon or the Royal Portal
of Chartres, that may have survived fairly unscathed
by the centuries, are, as it were, crumbling in front
of our eyes. In these cases, the plaster casts of
their more significant features, made decades ago,
may be clearer testimonies' of the artists' original
intent than the works themselves! The Caryatides
of the Erechtheum are good examples, paralleled in
many' great monuments extending around the globe.
They h.ave changed dramatically, and were it not for
early casts, we would be unable to appreciate the
detail of their refinement.
Hence, the time ~ s now ripe to consider whether
it is not appropriate to embark on a large scale
re-evaluation of casts and the production of new ones
of those objects previously unrecorded in this fashion
and which are still holding, within their surface,
sufficient testimony of their creator's vitality.
It is clear that we will not be able to arrest
the effects of pollution and urban or industr Lal intru-
sion. Since the details of our monuments, virtually
wherever they are, are increasingly threacened/ I
'believe we have an ethical responsibility to future
generations, to make sure, that if not all, at least
a sufficient cross-section of this creativity can
be transmitted. However tenuous the reflection pro-
vided by a well-made ~ s t it presents a tangible
reality that neither a photograph. nor a hologram can
convey.
It is for this reason that I welcome the subject
of this Symposium, and that I am particularly sorry
that I cannot participate in these discussions.
62
Klaus Schreiner, Alt Schwerin - German Democratic Republic
Authentic objects and auxiliary materials in museums
An authentic historical piece of evidence is any object that
enjoys a specific perceptible existence and therefore bears
genuine, authenticated, undoubtable witness to, or provides
immediate testimony of, a certain temporarily and locally de-
. .
fined state of being of a natural or social phenomenon, which
it stems from. An object is only authentic within the frame-
work of a relational statement and with reference to certain
conditions; therefore we must never forget what its authenti-
city is related to. This authenticity therefore is no imma-
nent, permanent element and no property of the object itself,
what determines its essence and structure, but only a special
statement about the object.
The problem. of authentici tyonly exists in consequence of
'special situations and relations into which the object will
be integrated. It relates to the statement, that the informa-
tions transmitted. by the object are in reality genuine,
guaranteed, evident, true.
An authentic piece of evidence is invariably an individual
expression of social or natural nrocesses, an expression of
materialized, peculiarly human faculties or materialized na-
tural forces.
Why do we need authentic historical pieces of evidence from
nature and society?
This kind of historical pieces of evidence are a sine qua non
for the growing academic knowledge and artistic reception of
objective reality within the framework of the process of re-
production in society. In our familiarization with the past,
they serve as
'7ardsticks and indicators of the economic, political, social
and cultural development in a given period, a given society
and a given territory",1)
or are used for the purpose of
"comparing various stages of development of historical natural
processes with a view to comparing, repeating or checking
cognitive processes or passing on knowledge".2)
Authentic historical pieces of evidence from nature and society
are authentic sources of emotional and rational cognitive
activity (emotional impact and knowledge). This processes of
63
cognitive activity includes acts of volition - i. e. purpose-
ful, deliberate actions based on motivations, needs and in-
terests -, which form important elements of the process.
The irreversible nature of development processes and the
transitory nature of individual phenomena give rise to efforts
being made at withdrawing certain authentic historical pieces
of evidence from the natural or social process by means
of their removal or the creation of changed conditions, and
allowing them, as a result, to be preserved or kept, neither
forever or for a long time. The long-time preservation and
communication of authentic historical pieces of evidence from
nature and society is part of the social process of reproduc-
tion. The existence and development of human society object-
ively requires reproduction; for every social process of pro-
duction creates the conditions for the subsequent production
processes. Reproduced are not only the physical conditions,
but also the social conditions of production. Science and art
have increasingly been becoming important elements of the
social process of The growing academic cognition
and artistic reception of objective reality, which are import-
ant elements of the social process of reproduction, are, in
view of the irreversibility of development processes, the
conditions that give rise to the objective social need for the
lasting preservation and communication of authentic historical
pieces of evidence from nature and society.
These evidences serve as non-renouncable sources of rational
and emotional cognition activities. We all know the increasing
importance of heritage-reception by means of preservation, use,
and presentating the objective cultural heritage and the natu-
ral history heritage.
The objective social need for lasting preservation and commu-
nication of authentic historical pieces of evidence from nature
and society is met in different specialized fields of activity
under a division-of-labour scheme. The different fields include
those concerned with the preservation and cultivation of the
cultural and natural heritage.
Musealia form part of the cultural and natural heritage.
What is their specific nature?
64
Musealia (museum objects) are such movable authentic objects
which, as irrefutable evidences, exemplify the development of
nature resp. society for a long time, are set to a fixed state,
and were selected and acquired for the collection stock in
order to preserve, to decode, to exhibit them resp. for further
use in research, teaching, education imparting emotional expe-
riences, and recreation.
By taking them out or making modified conditions museum objects
were withdrawn from the normal natural or social process, e.g.
also by terminating the living state intentionally in order to
preserve them - or parts of them - in this fixed state for a
long time, for instance by preparation. According to their
sort, state and function they are conserved, prepared, re-
stored, looked after, inventorized, decoded, researched, ato-
raged, exhibited in different way and intensity resp. they are
communicated and catagorized (classified) according to their
scientific, historic, and cultural importance. We subdivide
in material (physical, so-called "three-dimensional"), written,
pictorial and acoustic museum objects, that means sounds pre-
served on sound-carriers.
Museum objects often appear in combination, for instance a
paper illustrated with pictures, a sound film and similar. Mu-
seum objects act as important means of work and represent the
basis of work as objects of research for various technical,
social and natural science branches, such as botany, zoology,
palaeontology, mineralogy, geology, history, history of art,
archaeology, ethnography.
In museum work we have the principle of collecting such objects
that are authentic sources of knowledge and emotional experien-
This principle implies that museum collecting is the
gathering of certain objects - museum objects -, which are
authentic sources of knowledge and emotional experiences and
are, as a result, capable of lastingly documenting the develop-
ment of nature and society; and that other types of material -
called supporting or auxiliary museum material - play a se-
condary role in matters of knowledge imparting.
Museum material comprises (a) museum objects, which are authen-
tic sources of knowledge and emotional experiences; and (b)
65
auxiliary material, which helps pass on knowledge and emotio-
nal experiences.
The auxiliary museum material includes imitations (e. g. co-
pies, models, reconstructions and casts), illustrtations
(e. g. reproductions, photocopies and facsimiles), and ab-
stract means (e. g. labels, charts, tables and texts).
Auxiliary museum material is indispensable within the aspects
of museum pedagogics, especially for the imparting of museum
knowledge and emotional experiences.
The classification of the exhibits (exhibited objects) allows
giving the following definition: a museum exhibit (exhibited
object) is either a museum object presented at a museum exhi-
bition or auxiliary material used at an exhibition of this
kind. Auxiliary materials are substitutes, imitations (copies),
illustrations and/or means of abstraction (charts, tables,
labels etc.), and s ~ v to impart knowledge and emotional ex-
perience by explaining facts and the relations between them,
and generalizing, or adding to, the messages of museum objects.
While museum objects, which are specific exhibition means,
provide the basis for cognitive processes, the aUXiliary ma-
terials and technical aids serve as means of controlling and
deepening cognitive processes and interpreting museum objects.
An imitation is a materialized, physical copy, e. g. a phy-
sical replica, model, reconstruction, cast or copied cast,
diorama, moulage, maquette, relief, etc. An illustration is
a pictorial and/or written imitation, e. g. a reproduction,
photocopy, facsimile, photoprint, written copy, duplicate,
paper copy, etc. Imitations and illustrations are jointly re-
ferred to as substitutes (replacements). Means of abstraction
(means of abstract presentation) are visible, concentrated
generalizations made to explain all kinds of phenomena and
facts. They include charts, maps, cartograms, diagrams, scien-
tific and technological sketches and drawings, tables, sta-
tistics, symbols, printer's or publisher's marks, plastico-
symbolic constructions (e. g. crystal lattices), labels, texts
and words written by graphic (headlines, guiding texts, expla-
natory texts, texts on ,museum object labels).
A museum exhibition is a thematic display of museum objects
66
and explanatory auxiliary materials that is scientifically
founded, well-arranged, didactically processed, aesthetically
laidout and accessible to the public. It serves the purposes
of education, emotional experience imparting and recreation,
constituting the principal form of museum communication.
Therefore it is important to underline: the simple display
of museum objects differs from the presentation of museum ob-
jects. The simple display of museum objects is only a primi-
tive embryo of a museum exhibition.
Treatises and subjects for which there are no or hardly
museum objects cannot be presented in a manner that justifies
the description as a museum exhibition.
The availability of museum objects is a sine guanon (basic
condition) of any museum exhibition. Museum objects must not,
however, be used as, or play the role of, fill-ins, supple-
ments, fillers or illustrations; they must rather be seen as
essential elements and specific features of museum exhibitions
with all the quantitative and qualitative consequences that
this may have. If museum objects are not predominant, the use
of the term 'museum exhibition' will never be justified. It
is an imnortant principle of museology that museum objects
must playa nredominant role at museum
The essence of museum exhibitions is that museum objects are
presented. What museum exhibitions seek to bring about is not
knowledge imparting as such, but knowledge imparting with the
help of museum objects. The museum object itself is the all-
important means of museum-type demonstration. This guarantees
the dialectical unity between the documentation of objective
reality in a museum collection and the communication achieved
at the museum exhibition. A museum exhibition must be more
than a mere display of museum objects: it must be a specific
form of exhibition, a form that offers an academic interpreta-
tion of the reality that it documents. It must not be an end
in itself, but should convey something to somebody: a message!
The museum objects shown at a museum exhibition serve as vi-
sual aids and means of demonstration. Every museum object do-
cuments or proves a certain definite fact or phenomenon in
nature or society. Museum objects can illustrate certain events,
67
states-of-being. processes, phenomena and laws of the develop-
ment of nature and society. They can give a far-reaching illu-
stration of essential aspects of law-governed phenomena in
nature and society, but are quite incapable of presenting the laws
themselves. -
Not e s
1 Zeitschrift fUr Geschichtswissenschaft (Journal of History).
Edition 1/1972, Berlin. p. 12 (W. Herbst).
2 Neue Museumskunde (New Museum Studies), Edition 2/1980.
Berlin. p. 76 (I. Jahn).
68
Contributions to the symposium
Sub-topic NO.2
Justified and unjustified substitutes
The ethical implications and legal aspects
Contributions au colloque
Sous-theme no 2
Objets substitutifs justifies et injustifies
Les implications deontologiques et aspects juridiques
69
70
Josef Benes, Praha - Czechoslovakia
THE NEEDS, POSSIBILITIES AND LIMITS OF USING SUBSTITUTES IN
MUSEUMS 'UITH REGARD TO PROFESSIONAL ETHICS
Antiquities are becoming increasingly valuable, all the
more as new creations, produced in lots, are forming our environ-
ment giving it a stereotypy which is uniform allover the world.
is oversaturated by this monotony and is seeking new creations
formed individually for accenting and individualizing his
environment. That is also why the antiquity market is
through a boom, the prices and demands are continuously increas-
ing and the supplies are decreasing. This situation is an
incentive to increase the limited supply of antiquities by
intentionally producing substitutes which no layman can distin-
guish from the original. Tourism has enforced a straightforward
planned and organized production of souvenirs because the hunger
after souvenirs is a sUffieiently strong motivation for imit8ting
old objects to make them 100k ever, more antique than the
in the eyes or the The of science
and teclmology are used so promptly and inventively that they
often even surpass the common standard of restoration and con-
servation studios in museums. A collective production of
aI1d counterfeits does no good to museums which take these
cleverly imitated creations into their collections as if they
were originals.
The disclosure of fakes is not a new task, it has been
done the past as well, only modern technology makes this
work easier. That is why we learn that some creations, which
had been considered to be originals on the basis of expertises
of the most well-knovm experts, are disclosed as skilled fakes.
71
'fhis fact brings museum experts into an unenviable position from
the viewpoint of expertnes s and professional ethics. 'That is a
set of unwritten principles and rules of conduct held on by
tradition which the museum workers must observe, and/or have to
observe in such a way that the expert level and responsibility
for the quality of their w o r ~ would correspond to the social
mission of the museum as a cultural institution with no profit-
-earning aims. The ethical principles are reflected in &11 kinds
of museum activities and they call for such an approach to be
applied in all forms to be in accordance with the honour of the
profession not only for the present time but also for the
future.
From the above it follows that it is 'more than just
observing the general laws of the respective country, thut it
is respecting the principles that ensure honest and responsible
fulfilment of all tasks, excluding any mistakes and errors,
namely those that were caused by carelessness, misinformat\on
or ignorance of the correct application of museological principles
into practice. Intentional mistakes have been left out because
tl,ey should not occur at all if we are to speak about professional
ethics. It is therefore not only a matter of not including objects
imported illegally into the country or coming from thefts or
other irregular manipulations into collections. It means that
all tasks should be carri8d out in such a way that everyone would
sign his name with honour. ~ t r all,any reference to imaginary
extenuating circamstances, e.g. ignorance of ethical principles,
'external pressure for enrichening the collections for reasons
of prestigae, a pursuit of pUblicity using sensational success
in aquisition etc., is utterly uncalled for, unsubstantiated and
petty taken from the viewpoint of the authority, import&nce and
72
position of the museum profession.
I include some theses for dealing with the problem, of
which the application to concrete conditions is modified by the
specifities of the individual branches represented in museum
collections but, in principle, is valid for all branches. I
have in mind especially the historic branches, with which
literature deals in a much lesser extent than with painting
and sculpture.
!hesis 1: The museum with documents
-----------------------------------------------------
The basic means of operation and expression of the
museum is the original document of development taal'ing Huthentic
of its original reality of which the object had once
been an organic component before bain; removed and incorporated
into collections as a public zoods, source of
and means of ecucation. Every user of the museum - both the
research worker and the visitor - has a right to blow that all
the objects that the museum presents for study or displays in
the show-cases are authentic documents, originals, that throu
6
h
their existence, appearance 'and lllaterial,and/or other character,
they prove the verity of their testament with regard to'the
reality documented. It follows that the user must blow that a
substitute was used instead of the so that there would
be no mistaken interpretation and a kind of fraud by SUbstituting
the ori:ginal. This is the ethical principle Humber 1 which is,
unfortunately, rather pften Qmitted at exhibitions. Whether done
through fear of reducing, the effect of the exhibition is no
excuse.
The museum cannot accept into its collections such objects
73
of which the authenticity has not been verified. It would risk
the collections would include objects of problamatic
originality which cannot be proved or reliably defended. It
definitely concerns not only works of art, but all creations
which could be faked from various motives. E.g. fakes are
presented as originals intentionally, touristic souvenirs are
presented as good-quality copies of the original. Proving the
authenticity of accepted objects into collections is carried
out in exceptionally important cases using the help of external
experts, normally however by museum workers themselves as they
bear the responsibility for the verity of every object, be it
purchased or presented as a gift. Nobody should light-mindedly
suppose that in the case of a mistake he would not have to
blush in shame.

rhe collection object is valuable in its testament of
the original reality only in the case that the circumstances
of its origin and method of utilization in the given environment
were determined and fixed at the time when it was taken from
this environment; this means a geographical, period and
functional determination with regard to the social strata,
frequency of occurrence and importance, and/or further data
according to thsNquirements of the respective is
therefore a breach of the rules of professional ethics if we
accept mere objects into collections without documentation
of its origin or - and this is even worse - an object that is
improperly localized, dated, named, ascribed to a wrong author,
and whose function incorrectly indicated. 'rhese facts misre-
present or falsify its testament in the face of the documented
74
reality and anybody who might later handle these incorrect data
as if they were authentic will be misled and will unvoluntarily
mislead all those who will rely on his data as being correct.
~ o all phenomena that the museum documeIlts, interprets
~ d presents do not exist original documents or they are not
-
at the museum s disposal. That is why in such cases it is
necessary to provide suitable substitutes for study, document a-
tion or exhibition purposes. To a certain extent such substitutes
coule replace the missing originals in different staneards of
testimony of the reality. fhey are namely substitutes which
a) for museum purposes substitute the original which does not
exist any more, which is however demonstrably documented
and could thus be authentically reconstructed, illustrated
and described,
bJ substitute 2 document to a phenomenon which is DO" 2t all
documentable by material means so that it ~ n be documentee
by a record (text, graphical, photographical, film, sound,
etc.),
c) substitute the original which is unaccessible for the
respective museum and which exists somewhere else,
d) substitute the oriBinal in the case that its use would be a
great risk in the sense of its protection for the future,
which is one of the principal functions of the museum,
e) represent a period document of falsification evoked either
by a simulated social need (e.g. fakes of old manuscripts),
ambition of unreliable research workers (e.g. archeological
figural creations), or other motives (interest of the
antiquity market).
75

reGard to the expected application of the substitute
it is necessary to choose its type, form, material, size and
method of realization. Most frequent are the
a) for studying purposes a copy or reproduction is used in those
cases when it is not absolutely necessary to use the original
as it could be damaged by handling, and/or it is exposed to
such a risk because a good substitute in cases fully
enables study,
b) for exhibiting purposes the museum uses copies, facsimiles,
or l:'eproductions as substitutes of the orisinal which have,
ln addition, the advantage that dimensions can be
chosen (can be enlargened or reduced) for an optimum communi-
cation effect. In such a case the substitute is indicated as
such even though it might be unrecognizable from the original
by the layman,
c) for publicity and popularization and for those interested in
souvenirs, the museum discreetly selects typical Objects
vrhich they themselves make for these purposes or which they
have made under professional supervision. 'Ehey determine the
convenient size, material and other properties of appearance
in order that the creation be not presented as an original
either intentionally or unintentionally. In exceptionally
valuable creation the limited number of copies of perfect
workmanship in original size and appearance can be signed as
copies of art giving the name of the museum, indication of
the copy, date, and/or author of the copy. This is a very
solid approach to staisfying the requirements of those who
want to be surrounded by beautiful objects of a certain kind
because they evoke desirable sensations and experiences even
76
in the substituted form which they are aware of. It is an
advantage that they need not hide the stolen objects into
safes and thus be deprived of the possibility of looking
at them whenever they wish for their own pleasure in the
beauty and craftsmanship of man with a feeling of a completely
legitimate and unconcealed property.
77
78
Josef Benes, Praha - Tchecoslovaquie
NECESSITES, POSSIBILITES ET LIMITES DE L'EMPLOI DES SUBSTITUTS
DANS 1S EN EGARD AL'ETHIQUE DE LA PROFESSION
La valeur des antiquites ne cease d'augmenter et cela en
relation directe avec l'accroissement de la quantite d'objets
nouveaux fabriques en series qui creent natre milieu de vie
,
stereotype qui se ressemble partout a travers le monde. Comme
l'homme rassassie e l'exces de cette monotonie des formes d'ob-
jets cherche des creations d'une forme particuliere qui puissent
, -
rende du caractere a son milieu, le marche des antiquites voit
une conjoncture a lahausse continue des prix et la demande
augmentante et l'offre qui ne cesse de diminuer. Cette situation
encourage les efforts de multiplier le nombre limite des anti-
quites par les substituts fabriques intentionnellement qu'un
lalque ne peut pas distinguer de l'original. Le
du tourisme exige la production litteralement planifiee des
"antiquites", car la demande des souvenirs est un motif suffi-
samment fort pour chercher a fabriquer les imitations des objets
,
anciens d une telle apparence que le lalque les trouve encore
plus anciennes que les monuments authentiques. Les conquetes
de la science et de la technique sont appliquees si promptement
et ingenieusement qu'elles surpassent le niveau
courrant des ateliers de restauration et de conservation dans
les musees. La production en masse des faux menace meme les mu-
sees qui acceptent ces creations habilement imitees dans leurs
collections comme s'il s'agissait des originaux.
La denonciation des faux n'est pas, pour les musees, une
tache nouvelle; elle etait accomplie au passe, cependant
79
les moyens techniques modernes rendent ce travail plus facile.
Ainsi on apprend que certaines oeuvres considerees a la base
des expertises des specialistes eminents comme des originaux
sont revelees comme des faux expedizifs et les specialistes du
musee se trouvent dans une situation peu enviable du point de
vue de specialite de merne que de l'ethique peofessionnelle.
Celle-ci represente un ensemble de principes et regles non-ecrits
mais traditionnellement respectes de conduite que les travail-
leurs sui vent obligatoirement ou devraient suivre de faqon que
Ie niveau professionnel et la responsabilite de la qualite du
travail correspondent a la mission sociale du musee en tant qu'
une institution culturelle sans buts lucratifs. Les principes
ethiques se projetent dans toutes les sortes de l'activite mu-
seale et exigent qu'on utilise toujours l'approche qui soit en
accord avec la bonne reputation de la profession non seulement
aujourd'hui mais aussi au futuro
II en decoule qu'il ne s'agit pas seulement de respecter
simplement les lois l'Etat respectif, mais de res-
pecter les principes qui assurent l'accomplissement honette et
.
responsable de toutes les taches et exeluent les fautes et
erreurs, surtout celles causees par negligence, manque d'infor-
mation QU ignorance de l'applicationpratique correcte des prin-
cipes museologiques. Je ne parle pas des fautes intentionnelles
car elles ne devraient point exister si l'on veut parler d'une
ethicue professionnelle. II ne s'agit done pas seulement de ne
pas incorporer daBS les collections les objets importes clan-
destinement ou provenant des vols ou d'autres transactions four-
bes. Tous les devoirs doivent etre accomplis de faqon que chacun
puisse sans honte les sousigner. D'ailleurs, toute excuse par
des circonstances attenuantes imaginaires, p.ex. ignorance des
80
principes ethiques, pression exterieure Rur l'enrichissement
co11ections pour les raisons de prestige, chasse 1 la pu-
blicite a l'aide des succes sensationnels dans l'acquisition
etc. est, du point de vue de laserenite, de l'importance et de
la position de la profession museale absolument deplacee, 1n-
justifiable et vetieuse.
. ,
Pour contr1buer a la solution de cette problematique je pre-
sente quelques principes dont l'application aux conditions con-
cretes est d'une part modifiee par la specificitedes discipli-
nes particulieres rattachees aux collections museales, d'autre
part elle est en principe valable pour toutes les disciplines.
II s'agit surtout des disciplines historiques qu'on traite dans
la littereture beaucoup moins que les beaux-arts.
Prine ...1rav.!?il:te_.?E. __dQ.culll.ellt_s
Le moyen de travail et d'expression fondamental du musee est un
document original sur l'evolution, porteur d'un message authen-
tique 1e la realite originelle dont il faisait autrefois partie
avant d'en etre extrait et incorpore dans les collections en
tant que bien culturel, source de connaissance et moyen d'edu-
cation. Tout utilisateur du musee - chercheur de que visi-
teur - a Ie droit de supposer que tous les objets que Ie musee
offre pour l'etude ou expose dans une vi trine sont des documents
authentiques, des originaux eonfirmant par leur existence, appa-
renee et materiel, eventuellement par d'autres signes la vera-
cite de leur temaoignage en rapport avee la realite doeumentee.
II en decoule que du substitut au lieu de l'original
doit etre signale aux utilisateurs pour eviter une interpreta-
tion fausse et une sorte de tromperie. C'est Ie principe 1
qui est, malheureusement, assez souvent neglige dans les expo-
61
sitions. La crainte d'attenuer l'efficacite de l'exposition
n'en est pas une excuse.
Principe 2: Le musee verifie l'authenticite du document.
Le musee ne peut pas accepter dans ses collections des objets
dont il n a pas verifie l'authenticite, car cela signifierait le
risque de faire entrer dans les collections des objets dont 1'0-
riginalite est problematique, impossible a prouver ou a defendre
veridiquement. eela est val able non seulement pour les oeuvres
d'art mais aussi pour toutes les creations qui peuvent etre fal-
sifiees sous motivation tres varieej p.ex. les faux sont inten-
tionnellement presentes comme originaux, les souvenirs pour les
touristes comme copies des originaux de haute qualite. Dans les
cas exceptionnellement importants, on recourt, pour la verifi-
cation de i'authenticite des objets entrant en collections,
l'aide des experts externes mais ce sont les spe-
musee qui portent la responsabilite de l'authenti-
cite de tout objet, soit-il achete ou offert. 1ls ne devraient
donc pas supposer etourdiment qu'ils n'auront pas a rougir dans
,
le cas dune erreur.
Principe 3: Tout objet. est accompagne de donnees de pro-
venience.
L'objet de collection a une valeur de temoignage de la realite
originelle seulement dans le cas qu'on a - au moment de son ex-
trsction de son milieu - appris et enregistre les circonetances
de sa naissance et la fa90n de son ulilisation dans le milieu
donne determine geographiquement, chronologiquement et fonction-
nellement en rapport avec la couche sociale, sa frequence et
I 'importance qui lui est attribuee, eventuellement complete
82
par ct'autres donnees d'apres lesbesoins de la discipline en
question. C'est donc violer les regles de l'ethique profession-
nelle que d'accepter dans les collections des objets nus sans
documentatiorr de provenience ou - ce qui est encore pire - un
objet mal localise, date, nomme, avec une indication tausse d'
auteur et de fonction. Dans ce cas, son temoignage de la reali-
te dccumentee est deforme ou falsifie et chacun qui se servira
plus tard des donnees fausses comme si elles etaient veridiaues
sera lui-merne trompe et mettra, sans Ie vouloir, en erreur tous
ses successeurs Qui sc fieront a ses donnees supposees correctes.
Princioe 4: Pour son fonctionnement, Ie musee a besoin de
certains substituts.
II n'existe pasles documents originaux de tous les phenomenes
que Ie musee documente, interprete et prescnte ou il ne les a pas
a sa disposition. Dans ces ccs-la, il doit se procurer, pour les
buts d'etudes, de documentation ou d'exposition, les substituts
convenables qui - tout en portant une charge differente de te-
moignage de la realite - peuvent dans une certaine mesure rem-
placer les originaux. II s'agit surtout des substituts qui
al remplacent - pour les besoins du musee - l'original qui n'e-
xiste plus mais qui ~ s t decrit d'une fa90n exacte dens la
litterature specialisee et qui peut donc ~ t veridiquement
reconstruit, dessine et decritj
bl remplacent la documentation du phenomene qU1, vu sa nature,
"
ne peut pas etre documenter p8r les moyens materiels msis
uniquement par 1 'enregistrement Itextuel, graphique, photo-
graphique, cinemetographique, sonore etc./j
cl remplacent un original inaccessible pour Ie musee en question,
existant ailleursj
83
d/ remplacent l'original dans Ie cas son emploi serait trop
risque du point de vue de sa ccnservation pour Ie futur
est une des fonctions principales du musee;
e/ representent un exemple de l'epoque d'une falsification pro-
voquee sait par un besoin social pretexte /p.ex. les falsi-
fications des manuscrits anciens/, par l'ambition des cher-
cheurs peu serieux /p.ex. les creations figuratives archeolo-
gioues/ ou par d'autres motifs du marche des snti-
quitites/.
Principe decide de la forme optimale du sUbstitut.
D'apres l'emploi suppose il faut choisir la sorte, la forme, Ie
materiel, la taille et la fa90n d'execution du substitut. Le
plus souvent, les possibilites suivantes entrent en consideration:
a/ pour les buts d'etudes, on utilise les copies ou reproductions
dans ces caf., de l'original ne-
cessGire pour la recherche en question, car l'original est
deteriore par la manipulation ou, eventuellement, court ce
risque; un substitut bien execute rend, dans beaucoup de cas,
l'etude parfaitement possible;
bl pour les buts d'exposition, Ie musee se sert de copies, fak-
similes et reproductions comme substituts des originaux ce qui
apporte en meme temps l'avantage d'obtenir les dimensions vou-
lues /acrandir ou diminuer Ie format/ pour l'efficacite opti-
. . ,
male de Dans ces cas-la, Ie substitut est in-
dique cemme tel si un lafcue ne Ie distinguerait pas de
l'original;
cl pour les buts de propagande et de vulgarisation et pour les
interesses aux souvenirs, Ie musee choisit, apres une
consideration, des objets typiques qu'il produit ou
84
les fait produire sous une des specialistes II
decide de la taille conv_enable, du materiel et des autrea
aspects afir. que l'objet ne puisse presente comme ori-
ginal ni intentionnellement ni involontairement. Dbns Ie cas
des creations d'une valeur exceptionnelle on peut signer un
certain nombre limite de copies parfaites en dimensions et
execution originelles comme des 20pies artistiques pourvues
du nom du musee, du signe de copie, de Ie eventuel-
lement du nom de l'auteur de la copie. C'est une approche
serieuse a la satisfaction du besoin de ceux qui desirent
s'entourer de belles choses d'un certain type qui eveillent
en eux les sentiments souhaitables meme sous cette forme de
substituts dont ils se rendent compte. L'avantage, c'est qu
ils ne sont pas obliges de les objets voles dans un
et qu'ila peuvent les contempler a tout moment pour
Ie plaisir du beau et de l'adresse humaine avec Ie sentiment
de propriete tout a fait legale et non cachee.
85
86
Andre Desvallees, Paris - France
Tres souvent la question des reproductions est abordee
seulement par reference a l'oeuvre d'art: repetition executee
par l'artiste lui-meme, replique executee par un de ses eleves
ou un autre de ses contemporains, ou copie executee ulterieure-
ment comme oeuvre d'etude ou ayant pour objet d'alimenter un
marche d' ceuvres bien cotees (comme les sculptures grecques pour
les Bomains du ler siecle, ou les peintures de Teniers pour les
Francais &s 17e et 18e sieclesl.
Plutot que de limiter l'etude a ce qui concerne le poten-
tiel patrimonial d'une part et, dans celui-ci aux seules oeuvres
d'art, j'aimerais que la question soit posee sur un plan plus
general par rapport a la matiere museale meme prise dans son
ensemble: a savoir, un musee est-il par definition le refuge
des seuls originaux ? Un musee technique peut-il vraiment jouer
son role pedagogique s'il n'expose que des originaux unis au
meme culte de statisme et d'intouchabilite que les oeuvres d'art?
Quelle est la pertinence de l'original dans un musee des sciences
de la vie? Qu'est-ce qu'un original pour une collection ethno-
graphique ? Toutes questions qui impliquent qu'un substitut n'a
ni la meme signification (la meme nature), ni la meme fonction
pour tous les musees, selon leur discipline et selon le role
pedagogique qui leur est donne.
Si les substituts sont generalement exclus des musees de
beaux-arts, comme etant contradictoires avec le culte de l'ori-
ginal, ils sont le complement d'un grand nombre de musees d'his-
toire naturelle, d'anthropologie et de technique. Ils peuvent
meme etre la matiere principale de certains musees, (sinon la
matiere exclusive), pour former des musees de moulages par exem-
ple. C'est le cas en France du Musee des Monuments Francais,
lequel, par le moulage d'oeuvres sculptees, tente de musealiser
des oeuvres d'art qui ne pouvaient quitter leur gisement archi-
tectural. De la meme facon, on peut imaginer, dans tous les do-
maines, des musees composes uniquement de substituts, pour exposer,
sinon conserver, des temoins significatifs de l'environnement
naturel, pour un musee des sciences de la vie, des decors de
theatre ou de cinema pour un musee du spectacle, le tout sous
forme de reconstitutions holographiques, ou d'autres techniques
duo ou tridimensionnelles qui pourraient apparaitre.
Sans aller jusqu'a cet extreme, il est des musees qui
melent plus ou moins adroitement les originaux et les substituts,
au point que parfois on oublie de s'interroger sur le caractere
authentique ou original de l'expot.
Et en effet, telle n'est pas forcement la question. Car
ce qui compte c'est d'abord ce qui est exprime et ce que recoit
le p u l ~ et non pas forcement le support de l'expression. Dans
un musee d'histoire ou d'anthropologie, le fait compte plus que
le temoin qui l'exprime. Dans un musee des sciences de la vie,
un bon fac-simile peut etre preferable a un original difficile
a conserver. Et dans un musee des sciences et des techniques la
"modelisation" semble avoir souvent ete adoptee des l'origine.
C'est le cas la aussi en France, au cours de la prefiguration
du Musee National des Techniques ou l'on a vu, des apres la mort
de Vaucanson, ses premiers successeurs commencer a r;mplacer
cp-rtaines des machines qu'il avait lui-meme fait construire pour
87
l'explication des techniques par des modeles a plus petite
echelle, moins encombrants.
Retour sur l'essence de l'objet de musee.
Pour aborder la question des substituts, il est neces-
saire de reprendre celIe de l'objet de musee - ou plus precise-
ment du temoin musealise. Car il n'est pas suffisant de s'arreter
au principe selon lequel "tout est musealisable", que ce soit
temoin de la nature ou creation de l'homme. En effet, peut-on
admettre que Ie temoin ne subit pas de transformation lorsqu'il
entre au musee. Et surtout a etre perGu selon Ie
meme regard que lorsqu'il etait dans son milieu d'origine ?
Certes la question ne se pose pas toujours de faGon
lorsqu'il s'agit d'oeuvres d'art. Lorsqu'on aborde un
dessin, une peinture, une sculpture comme un element de la pro-
duction de l'artiste (par exemple dans les recentes expositions
monographiques organises a Paris sur Watteau, Chardin, Manet,
ou Renoir) ou comme un jalon de l'histoire esthetique de l'art (les
expositions organisees au meme lieu sur les peintres americains,
sur les peintres danois ou sur l'impressionnisme et le-paysage
franGais), peu importe finalement le cadre museographique qui
est donne aux oeuvres - pourvu toutefois que l'environnement
soit neutre. Ce qui compte, en effet, c'est l'esprit. Et lorsque
l'esprit se confond avec la lettre, lorsque la lettre est l'es-
prit, lorsque la forme l'emporte sur le fond, alors la question
des substituts se pose de facon tout a fait differente que pour
les autres temoins culturels. Par contre autre chose est d'abor-
der ces memes oeuvres plastiques comme temoignages de leur epoque
- par leur contenu figure par exemple. Alors le fond l'emporte
sur la forme et un substitut peut donner le meme resultat, il
peut meme donner un resultat superieur par agrandissement d'un
detail ou de l'ensemble.
Mais une serie de'difficultes apparait, une fois
elimine ce probleme specifique, propre aux oeuvres esthetiques,
et qu'on s'attaque a l'ensemble des temoins culturels, dans leur
signification relative, ou plus exactement dans toutes leurs
significations relatives. En effet, comment restituer la polyse-
mie d'un temoin a partir du moment ou il n'est plus dans son
contexte d'origine, et a fortiori puisqu'on l'en sort pour le
musealiser. Polysemie due au temps qui modifiel'environnement
de ce temoin et surtout Ie regard qu'on a sur lui. Un brasero
portatif utilitaire, maya precolombien ou nigerien contemporain,
n'a plus du tout la meme signification pour les usagers de la
cuisiniere electrique que pour les Mayas d'il y a deux millenaires
ou les actuels nomades du Niger. Un riche brule-parfum rituel
n'a pas non plus la meme signification pour celui qui en res-
pirait les fumees, s'agissant d'une civilisation disparue, pour
celui qui continue a en user dans une religion vivante et pour
celui qui de nos jours Ie contemple hors usage en agnostique.
II en est de meme d'ailleurs pour nombre 'd'oeuvres plastiques
dont les buts avaient d'abord une fonction rituelle et qui de
nos jours, arraches a leur gisement architectural, sont devenues
"oeuvre d'art" lcf. Andre Malraux). La signification en a change,
quoi qu'on en veuille, avant meme qu'elles aient franchi la
porte d'un musee.
Une troisieme serie de problemes appara!t des que les
temoins passent cette porte - ou du moins pas sent des reserves
aux salles d'exposition. En effet, quelle que soit leur nature
- et sauf peut-etre les oeuvres plastiques qui n'ont ete crees
88
que pour elles-memes, ou presque, et qui ne sont pas attachees
a un environnement particulier - se pose immediatement la ques-
tion du "point de vue" qui sera donne pour la perception
(visuelle ou sonore) de ces temoins. La relativisation de la
perception qui faisait deja probleme, voit les difficultes s'ac-
centuer a partir du moment ou les temoins se trouvent places dans
un milieu totalement artificiel. Et en meme temps cet artifice
aide sans doute a la solution de ces problemes dans la mesure ou
tout est devenu possible. Ou bien de laisser Ie temoin devenu
expot s'exprimer seul (cOlnmedans l'ancienne museographie, mais
dans un environnement museal completementn4utre) : c'est alors a
chacun de lui rendre les diverses significations dont il a une
connaissance anterieure. Ou bien de donner successivement au
meme expot les differentes significations dont les specialistes
ont connaissance, par les differents moyens museographiques
appropries.
Et c'est la que se pose Ie probleme des substituts, qui
ne pouvait etre aborde sans qu'aient ete rapidement rappeles
quelques uns des problemes qui se posent par la musealisation
meme d'un temoin.
Questions de terminologie.
A la fin des annees soixante, Duncan CAMERON, repris par
G. H. RIVIERE (1), a classe les differents composants de l'exposi-
tion ou "expots" (exhibit en anglais), en quatre categories :
les choses reelles, les images, les enregistrements sonores et
les ecrits. Parmi les choses reelles (que l'on designe parfois
abusivement sous Ie terme d'originaux), ils distinguent les
specimens (inorganiques ou organiques), les objets (inesthetiques
ou esthetiques : les "artefacts") et les unites ecologigues
(naturelles, culturelles ou mixtes). Parmi les ecrits ils distin-
guent la signalisation, l'identification et l'interpretation.
Parmi les images ils separent les reproductions des expressions
et, en chacune, ils distinguent ce qui est duodimensionnel de ce
qui est tridimensionnel.
Leur classification a ete de grande importance pour aider
a la reflexion museologique, ne serait-ce que par la mise au
point de la terminologie. Elle mele toutefois la nature concep-
tuelle de I' expot , (choses reelles, specimens, identif ication,
interpretation), sa nature physique et technique, et parfois
son support (enregistrements sonores, ecrits). C'est pourquoi,
il serait bon d' aller plus loin dans I' analyse, en essayant
de distinguer la finalite de la substitution et la realite mate-
rielle du substitut. Certes Ie terme "substitut" est connote de
fa<;on plus restrictive que Ie terme "image" puisqu'il implique
qu'une nature d'expot prend la place d'une autre. Mais Ie terme
"image" est lui-meme ambigu, puisqu'il peut s'appliquer aussi
bien a des objets esthetiques reels qu'a des reproductions des
memes objets reels, (la gravure d'une peinture, la photographie
de la meme gravure ou de la peinture originale). C'est pourquoi
l'usage du terme substitut semble preferable, en opposition au
terme chose reelle.
Encore, n'est-ce pas toujours simple de distinguer cer-
tains objets de certaines reproductions de ces objets, un enre-
gistrement sonore d'un autre enregistrement, ou plus generalement
certaines choses reelles de certains substituts. Par exemple,
la repetition d'une peinture par l'auteur lui-meme ou un de ses
disciples est-elle une reproduction ou un objet reel ?
Et lorsqu'on a Ie culte de l'original, quelle attitude avoir
89
devant la quatrieme ou la cinquieme version du Benedicite de
Chardin, dont au moins trois semblent avoir ete executees par
lui-meme ?
Essayons d'y voir plus clair en tentant d'expliciter les
raisons pour lesquelles on realise un substitut, quelle nature
et quelle forme il peut revetir ..
Justifications des substituts.
Lorsqu'on se propose de realiser un substitut, on peut repondre
a des objectifs varies.
1. Ce peut etre tout simplement parce qu'il est impos-
sible de musealiser l'original :
- du fait que l'original n'existe pas sous une forme
visuelle, ou sonore directement comprehensible,
s'agissant par exemple de raisonnements mathematiques,
de structures physiques ou sociales (:seules expres-
sions possibles : des graphiques et modeles duo et
tridimensionnels)
du fait que son existence n'a ete que projectuelle,
ou qu'il a disparu, (reconstitution d'un objet a
partir d'un texte ou d'un dessin, realisation hy-
pothetique d'un site a partir des traces certaines)
du fait de ses dimensions excessives (site naturel
ou culturel, architectures, navires, equipements
techniques de grande tallle)
du fait de l'impossibilite de Ie deplacer (ensemble
de sculptures, reliefs ou fresques solidaires de la
construction qui les abrite) ;
du fait de sa fragilite, ou de sa valeur, qui conduit
a ne pas l'exposer en permanence, offert aux degra-
dations, aux deteriorations ou au vol.
2. Ce peut etre aussi pour faire plus largement connaitre
l'original, fut-ce par une reproduction qui ne Ie res-
titue pas integralement :
- par copie fidele et eventuellement multiplication
approchees'il s'agit de specimen naturel, d'oeuvre
d'art, d'instrument scientifique ou technique; par
multiplication, reproduction du systeme technique, plus
que de l'objet lui-meme s'il s'agit d'un modele tech-
nique, dont l'essentiel ne reside pas necessairement
dans la forme mais dans l'esprit.
3. II est parfois estime preferable d'interpreter l'origi-
nal afin de lui donner une forme plus accessible pour
sa comprehension, par simplification, par arrache, par
grossissement.
4. Des complements documentaires sont souvent requis pour
expliquer une chose reelle par son contexte ou par des
details. Ces complements peuvent etre apportes par
d'autres choses reelles ; mais Ie plus souvent ils sont
constitues par des substituts de natures diverses.
D'autres fins peuvent sans doute etre donnees a la rea-
lisation des substituts en fonction des objectifs que se fixent
la conservation de l'exposition. Les formes qu'ils peuvent ~
vetir sont multiples.
90
Nature et forme des substituts.
Si l'on reprend la classification de Cameron et Riviere,
on distinguera les reproductions et les expressions. A deux ou
a trois dimensions, la reproduction est la transposition la plus
fidele possible de l'original, de la chose reelle, tandis que
l'expression en est une figuration interpretee en fonction de
l'objectif qu'on s'est donne - heuristique, pedagogique, pUbli-
citaire
Dans la categorie des reproductions a deux dimensions,
on trouvera les reproductions de peintures, de tapisseries, de
dessins, de gravures, de photographies, etc ... Selon le cas, la
reproduction peut etre de format identiques a l'original ou
different. Les termes designant les reproductions peuvent varier
selon l'epoque et la technique de reproduction. La OU l'on n'avait
autrefois que la_possibilite de fa ire des copies (manuelles),
les moyens techniques modernes (avec l'invelllion de la photo-
graphie et les progres de l'imprimeriel permettent de faire des
fac-similes que l'on peut. tirer en autant d'exemplaires que l!on
veut. C'est le cas des peintures sur toile ou sur bois, c'est
le cas de tapisseries, a partir de toiles pour imiter les
toiles et les tapisseries anciennes. Pour le dessin, l'execution
en est encore plus simple dont la reproduction s'assimile a une
photogravure - voire a une excellente photocopie si le papier
est comparable. Pour ce qui concerne la reproduction de photogra-
phies les seules qui peuvent poser un probleme sont celles dont
les epreuves ont subi des retouches de la part de leur auteur.
C'est pourquoi avec cette technique d'expression dont les pos-
sibilites de reproduction sont illimitees (et il en est de meme
pour l'enregistrement sonore) la question de l'original, et a
la limite celle des droits de reproduction, devient sans objet.
Les reproductions a trois dimensions sont representees
le plus couramment par des copies sculptees ou moulees (qu'il
s'agisse de statues en de reliefs ou de vaisselle
ceramique), les copies peuvent etre de materiaux differents plus
ou moins malleables et plus ou moins resistants lla pierre, le
bois, la terre, le platre, mais aussi le bronze, la fonte). A
notre epoque le platre et la terre sont de plus en plus remplaces
par les materiaux synthetiques a la fois et resistants
(mais plus limites pour la finition peinte) et par la resine, d
la fois tres.malleables et offrant de grandes possibilites de
finition. Avec ce type de reproduction on peut multiplier les
copies comme on le fait pour les originaux a deux dimensions.
Mais au-dela de la reproduction de l'objet simple, homogene, qui
peut etre reproduit facilement et meme en serie, se pose le
probleme des objets complexes, parures constituees de plusieurs
materiaux, par exemple, mais surtout appareils scientifiques et
machines.
Dans le cas des objets complexes la fabrication des
substituts pose des problemes de temps et de cout de fabrication
a la mesure de ce qui a ete celui des originaux et s'agissant
d'objets qui ont ete en serie, ce temps redevient
celui de la fabrication d'un prototype.
Mais un autre probleme fondamental existe pour les machi-
nes, qui est celui de leur fonctionnement. Nous en revenons au
problerne de l'esprit et de la lettre dans la mesure aU l'art de
la machine, beaucoup plus que sa plastique, merne si celle-ci
n'est pas a exclure, c'est son usage - son "ustensilitc". C'est
pourquoi, si la fidelite plastique est ce que recherchera d'abord
91
le le restaurateur et le stricto
ut:ln,;u, C plut6t la fld,Hita cechniqu... <Ju", r"cll ... rcll ... ru J ' .. Lora
le museographe. Et il s'autorisera toute lutituLi... de
d'achelle de dimension et de pourvu que 10
technique traduit et exp1icublu. C ... st a10rs que
la prend le chemin de
Les expressions etant des creations cl1es peuvent se tra-
duire sous des formes extremement variees, et a trois
dimensions. Outre la mise. plat du mecanisme d'une machine jusqu'.
sa reconstitution dans l'espace, mais dans une forme loqique qui
se distingue de la forme fonctionnelle de l'original, et la traduc-
tion schematique tridimensionnelle d'un assemblage physico-chimique,
d'un processus chimique ou biologique, voire un mathema-
tique ou social, du plus concret au plus abstrait, du simple
au plus complexe, tous les materiaux, toutes les couleurs, toutes
les formes possibles et il serait vain de les enumerer.
De meme en ce qui coneerne le son, secteur souvent consi-
dere comme marginal dans les musees, mais dont ius applications
ont beaucoup plus ete etudies par les gens de l'audiovisuel. Tout
est tellement possible. partir de sons, originaux ou recrees quc,
lorsqu'on parle d'originaux, seule la garantie scientifique peut
attester de l'authenticite. Pour ce qui concerne les expressions
tant dans le domaine du simple sonore que de l'audiovisuel, il
suffit de se reporter. tout ce qui peut se faire d'equivalent
dans la creation pure.
Derniere remarque, en ce qui concerne 1a matierc des
substituts pour objets. trois dimensions. On ne peut eC3rter
comme etant la plus des substitution, meme 5i e1le n'est
que virtuelle, la representation par holographie. Cette image
virtuelle etant d'ailleurs, de statique en train de dcv... nir dyna-
mique, par du cinema holographique, on peut imuginer
desormais un musee holographique non seulement de sculpture,;,
mals aussi de machines en action - avec leur son.
Conclusion.
Il n'en demeure pas moins une question fondamentale. Ce qui
est original pour les uns peut etre substitut pour d'autres (un des-
sin, une estampe), ce qui es.t substitut pour les uns peut etre
original pour d'autres (un original pour l'etude d'une
machine), sans compter qu'une forme et une matiere identique peut
etre parfois une chose reelle, unique (platre original d'un sculp-
teur), une chose reelle en plusieurs exemplaires (tirage du meme
platre en N exemplaires) ou un substitut (copie du meme platre) .
Et lorsqu'il s'agit de photographies ou d'enregistrements magneti-
ques, dont la reproduction est aisee et multipliable a l'infini,
les repiquages peuvent etre absolument identiques a l'original
et reproduits en autant d'exemplaires que l'on souhaite :
la distinction devenant impossible, tout est original ou tout est
copie. Et tout est chose reelle.
(l)CAMERON Duncan, F.A. Viewpoint: the museum as a communications
system and implications for museum education. (Curator, New-York,
v.ll, nO 1,1968, p. 33-40).
RIVIERE, Georges-Henri. Etude des problernes des collections dans
le rnusee conternporain. Universite de Paris, Institut d'art et
d'archeologie, Maitrise, 4e et Se annee, 1970. (cours polycopie).
92
Andre Desvallees, Paris - France
Most of the time the problem of reproductions is only
related to the work of art : a executed bv the
artist himself, a replica executed by one of his pupils or con-
temporaries, or a copy executed years later as a study, or with
the view to providing a market of well quoted works (like
Greek sculptures for Romans of the 1st century or Teniers pain-
tings for the French of the 17 th and 18
th
cen tur ies) .
In order not to limit the study to the heritage
potential I would like to examine the question on a more
general level according to museum material considered
as a whole: namely, is a museum, by definition, a refuge
for originals only ? Can a Science and Technology Museum play
an educational part if it only exhibits originals made untou-
chable and static as works of art ? What can be the pertinence
of the original in a Natural Science Museum? llhat
is an original for an ethnograpnic collection ? All these are
questions which imply that a substitute has neither the same
significance (the same nature) nor the same function for all
museums, depending on their discipline and the educational
role they are given.
If, in general subtitutes are excluded from Fine Arts
Museums which are devotedly attached to the original, they are
a complement in a great number of Natural History, Anthro-
pology and Technology Museums. Theycan even be the main ma-
terial for quite a number of museums (if not the only mate-
rial) , 'creating museums of casts for example. Such is the case
in France for the French Monuments Museum which through casts
of sculpted works tries to bring into museums works of art
which could not be removed from their architectural source.
In the same way one can imagine in any field museums exclu-
sively made up of subtitutes to exhibit, if not to preserve,
significant of the natural environment for a
natural science museum and theater or cinema scenery for a
museum of performingarts in the form of holographic reconstitu-
tions or other two or three - 'dimensional techniques could be
developed.
Without going so far, there are some museums which
mix originals and subtitutes with a certain cleverness that
makes one forget to wonder whether the exhibit is authen-
tic or original.
This is not necessarily the question. In
fact the important thing is first what is expressed or
what is felt by the public and not the medium used to convey the
expression. In a historv or anthropology museum fact is more ,im-
portant than the wi tne'ss_ that expresses i LIn a natural
science museum a good fascimile can be better than an ori-
ginal, which is difficult to preserve.
93
And in a museum of sc ience and technology model inq seems to
have been adopted from the very beginning. Such was the case
in France just before the creation ot the National Technical
Museum and soon after the death of Vaucanson when his first
sucessors began to replace some of the machines he had had built
in order to explain technology by using models built to a
smaller scale and less bulky.
Back to the essence of the museum object.
As an approach to the question of substi tutes it's ne-
cessary to revert to the problem of the museum object or
more precisely "the museum object as a witness". One can't
only keep to the principle that everything can be a museum
object, whether it is a natural or man made creation. There
fore, can one admit that the object as a witness is not
transformed when it enters a museum? And, above all, is it
still appreciated in the same way as when it was in its ori-
ginal environment ?
Of course the question is not of such paramount impor-
tance when works of art are concerned. When we think of a
draWing, a painting, a sculpture as. an element of the ar-
tist production (for the monographic exhibitions
on Watteau, Chardin, Manetor Renoir lately organized in
Paris) or as a landmark in the aesthetic history of art (ex-
hibitions on American painters or Danish painters or Im-
pressionism and the French landscape, presented in the
same place) the museum surroundings given to the works do
not really matter, as long as the environment is neutral.
In fact the important point is spirit. When spirit and letter
merge, when letter is spirit, when form prevails over substan-
ce, then the question of substitutes arises in a quite different
way from that of other cultural objects taken as witnesses. Howe-
ver it's another point to consider these artis tic works as
testimonials of their time - by their represented content for exam-
ple. In this case substance prevails over form and a substi tu te can
produce the same result and even a better one by enlarging a
detail of the whole piece.
But other difficulties arise once we have elimi-
nated this problem, related to aesthetic works,
and when we deal with all the cultural objects as Witnes-
ses, in. their relative significance or more precisely in
relative significations How to restore the poly-
of a substitute once it is no longer in
its original environment and moreover when it is taken out
to be exhibited in a museum. Polysemia due to time which
modifies the environment of this objnct and above all our
appreciation of it. A Precolombian Maya or contemporary
Nigerian portable brazier has not the same significance
for '?lp.t::.t:ric stQve users tcrlay as for the Mayas two thousand
years ago or the tribes of Niger today.
94
A handsome ritual perfume brazier has not the same signifi-
cance for the person of a vanished civilization who breath-
ed the sweet-smelling smoke as for the one who is still using
it in a living religion,and for the person who nowadays
admires it, as a stranger. Such is the case for many plas-
tic works which at first had a ritual function and which
at present, taken from their architectural source have be-
come "works of art " (see Andre Malraux). Whatever we may
think their significance has changed even before they en-
ter a museum.
A third series of problems arise as soon as the objects
(as witnesses) enter a museum, at least as soon as they are
brought from the storerooms to the showrooms. In fact what-
ever may be their nature and exceot for plastic works which
have not or partly have not been created for themselves and
which are not connected to a special environment ; the ques-
tion is posed of the "point of view" whichwill be given for the
visual or sound perception of these Dbjects. The relative per-
ception which already raised a problem is an increasing
difficulty as soon as the objects (as witnesses) are placed
in entirely artificial surroundings. At the same time this
artifice undoubtedly helps solve these problems since
everything is made possible. Either let the object (as a
witness) turned into an exhibit express by itself (as in the
former museography ; but in an entirely neutral museum envi-
ronment) : then everyone has to assign to it thp particular signifi-
cance of which he had a previous knowledge. Or sucessively give the
same exhibit the various significations known to specialists,
by various suitable museographic means.
Here again we have the problem of susbsti tutes which
could not be approached without qUickly calling to mind some of
the difficulties encountered by' exhibiting an object or a
witness.
Terminology
At the end of the sixties Duncan CAMERON - followed
by G.H. RIVIERE classified the various components of the
exhibition or "exhibits" into four categories : real things,
images, sound recordings and writings. Among rear-thinss
which are pometimes called originals they distinguish (inor-
ganic or organic) specrimens, (aesthetic or unaesthetic) ob-
jects : "artefacts" and natural cultural or mixed
uni ts. Among writings they distinguish between signaling, iden tifica
tion and interpretation. Among images they make distinctions
between reproductions and expressions and in each one they. diffe-
rentiate what is twodimentional from what is threedimentional.
Their classification has been of the greatest interest
in museological reflection, if only in a specific
terminology. It mingles the conceptual nature of the
exhibit (real things, specimens, identification, interpreta-
tion) its technical and physical nature and sometimes its
95
support (sound recordings, writings). That's why it should be prefered
to go tUrt;H'r on in the analysis by trying to differentiate
the finality of substitution and the material reality of
the substi tute. I ndeed the term "substi tu te'" is connoted in a
more limited way than the word "image" since it implies that one
kind of exhibit takes the place of another one. But the word
"image" itself is ambiguous since it may apply to real aesthetic
objects(engraving of a painting, photography of the same engra-
ving of a painting, photography of the same engraving or of the
original painting) herefore the term substitute seems prefe-
rable, in opposition to the term real thing.
And yet, it's not always easy to differentiate some ob-
jects from certain copies of these objects, a sound recording
from another recording or more generally some real things from
certain substitutes . For example is a painting replica by the
artist himself, or one of his pupils,a copy or a real object ?
And when one is devotedly attached' to the original what
attitude can one take when facing the fourth or fifth version of
Chardin's Benedic i te when at least three of them seem to have
been .,rocluced by the artist himself.
Let us try to see more clearly by explaining the reasons
for which a substitute are made, what its nature may be and
what form it can take.
Justification of substitutes
Whp.n nne nlans to make a substitute it ma he with va-
rious objectives in mind.
1/- Maybe simply because it is impossible to exhibit
the original :
- Because the original does not exist in a visual or
sound form directly understandable, if for example it concerns
mathematical reasonings, social or physical structures (the only
possible expressions are : graphs ,two or three dimensional models)
- Because it has only been a project or has vanished
(reproduction of an object from a text or drawing ; hypothetical
reconstitutions of a site from reliable traces)
- Because of its excessive dimensions (natural or cul-
tural site, architecture,. ships, large-size technical
mentl
- Because it's impossible to move it (sculptural units,
reliefs or frescoes that are integral with the bUilding which
supports them)
- Because of its fragility or value which prevents it
from beinq exhibited in a permanent way, nue to risks of damage,
deterioration or theft.
2/ Maybe to have the original better known even if by
means of a reproduction which does not recreate it completly :
- by a reliable copy or even approximate duplication
if it is a natural specimen, a work of art, a technicalor
scientific instrument ;
by multiplying a reproduction of the technical
system more than the object itself if it is a technical model,
for which the essential does not lie necessarily in form but in

96
3/ It is sometimes thought better to interpret the ori-
ginal in order to make it more understandable either by simpli-
flying, tearing out one part or enlarging it.
4/ Additional documents are often requested to explain
the backgr:ound of real things, or to enlarge details.These com-
plements can be provided by other real things; but most of
the time they are made up from substitutes of various kinds.
Other -reasons can be found to make substitutes, accor-
ding to the objectives set by the curator of the exhibition
They can take various forms.
Nature and form of substitutes
If we refer to the Cameron and i v i ~ r classification we'll
distinguish reproductions from expressions. The two or three
dimensional reproduction is the most reliable transposition
of the original real object , while expression is an
illustration interpreted in relation to the objective set,
whether an heuristic, educational or advertising one.
In the two-dimensional reproduction category we'll find
paintings, tapestries, drawings, engravings, photographs,repro-
duction ...
Depend:i,ng on each case, the format of the reoroduction mav be different
or identical with the original. Terms used for reproduction
may vary according to the period and the reproduction technique.
While in the past there were only handmade copies, modern
technical means (the invention of photography and printing
progress) make it possible to produce facsimiles which can be
multiplied. Such is the case for paintings on croT'\vas or wood, or
textiles and tapestries from machine woven cloth to imitate
ancient fabrics and tapestries. It is even easier when the
reproduction process can be associated with photogravure or
a high quality photocopy, if the paper is comparable. Concerning
photographic reproduction the only problem which can arise is
when prints have been retouched by the author himself. That's
why this technique of expression whose possibilities are unli-
mi ted (the same applies to sound recording) renders the problem of
the original and even that of copyright purposeless.
Most of the time three dimensional reproductions are re-
presented by sculpted or moulded copies (whether it concerns
sculptures in the round, reliefs or ceramics) copies may be
made of various more or less malleable and resistant materials
(stone, wood, earth, plaster but also bronze and cast iron).
Nowadays plaster and earth are often replaced by synthetic
materials which are both malleable and resistant (yet more
limited for painted finishing) and by resin (both malleable
and resistant) and presenting,.igh finishifig possibilities.
With this kind of reproduction one can make multiples of
copies just as for two dimensional originals. Beyond the
reproduction of a simple, homogeneous object which can be eas-
ly reproduced and even mass-produced we have the problem of
complex objects, for example adornments made with different ma-
terials, but mainly scientific instruments and machines.
97
'As regards complex objects, the cosntruction of sub-
.titutes takes time and is expensive and the difficulties are com-
parable to those of the construction of originals ; as for
mass-produced objects their construction takes as much time
as for the construction of a prototype.
But there is another essential problem which is the
operation of machines We revert to the problem of the spirit
and form insofar as the art of machine, much more than its
plastics even if the latter should not be excluded, is its func-
tion,i ts use. That's why, if the plastic exact reproduction is the
main purpose for the i;orger, as for the restorer and the conserva-
tor stricto sensu and for the museum scholar, it will rather
be the exact closeness to the technical original, that the museo-
grapher will try to archieve. And he will reserve the right to mo-
dify the scale, dimension and material provided the technical sys-
tem is truly translated and explainable. Then the reproduction be-
comes expression.
Expressions being creations, they can take very diffe-
rent forms and more particularly three dimensional ones.
Besides the dismantling of a machine mechanism up to its re-
constitution in space, but in a logical form,' which distingui-
shes it fran the original functional form, and bes ides the three
dimensional diagrammatic translation of a physical chemical
unit, of a chemical or biological process even a mathematic
or social system, from the most concrete to the most abstract,
it's possible to use all materials) colours and forms and it
would be useless to enumerate them.
So it is for sound often considered a marginal sector
in museums whose applications have been thoroughly studied by
alrlio-visual specialists. So many things can be done from original
or recreated sounds that when one speaks of originals only a
scientific guarantee can certify their authencity. As
with expressions in the field of sound or audio-visuals,
one can merely refer to what can be done in the field of pure
creation.
_z, last point about the .material of subtitutes for three
dimensional objects. One should consider holographic represen-
tation as being the most reliable substitution, even if it is
only virtual - this virtual image is changing from a static
form to a dynamic one and thanks to the invention of hologra-
phy one can imagine a holographic museum not only for sculptures
but also for machines in operation with their sound.
Conclusion
There still remains an essential question. What is an ori-
ginal for some people can be a substitute for others (a drawing,
print) and what is a substitute for some people can be an ori-
ginal for others (an original model for the design of a machi-
ne) ; moreover a form and a ma ter ial can sometimes be a real
unique thing (a sculptor's origina'l plaster work) mul tiple copies
of one real thing (N copies of the same plaster work) or a
substitute (reproduction of the plaster work itself).
98
As for photographs, tape recordings which can be re-
produced and multiplied indefinitely, re-recordings can be
identical to the original and reproduced as many times as
necessary: distinction then becomes impossible, everything
is an original or everything is a copy. And everything is
a real thing.
(1) CAMERON Duncan, F.A. Viewpoint: the museum as a communica-
tion system and implications for museum education. (Curator,
New-York, v. 11, n 1,1968, p. 33-40).
RIVIERE, Georges-Henri. Etude des problemes des collections
dans Ie musee contemporain. Universite de Paris, Institut
d'art et d'archeologie, Haitrise, 4e et Se annee, 1970. (cours
polycopie)
99
100
Joury Pischulin, Moskva - USSR
The Problem of the Original and its Substitute as a
Problem of Professional Culture
When the cain theme of our session is being discussed in the
press or among museum experts, the attention is often center-
ed on forgeries and fakes made for criminal or commercial pur-
poses. Museum workers and theorists in the Soviet Union do not
consider tillS aspect topical. The main sphere of our interests
lies wi thin the professional aspects of the thewe "The Origi-
nal and Its Substitute". This is the subject I am .;oing to
discuss in this paper.
allover the world, and Soviet museolosists among
tnem, unanimously regard the original, the authentic museum ob-
jectbearing about the history and culture
of a certain society at a certain stage of its development as
the basis of entire museum activities. The lustorical, scienti
fie, artistic and memorial value of the oriGinal ensures muse-
um's public prestige and promotes its active involvement in the
social life of modern society. There would be no _ :lluseum Vii th-
out the original museum objects. This statement is hard to dis-
pute, I believe, as tLe entire lustory of museum activities in
different countries, as well as modern-day museology and prac-
tice prove. this idea to be true.
However, substitutes are a living reality of modern museum life.
They comprise an important part of museum collections in histori-
cal, art, technical, literary and other kinds of museums and
are widely used in standing and travelling exhibitions as well
as in a museum's educational activities. staff spends
much effort and time to find, acquire or make a substitute for
a museum object. 'rhere are reasons to believe that the tendency
for a wider use of substitutes has become one of the features
of the functioning of culture in modern society.
Any expert concerned with museum activities must surely take
this feature into account, but on the other hand, his position
in any concrete should be based on the totality of the-
oretical notions and practical methods of modern museo'ogy.
101
A substitute of a museum object is regarded by museologists as
an object created to precisely reproduce the external appear-
ance of the original and other important features of its con-
tent and construction.
A museum has to resort to the use of a substitute in the fol-
lowing cases:
--if a museum object belongs to a different museum, arciuve
or an individual, and a theme from the history of a country,
the story of an artistic development or the life and activi- .
ties of an outstanding personality cannot be revealed to the
full and vividly enough without it;
--the demonstration of the original is a threat to its security
or safety;
--the original has not survived (as often the case, for instan-
ce, with antique art, archaeological monuments, etc.); in
this case the substitute takes the place of the orii5inal;
--the original is lost, but there exists a description (ver-
bal or pictorial) which m ~ s it possible to reconstruct it
on a scientific basis;
--it is impossible to use the original because of its dimensi-
ons (for instance, architectural monuments, certain types of
modern teclrnical equipment, etc.);
--the substitute makes it possible to show more convincinbly
the hidden phenomena or processes, I'ihich are iupoitant in
teaching (a museum may display an internal combustion engine
v:i th certain elements made of organic Glass so as to allow
a visitor to see how the engine. works).
We could have gone on t with the list of situations vlhen ile
a museum strives to use a substitute instead of the oric;inal
but it is clear enough,we believe, that the use of copies,
reproductions, replicas, models, etc. is possible, desirable
and sometimes inevitable from the point of view of modern
museologists.
However, all these considerations notwi thstandil1t;;, we rec ogni-
se the original of a museum object as the basis and essence
of museum activities. 1;0 substitute, even created with great
Skill by an expert. of the same material and Vii th the use of
the same technique, cannot i'ully replace the oriGinal. It sub-
stitutes the original only in certain aspects. Besides, a mu-
seUlJ1 must point out which aspects specifically. Substitutes
cannot be used by chance, as a result of hast,y, Groundless
102
decisions.
A special decision be taken on the use of a substitute in
each particular case, on the basis of an analysis of all in-
formation available. In so, a museum employee has to,
as a minimtun:
--thoroU6hly, with convincing reasons, to substantiate the
purpose of using the substitute;
choose its specific variety (type) in accordance with the
museum's plans, nistory of a given ori
6
inal, and documents
available to the curator and.'U:hibitor;
--see to it that the substitute is produced at the hi
6
hest
scientific and professional level;
--ensure its correct usage in the research, exhibition
and educational work.
ilister Peter van I'/lensch in his article "I,iuseums and Authenti-
cities" justly notes that different aspects of museum activity
require different aspects of information borne by the ori-
ginal. The chOice of a substitute for a research work, therefo-
re, is defined by the specific tasks of this research. For
instance, holograms with their hi
6
hly expressive visual qual-
ity create an illusion of the object's real presence, that
is why they are very convenient in the process of cOJ:lmunica-
tion. Sometimes, for out-of-the-museum work, of primary im-
portance becomes the fact that the substitute is easily trans-
portable and accessible.
In all these cases, however, it is a museum employee who be-
comes a mediator between the original and its substitute and
the and a visitor, and the effectiveness and correct
usage of the substitute fully depends on or her professio-
nal SkilLs and practical experience. The problem '''file OriGinal
and Its Substitute" is above all the problem of professional
training and culture of a museum employee.
103
104
Stephen EWeil, Washington, D.C. - USA
Legal Aspects of the Display of Imitations in Museums of Art
in the United States
As used herein, "imitation" means a superficially exact copy
of an original work of art fabricated by somebody other than
the artist {or the artist's designatel in the same scale and
material as the original. Among the rights that must be
considered prior to the fabrication and display of such an
imitation in the United States are those of {al the owner of
the original, {bl the copyright holder, {cl the artist, {dl if
the original depicts a human subject, any person so depicted,
{el the visitors to any exhibition in which the imitation is
to be displayed, and {fl the public generally. In addition,
consideration must be given to whether such a display would
affect the exhibitor's classification as a "museum".
{al The rights of the owner of the original. If the owner is
neither the copyright holder nor the artist--the situation
that prevails for most works of art created and sold in Europe
at any time or in the united states on or after January I,
1978 {when the new federal Copyright law took eifectl--then
the owner's only means to prevent the fabrication of an
unauthorized imitation would be by his control over access to
the original. It has been argued that such control renders
nugatory the right of the copyright holder to make or
authorize reproductions and that a balance ought be struck
between these rights. Concerning the public display of the
imitation, the owner of the original would not, per se, have
any right to prevent it.
{bl The rights of the copyright holder. If the original is
still under copyright and the copyright holder is a person
other than the artist--the situation that prevails for most
works of art created and sold in the United States prior to
January I, 1978--then the copyright holder may at a minimum
{ll enjoin the display of an unauthorized imitation as an
infringement, and {2l claim damages for its fabrication. Also
available may be such further sanctions as the seizure,
judicial forfeiture and destruction of such an imitation and
of any implements, devices or equipment used in its
fabrication. Whether the exhibitor might successfully assert
105
use" as a defense would depend on such facts as who
.'
fabricated the imitation, the purposes for which it was to be
used, and the continuing commercial availability or
non-availability of the original.
(c) The rights of the artist. If the artist (or, in the case
of a recently deceased artist, the artist's heir or
representative) holds the copyright, then, just as in the
instance above, he may enjoin (1) the display of an
unauthorized imitation, and (2) claim damages for its
fabrication. Moreover, whether or not the artist holds the
copyright, he may be able to prevent the display of an
unauthorized imitation in New York or in any other state
enacting a moral right law similar to New York's recent
Artists' Authorship Rights Act. This proscribes the public
display of a work of art or any reproduction thereof in an
altered or modified form. The artist's assertion that the
most minor inaccuracies of an unauthorized imitation
constituted a modification of the original and that such
modification was damaging to his reputation might well be
sufficient to establish a cause of action. (While California
and Massachusetts also have adopted moral right statutes in
recent years, the artist would have no such remedy under these
since only the physical alteration of an original work of art
is actionable in those states.) As another remedy in New York
and elsewhere, the artist might be able to require that his
name be disassociated from such an imitation even if he cannot
prevent its display. Finally, there is a possibility that the
artist may claim that the display of an unauthorized imitation
is an effort to "pass off" somebody else's work as his, i.e.,
that it constitutes a deceptive practice. Gilliam v. American
Broadcasting Companies, Inc., 538 F.2d 14 (2nd Cir. 1976),
which dealt with the unauthorized editing of a television
program created by the Monty python comedy group, involved
such an analysis. The further telecasting of the program was
enjoined under Section 43(a) of the federal Lanham Act on the
grounds that it misrepresented the product of those who
originally created it. Whether the Lanham Act could be
applied in this way to the unauthorized display of an
imitation work of visual art remains undetermined.
(d) If the original work depicts a human subject, the rights
of the person so depicted. Unless the person portrayed has
consented thereto, he may have to prevent the display
106
of an imitation through the right of privacy or the right of
publicity. Under the latter, the heirs of such a person might
also have a similar remedy given a recent trend to treat the
right of publicity as surviving an individual's death and
descendible. While a 1984 California statute extending this
right for fifty years after death includes a specific
exception for an original work of fine art, this exception
would not apply to an imitation. Thus, an original oil
painting of the late actress Marilyn Monroe might be exhibited
by a museum in California but the display of an imitation
would support an action for damages by Ms. Monroe's heirs. In
the case of a work that is defamatory of the person portrayed,
however, no such distinction need be drawn. The display of
the imitation should not result in any different result than
would the display of the original.
(e) The rights of visitors to any exhibition in which such an
imitation is to be displayed. If the exhibitor of such an
imitation, whether through misleading allegations or
concealment, induces persons to visit such an exhibition in
the belief that they are to view the original and they thereby
suffer some detriment, then the exhibitor may be held liable
in a civil action for fraud. Consider the instance of a group
of tourists induced to travel on the representation that they
are to see the original Mona Lisa when the object they are
shown is, in fact, merely an imitation.
(f) The rights of the public generally. Beyond serving as the
basis of a civil action for fraud, the fabrication and display
of an imitation for deceptive purposes may also be treated as
an offense to the public generally and prosecuted under the
criminal_laws of fraud, forgery, simulation or counterfeiting.
A subtler problem is raised by tqe imitation that is
fabricated in good faith but could potentially find its way
into the art market where it might be passed off as original.
In New York v. Wright Hepburn Webster Gallery, Ltd., 314
N.Y.S.2d 661 (Sup. Ct. N.Y.Co. 1970) the Attorney General of
New York asked the Court to prevent (as a public nuisance) the
sale of paintings created by one David Stein "in the style of"
Braque, Klee, Miro, Chagall, Matisse and Picasso on the
grounds that Stein's name could easily be removed and the
paintings thereafter sold as originals by those masters. The
107
to do so on the grounds that this had not yet
occurred. Also, the fact that some individuals might
subsequently be injured did not raise the defendant's conduct
to the level of a public nuisance. Attacking this same
problem and citing the damages done by the circulation of
imitation art, Professors Albert E. Elsen and John Henry
Merryman of Stanford University proposed in 1979 that all
countries adopt laws to control the fabrication of such
imitations. In the case of paintings, drawings, fine prints
and other two dimensional works, they would require that all
reproductions be at least 25% larger or smaller than the
original. In the case of SCUlpture, they would require either
a change in the medium or a substantial change in scale.
While such a solution might ease the danger of potential
fraud, in some jurisdictions it would raise a moral right
problem to the extent that.a reproduction of a work of art
might thereby be displayed in "altered" form. Finally, if the
exhibitor was under some publicly-imposed disability from
displaying the original (if it was pornographic, for example,
or displayed some federally protected image such as the Red
Cross), he would be at least equally disabled from displaying
the imitation.
The classification of the exhibitor as a "museum". Assuming
all of the preceding difficulties can be overcome--i.e., that
an institution is able to fabricate and display imitations
with the full authority of every interested party, without
deceiving the public, with adequate safeguards that such
objects will not enter the stream of commerce, and without
otherwise disturbing the public order--how would this affect
the exhibitor's classification? To take the most extreme
case, could an institution be classified as an art museum if
its collection consisted wholly of imitations of original
works of art currently extant in art museums elsewhere? Under
the ICOM definition of 1974, to be classified as a museum an
institution must acquire and display "material evidence of man
and his environment." It is unlikely that a collection of
imitations would be accorded the same evidentiary value as a
collection of original works of art.
rules of the American Association of
If the accreditation
Museums were applicable,
classification as a museum is also questionable. Essential is
.108
the ownership and utilization of "tangible objects". These,
in turn, are defined as having an "intrinsic value to science,
history, art or culture.
museum's stated purpose."
[that] must reflect.. the
It may be deemed that imitations of
extant works of art have no "intrinsic value" in an art museum
(although the case might be wholly different in a museum
for example, with the technology of reproduction).
Such an imitation-filled institution might well be
disqualified from obtaining certain tax benefits or from
participating in various grant programs intended to benefit
museums. At the other extreme, the presence in a museum's
collection of a relatively small number of imitations would
most likely be considered inconsequential.
In summary, under the laws of the United States the
fabrication and display of imitations of works of art (and
particularly of works of relatively recent origin> pose a
number of legal considerations which ought be anticipated
before an institution embarks on such a program. An
institution that is given over wholly or substantially to the
collection and display of imitations may be engaged in a
legitimate educational activity (or even, as in the case of
Disneyland, in providing a relatively harmless form of
entertainment>, In all likelihood, though, it cannot be
classified as an art museum.
L'Abstrait
Traduit par Valerie J. Fletcher
Des aspects legals de l'exposition des imitations dans les

musees d'art aux Etats-Unis

La fabrication et l'exposition d'une imitation peut avoir des
aspects legals en ce qui concerne: a) celui qui possede
l'original, b) celui qui possede les droits d'auteur, c)
l'artiste, d) celui qui depeint, si l'original depeint un
personnage, e) les visiteurs a l'exposition ou l'imitation
s'expose, et f) La pUblique en generale. A part de ces con-
siderations, une institution dans laquelle La preponderance
des objets exposes se compose d'imitations peut manquer sa
classification comme un musee d'art et, donc, peut ne pas se
rendre capable de quelques avantages.
109
110
Contributions to the symposium
Sub-topic No.3
Typology of substitutes
Contributions au colloque
. Sous-theme no 3
Typologie des objets substitutifs
111
112
Wojciech Gluzinski, Wroclaw - Poland
Typology of
1.0 Pursuant to point of pressnted in part I: Originals
versus substitutes, the problem of substitute typology seems
to be a rather soholastio issue. 3ut this does not a
total negation of the role of substitutes in museums. I ad-
mit, only oertain types of substitutes of
!ar fW1ctions.
2.0 I distinguish two functions in 'nhich originals in the
role of substitutes (3.1, 3.2) and two others in which sub-
stitutes used in the striot sense, i.e., obj:ots produ-
oed often from substitute ,4.1,4.2).
3.0 In the oase here disouseed the substitute of
nals is on the taot that in a partioular exposition
assemblage in whioh tffiy are inoluded, they are to represent
not themselves but something beyond
waiohis not at all a material thingi3.1) or is suoh a thing
but belongs to a different oultural system from a substitute
whioh it replaces (3.2).
3.1 An original is an eluoidating-oomplementing function: origi-
na'! A faoilitates the. understanding ot the sense ot another
original B (or a set ot originals), a ssnse whioh is not di-
reotly legible in the veTy matter ot objeot B, if originsl
A allowa to hold original B in a tangle of relatioos in whibh
it wa. originally entangled, relations oonstituting a situa-
tional baokground of its functionini. This gaokiround, as a
temporal-spatial and relation struoture is subjeot to passing
and is not any more aooessible to direot observation. In spe-
oial oases, however, it oould have been preserved in ioonio
eiuns and thus arrested in time. We speak here ot original
ioonographio mHteriala with original photographs included.
:hese mat erials, used in the here di sousE;ed tunction, do not
primarily represent themselves (their produotion technique,
formal properties, position in the siquence) but
a relation struoture ot the situational baokground
in ioonl0 signe and this role invests them with the oharaoter
113
ot a substitutll.
3.2 An original in thll function ot a speoies or typological sub-
stitute: the missing A ot a temporal t
n
index is
replaoed by a morphologioally identical almost identioal)
original B ot a temporal t
p
index. Index t
p
indioates that
original B it denoted i8 later (i.e., younger) than original
A, demoted with the t
n
index. Used here are relio forms pre-
served in later (younger) tormations either due to a natural
exhaustion of development possibilities of objects of a par-
tioular (e.i., simple tools), or due to a oultural
baokwardness ot-a sooial irouP in isolation.
4.0 Substitutes in the strict namely objects produoed con-
temporarily and used at expositions in of ob-
jeots. They appear in two tunotions: the reoonstruction (4.1)
and the model tunotion _(4.2).
4.1 The substitute original A in the reconstruction
function is objeot B - a reoonstruotion ot objeot
and this may inolude one of two possibilities: (1) only trag-
ments of object A ha!e been preserved, (2) object A has not
been preserved at all but traces ot its use reoognizable in
other objeots (e.g., traoes of tools inths processed mate-
rial) and- oertain comparative data (e.i., ioonography, tools
ot similar use belonging to ori&inal oultures) allow to re-
produoe its structure. Depending on initial data the proba-
bility ot otructural oonformability batween obje0ts a and B
will be larger or smaller and the reconstruotion will be oer-
tain or hypothetioal.
4.2 The substitute in the modal tunction is object A whioh is an
illlita'-ion in a smaller scale or in a substitute material ot
the original objeot (or an assemblage ot objects) B, existing
outside the museum, linked with the natural substratum and
having consideraole dimensions (buildings, urbanio projeots,
seperated units, eto.). The task assibned to
models 1s the ot the exhibited assemblage ot
original museum objeots with an image ot a supe-
rior entity with whioh these objects were originally linked
eithsr funotionally (e.g., arohitectonio interior
equipment) or (tor example, geological speoimen).
5.0 It is obvious, ot oour8e, that I retrain trom discussing sub-
114
atitutes in the role of replacing originals of a great mate-
rial value and, additionally, unique. An e",hibitad substituioe
replaces the original whioh tor reasons ot security rests in
the strong-room of the museum. But this problem is less of a
methodological than rather of a teohnioal nature.
11 5
116
Iva Maroevic, Zagreb - Yugoslavia
SUBSTITUTES FOR U ~ u OBJECTS
Typology and Definition
Substitutes for museum objects are as old as the co-
llections themselves. \'Ie find them in the distant past, for in-
stance in the collection of paintings and sculptures of Eume-
nes II in J'ergamon, which was made up of both the originals
and copies of the masterpieces of Greek art. The copies Ivere
exhibited to follow the integral line of development of Greek
i1rt. \ie can see that the copy as the substitute already at that
time sp.rved to improve the efficacy and range of contp.nt of
presentation, as;well as tQ achieye certain goals regarded as
. "scientific and educational". Moreover, if Ive remember Hadrian's
villa in Tivoli, thp.n we see that there the substitutes of the
original buildings, placed in the chosen environment, meant a
certain reconstruction of natural and architectural features
of an environment, to enable anybody to compare and enjoy the
specific spatial qualities. Hadrian's villa was practically an
open-air museum of classical architecture, where among others
Aristotel's Liceum and Platon's Academy, copies of Egyptian ca-
nals and the Temple of Alexandria with other replicas had been
reproduced in reduced size.
Without going into the details of the historical analysis
of the apnearance of substitutes, we can say that the establi-
shed rp.lation between an orir;inal museum object find a substi-
tute is very complex. It is different and specific if we ewta-
117
blish it in a rnuselUU collection, in a museum clovumentl1.tion and
scientific basis which serves as, a base for museological rese-
arch and museological work in r;enerRI, or if we establish it
at an exhibition in communication with visitors. This last re-
lati.on is perhaps the most frequent, though not without nny in-
fluence of the former two variants. The estabEshed relation
in communication with visitors at a certain stage denotes a do-
se of authenticity which a substitute takes over, or the same
relation stresses the differences which are noticable and pre-
sent to such an extent that it is not advisable to hide them.
If we close this retrospect survey with the iclea of A.
l"!alraux's j.magin'1ry museum, as the museum of conceptions repre-
sented by means of twodimRnsional pictures of ohjects, then we
can place the appearance and aplication of photofraphy, film,
holoc;raphy and many other technical achievements and nids into
the category of substitutes too, thRt is into the cntei::ory of
those objects which serve in a "1USelUU to present and clClcnment
thR museal reality authenticated by true reality, or, conVAr-
sely, to enable us to realise the unity of objects Rnd reality
outside :'\nd inside of n museum. This unity is mDde imnossible
by the temporal and spntial climensions of the existence of o-
bjects in different places at the same time. This naturally do-
es not eliminate any specifics of the museal and true reality.
If we the relation between a museum object and
its substitute from this aspect, then 8 certain typology can
be sne;gested. The motiv'1ti.()TI and criteria for the typCllogy are
primarily in the purpose, that is,the reason for the occurren-
ce of a certain substitute, ilnd in the possibility of achieving
the adequate stage of exactness of a substi tute cnn be
obtained in certClin situations and with certain materials. On
118
the basis of such premises, the typology of substitutes has
four types:
1. Copies which are made in the museum in order to nro-
tect the originnl ohject, or when it is impossible to hring
the original object to the museum. In other words, if we have
,a precious object or an object ,,hich requires spec:i."al protec-
tion and cannot exhibit it in unsuitable or insufficiently
suitable rooms, then a maximally exact copy-replica can be ma-
de to substitute for it in the exhibition. This must be more
or less explicitly stated. The original object however be
accessible to specialists, but under a special regime. On the
other hand, if we are preparing an exhibition is to in-
clude objects that are the of other museums or are
inbuilt "in situ" within the structure of a historical buil-
ding, then we can start to make copies of the object that we
EIre unable to borrow or transport. Copies be made to meet
the requirements of the unity of the exhibition.'This type in-
cludes also ohjects fDom the museum of castings or copies of
I'lall paintings m:1de in the museum and motivated nrimarily by
educational and comparative reasons. These substitutes, too,
give an exhibition a form of museal reality.
2. Copies which are made as the reconstruction of da-
maged or lost objects. In this case a direct and a true repli-
ca cannot be taken into consideration, but a creation which
is corrected considering the extent of the damage of the ori-
ginal object or the lack of all relevant data ahout the lost
object. Such reconstructions are made to make possible compa-
risons, a visualisation of certain theoretical hypotheses, or
the estRhlishment of the developmental sequence of ever.ts. They
are often used as orir;inals. Architectural strl'ctnres fire also
119
reconstructed in this way and used in the museum function. For
instflnce, objects in open-air museums, or antenna objects in
eCO-rnuseums, etc.
3. Original l'!1useum oh,jects collected hecause they ,/ere
made as copies of cert0in objects in their real-life size, as
"lodels or scale models of certain architecture, as enl.'lrged or
diminished parts of the reality or of some object. They are
not made in the museum but are collected as a result of an in-
terest in this form of human activity. These are substitutes
of original objects but ',lith the museological "Il'alue of an o-
riginal.
4. Original objects which are substituted by using ano-
ther kind of expression ann medium. It means that we
explain spatial objects in a twodimensional way. These are
photographs, slides, hollograms, video, films, etc.
Let us attempt to give a definition.
A substitute for a museum object is the object which is
made in the Museum or for the in order to give the most
correct possible image of the museum object, or of an
object with museological characteristics and importance outsi-
de the primo.rily to protect the original object, to
make it Availahle for exhibition, eduaation or comparison,
,-,hen Ive i'!re not in a position to exhi bi t the original ohject
in the "luseum. 'l'he definition covers -only one "Dart of what lie
can subsume undAr the denominlJ.tor of a substitite, but this
is the main ann essential part.
The terms '-/hich are often usedja.re the follow:Lnp;:
- the cnpy is a true reproduction of .'l museum object or
an 0 b,i ect Oll.tSi. de th.e !'IUS enm ',/hich vie \iant to pres ent in the
120
museum (mostly, but not necessarily, in the material),
- the reconstruction, which can refer to a museum object
and to a piece of architecture, tries to recreate the appearan-
. . -
ce of the oricinal object in its state before it was damaged
or lost,
- the model, which does not substitute for the object,
the image of the object in its real-life size, diminished
or enlarp,ed, with the aim or some or con-
structive elements of the original,
the scale model is the kind of model \vhich is primari-
ly used in the presentation of architecture, relief, environ-
ment, or settlement.
These are just a few hints about the problem and they
can only serve to a discussion about the nature and the
definition of substitutes. They are orientated primarily to
the characteristics of and art museum objects,
so that the considerations of technical and natural history
museums are not uovered here.
121
122
Peter van Mensch, Leiden - The Netherlands
Towards a typology of copies
Not all objects that look alike are strictly speaking copies. Three
groups of objects are not considered as being copies although the
resemblance is high:
I Objects produced at the same time, in the same way;
II Models and model-based objects;
III Photographic, lithographic and other prints.
The first category deals with (almost) identical objects, either
hand-made or mass-produced: multiple, duplicate. They are not copies
since there is no original.
The second category deals with a relationship between objects that
also cannot be described as original - copy. Painters make sketches
as preparatory studies for paintings. Ship-builders make models before
building a ship. Exhibition designers make models and mock-ups
before realizing an exhibition. Engineers and designers develop
prototypes before they consider mass-production.
Sometimes the model gets lost during the production process, like the
wax model in the "cire perdue" casting technique.
The third category deals with prints. Prints are "model-based". The
"models" are the etching, woodcut, lithograph, negative. Although
many prints can be based on the same "model", their resemblance can
differ considerably. Photographic prints from the same negative can
not only differ in tint, tone and contrast (not to mention special
techniques such as solarization, distortion, etc.) but also in size.
Similar to the negative - positive relationship of prints is the
mould - cast relationship.
In categories II and III the "originals" (models, negatives) are
definitely made in order to be copied. The "copy" is the maker's goal.
So the use of the terms original - copy is somewhat confusing here.
It is however interesting to notice that models/prototypes/preparatory
studies can have special value. A sketch can have an artistic value
in itself apart from the final artistic product. This is not the same
with engraved copper plates, photographic negatives, etc.
123
"Genuine" copies presuppose originals. Copy and original can only be
defined by their mutual relationship. The original is the example that
is followed more or less faithful. As to the resemblace between original
and copy two groups of copies can be distinguished:'
A original exactly reproduced
B original not exactly reproduced
Exactly reproduced means a high degree of resemblance as to image,
materials, construction and scale. In this typology the intention of
the maker of the copy is not relevant. Very faithful copies made
with malafide intentions are usually named "forgeryll of "fraud
ll

What seems relevant for further specification, especially of art

objects, is the time-criterion combined with the maker-citerion:
1 copy made during the life-time of the maker, by the maker or
his (her) assistants or pupils. This type of copy is called
"replica" by Chatelain 1979.
2 copy made after the life-time of the maker.
Although not exactly reproduced objects can also be made during or
after the life-time of the maker of the original, I propose a different
classification. In this category we are dealing with a lower degree of
resemblance. Since the image is generally speaking the essence of an
object, further differentiation within this category is based on the
degree of resemblance as to image:
I combination of quotations from different originals, regardless of
materialS, production method, scale, and date of manufacture. This
category of copies is called "pastiche". Copies made with malafide
intentions -are called "plagiarism".
2 image not exactly reproduced:
a as artistic comment (paraphrase, parody),
b completed or restored to an original state (reconstruction),
c partly reproduced.
3 image not exacly reproduced:
a scale not exactly reproduced (model, maquette),
b material not exactly reproduced (reproduction, wax model, plaster
cast, electrotype, photocopy, hologram, anastylosis).
To complete this typology one more category of objects should be mentioned:
copies without originals. These objects are described in my paper "Museums
124
and authenticitis" as "free copies" or "stylistic copies". Not one single
object is copied, but a style (for example Van Meegeren's Vermeer-forgeries)
or even a hypothesis (for example the Oera Linda Chronicle, Piltdown jaw,
Behringer Lugensteine) .
To summarize:
I Objects produced at the same time, in the same way (without
example).
II Models and model-based objects:
1 preparatory studies - final products,
2 prototypes - mass production;
3 objects of which the original model gets lost during the
production process.
III Prints and casts:
1 woodcut, lithograph, etching, engraving, etc. (plates and stones -
prints) ,
2 photographic negatives - prints,
3 moulds - casts.
IV Copies:
A original exactly reproduced:
1 during the life-time of the maker, by the maker or his
(her) assistants or pupils,
2 after the life-time of the maker,
B original not exactly reproduced:
1 pastiche,
2 image not exactly reproduced:
a as artistic comment
b completed or restored to an original state
c partly reproduced,
3 image exactly reproduced:
a scale not exactly reproduced,
b material not exactly reproduced.
V Free copies
125
Terminology (survey)
126
I
II
III
IV A
IV Al
IV A2
IV Bl
IV B2a
IV B2b
IV B2c
IV B3a
IV B3b
V
multiple
duplicate
double
model
maquette
mock up
preparatory study
prototype
negative
mould
print
cast
copy
reproduction
imi tation
torgery
traud
replica
studio piece
copy
replica
tacsimile
pastiche
plagiarism
quotation
paraphrase
parody
interpretation
comment
reconstruction
model
quotation
model
maquette
replica
reproduction
tacsimile
(wax) model
(plaster) cast
electrotype
photocopy
hologram
anastylosis
tree copy
"Freie F!ilschung
lt
stylistic copy
studio piece
school piece
Domenec Miquel i Serra & Eulalia Morral i Romeu,
Sant Cugat del Valles - Spain
1. nrior considerations.
Original and
An o0ject arrives at the museum can 0e considered to
consist of parts:
a 'nucleus' of (1), that lacks
a process of creation, use and that is
a period of disuse in its oriinal
function a passage through other functions
ends, . for the time ,. in the museum. It is
the "experience" of the object,now ,in the musaum sto-
ped, despite the fact that it can be occasionallJ
marked physicall:', it becomes largely intanF.ible.
It is clear that the object we will never be
understood coopletely, and the understandin" of i t Je
different for every Observer, whether this is on e
plain or on a more complex plain that involves
informz.tion and, to some extent, an emotional
I"hatever the case, contemplation of the ob.ject in the
museUQ involves a new factor, which is distance. This dis-
tance be tGoporal or Jut it is interposed
inevitably us and the object and implies an added
value distort the authentic offered.
:"nen .J _ ,
.... t' . .
on v2e a we a
z.dded value does not e:dst; there is no (:istance,
;)ecause of this the o;)server is often disillusionee-.
"Ihile the material used for t:le su;)sti tute
m:ly coincide '/lith that of tee original o')ject, and in some
cases t2le process - Nhich ma:- ')e a CO);; of ano-
ther original process but without 'creation' in its true
sense -, the contextual fucctions will never coincide.
Conte::tual function e:;:ists i!2 a sU0stitute Jut it
is c.ifferent. The r!lo::ent we use of t::is functior..
"\'le are 5u.,)stitute z-s an ori;:;inal ..
(1) ':Ie u.se the ':nG.terial' not in its strictly physical
".Jt:.t as .:..n 'essence' 0: t:le ';l:let::er it
is ..
127
1.2. SU0stitute the Museuo
referei1ce to t::e i!ltroc..uctiol1 of a into
o';ser'ler ------;, o';.ject -------. 'llemor:'
2 cifferent of are
Jet-.-Ieen tute I the a:1C;.
er:
sUJstitute
J)
is to say: e. su';sti tute c<:.n 0e usee. in a ::luselto to
refer to an oriirinal (su:Jsti tutiUT its TJ':"sical lJresence'
- - - ... - ..
or to refer to :nemor:' (sUJ.?ti tutin::y t,:e docu::!e.-:tal
v:l.lue of oriGinal 0::' I i::1 other l'IOrc.s I us.i::C t::e
ent of t:1e ori:;:-ine.l t:le su:;sti tute).
128
2.
to tnose to our
".,.,r: ,:.re To;:
"'-_..... - - 1,,1 __ ,
c':"f:ere:ltis::e ir: co:.:.t!"i:;v.te- to t:::e es"tE:';-
li.s:ment of B. cleB.I'
/.
:::... I :his is (?), a oroQuct of
2. 'Jrocess of fO::'rJ2..tion or \,!:':ic'h no ','re.."":1 , i!!vol-
ves t1:e con:.'".
::.Ju;-;sti tute. ,:";o::let::in:7. t::'z.t Z'eula.ces =.::ot:-:er tl:in$:' in a.
soecific use. In our case iu a wuseum, which is
!etely divorced froe the use conceived for the original
that the substitute replaces.
2.3. i';od.el. 6omet\1in!1: that serves as an ob,iect of imitation;
is to say: the nature of the model exists as a
::'unction of the copy. It remains, therefore, well differ-
entiated from the original, which stands by itself,
or may not also be eventually taken as a model.
To reoeat, which is to do the S2me thinE 2 or
more consecutive times. believe that an idea of exact-
itude and some form of routine is implicit, an absen-
ce of idea of creation.
2.5. JeproQuction made by the author of the original,
and to which is Franted practically the same value, desp-
ite the fact that it sprinGS from a will that is more
Imitative th&n creative. the fact that it often
includes Qetc,ils vll:.ich differentiate it from the primi tive,
that the expressive lancuaEe of the author is not copied
but and that the contextual value is the same
- !lon-intentional information can vc.ry - \'Ie tend to cons-

ide_ form to the oricinal than a CO?y
.' ') )
,- understand as 'object' whole
ution of and. (V.
of
110.
evol-
,..,\
( "
129
to enother domin-
nere is for
tive ect to tee
iC:e a of s ervilit:' \:::'ere tl':.e
ac::ievement o! imitation.
creo-.-
,; i tl::in t:':'e COIl::, ::O\'lever, lie believe various f or:ns c<:.n :;;e
c:.istinruis:J.ec.:
2.5.1. racsimile. This is a co'!):" t takes as its model not
only of the or;"inal 6J;ect but the
nrocess of the same. They can be consider-
ed in a cs double co?ies, al tl':. our:: , in real-
it;, c':>:[lies wl:ich ::ollow tec'ini Ques (.".1i te di'::'e:::-ent from
are often called facsiwiles.
2.3.2. Imitation refers, on the other hand, to the final
an':)earance of 0";);; ect cOlJied totall:' disre["arc.ing
the wcy this was achieved. It is a mechanical
CO?y which takes aseptically the volume, outline ,colour,
etc.of the nodel.
2.6.3. Re1Jroduction, finally, means 'to do acain' and incJudes
au im1Jortant content of re-creation and also nrevious
reinterpre.tation of th,e c_hosen. .orildnal. Th,ismeans that
falsification is more likely as a result of emphasizing
or forGetting concrete aspects of the model and the use
of hypothesis II:::'en the model is frar:nented.
?eproductions can function inside the sarne communication
channels as the model, whether it on the same scale
or different - a painting of a paintinG, sculpture of
a sculpture, :naquettes of sculpture or arc::'itecture,
photographs of photOGraphs ... or in various channels:
reduction from dimentions to (photofraph or
of a three 0:2ect), cuanre of colour
(colour - etc.
3. intentions
Inside the Eroup of orifinals ve find o:jects of many
types - and immaterial - that we jelieve
should be taken into
,3D
3.1. The oriGinal
- in culture: a of
intervention of the author or it is fully differ-
from
in the aobi t of i:ature: any echolorical [roup or any
macifestationof Nature as a group is unique, but we
refer to the parts, even inside the individualization
,roper to all livinr beinfs, we don't consicer them unique
unless they are aberrant cases (cases with malformations,
etc.)
in the cultural ambit, we consider as repeated
a) oricinals in series, normally numbered and signed by
the author,and lithographs, sculptures, etc.
carried out during the life of the author - ell of
impressed in some way by the direct intervention of the
author, even if it is only at a level of supervision. If,
however, they are drawn after the death of the author,
they are considered as facsimile copies.
b) originals that are unique because been made
individually, but they are the same as others done before
a."ld be f.ollo\!ed by others that are similar.
,ie consider them as or.ie:inals -;)ecause the similitude.
them is the result of a search for functionality
and not for an imitating design. are ;;,sllall:;
influenced the very personel intervention of the
author. In reality these 'repeated orir,inals' form part
of a lineal evolutive process where the eleoents are mod-
ified only in keeping with a closer to the
function; Ue also include in this [roup pieces are
manufactured but numbers,
. "
a."ld also ritual acts which be said to suffer a
process similar to that which we have just
mentioned.

most of t::e: eleI:lents of the natural arr1'::>i t ('eolofY, flora,

131
,
c::'a=a.cteris -;;ic
; - rea' ; S .. p,.., "'C' ... I e I or .;.._ _ LC. c.. .... c::._..:_
cateGory of in. almost unlimited quantities
\-li thout <:.n;' i:1C.i vic:.ue.l C'.if.ferentie. tion. Lll of 'Les e <:.re
CO:lsumer [OO0.S.
4. Stf)sti tutes; t:7.l010-:" a:lcl function".li t:';
In cases \!2.lere. tie oriCi:le.l o::J.ject is considered fundamen-
tal within the and objectives of the museum out is
not available
- because the material has been lost
- it is icpossible to
- it consists of fui immaterial oririnal the
only way of fixing .it is on a register, which, therefore,
is kept at the same time as the substitute.
4.2. Substitutes of use.
3ecause of the problems of working with tie oririnals this'
is the most common. In fact it is the result of e. certain
contradiction in the aims of the museum: to conserve and.
diffuse. In ord.er to Euarantee [ood conservation (includ-
ing security), tne museum is obliged to use substitutes of
use for its diffusion work, whether it be a simple ?resen-
tation with didactic aims or a work of investiration and
consultation. In these cases tie substitute (normally a
pnotorraph) appears as a step on the road the

..'1- 1 c'; r' ec'" \.; t, '.'''; c'u ; e eve-tu" 11,. il'ev; t
.L.-t'._ c._) __ v _.l./e;;, "" ', __ , "-_ ........ ... c . ..' _ _-
a'01e.
substitute is also an ideal solution in situations
v;here it is imposible to \-li th the orit:inc:.l, for
reasons of weir-ht, etc., or it can simpl; a
reference from Duseum to or croups situated
elsev/!lere.
L' A
;" ,..J
132
substitute
This offer itself both as a function of the interior
of tie museua for purposes of
or a the for
the :;Jur:>oses of
- discourse of

"'c) _..r. .1. 4 1.1, .;. __ .:. .... c:. .... ... c.I.I , .... v
- o..ocume=.tz.tion
':l ... "
evc.)
( ... c....; OJ u __
ori;inal t.b.e
4.4. of
is to offer to all the of
outsice t'oo museum as l'lell as inside the museum and in
a more tirect form, the elements of the collective
patrimony (sale of copies of all types), or else to
prooote the museum itself and extend its cul turs.l offer
publications, photosraphs, etc.,)
" 5
.... . Substitute-ori>.inal
On occasions it is particularly difficult to estab-
lish the limit 'Jeti-!een the substitute and the original.
,';ecite the following examples:.
- substitute corresponding to inexistent original or
one that differs considerably froo the oririnal (mocel
of a or a sculpture [roup that was never con-
structed., a sl:etch of a painting" that has changed in
the course of execution.. )
'- substitute for a theoretical original, i-Ihich in reality
is the materialization of an abstraction that has inter-
est to
( 'he cat' ) 1.1.:.- , u .;.........) C In fact it is in part the
hypothetical reproduction and in the original.
- substitute 'for evasion' of the ori[inal either because
successive restorations bas
been [radually chanred by elements introQuced to main-
tain its or because the original is impos-
to keep in its entirety (live heings).
133
134
DomEmec Miquel i Serra & Eulillia Morral i Romeu.
Sant Cugat del Valles - Espagne
1. Quelques
1.1 Original et substitut.
Nous pouvons considerer l'objet comme il arrive au
ayant deux parts indissolubles:
un "noyau" de (1), qui n'est pas intentionnel.
un processus de usage et amortisation, que
d'habitude est suivi d'une de non-usage quant a
la valeur originale, en passant par d'autres
valeurs pratiques, dont la sera, pour le mo-
ment, le ll!Usee. C'est la forI!!e de vie de l'objet, qui
dans le musee s'arrete et qui est presque
encore que, occasionnellement, elle peut l'avoir mar-
que physiquement.
La conception que nous avons de cet objet, que nous ob-
servons, ne sera, eVidemment, jamais et elle
sera differente pour chaque spectateur, bien sUr;
resterons donc, soit avec le simple concept materiel, ou
bien nous serons capables de mieux.saisir
cOntextuelle nous offre et, en une certaine mesu-
re, son contenu
Quoi qu'il en soit, du moment meme que la contemplation
se produit, elle se trouve par un nouveau
facteur qui la distance. Une distance peut etre
ou culturelle, mais qui s'interpose inevita-
blement entre nous et l'objet, et qui l'entoure d'une va-
leur additionnelle, qui peut arriver a distorsionner
autnentique qu'il offre.
Quand on parle de substituts, par contre, cette valeur
n'existe pas: il n'y pas de distence. C'est pourquoi
le substitut produit souvent ce sentiment de desillusion
du D'autre part, si le cas arrive que
(1) On ne se sert Pas du mot dans le sens stric-
ter:o!:t physic:ue, ;nais oo=,e "essence" ceme de I'ob-
jet, soit corpore soit ir.:tangible.
.35
la utilisee peut coincider avec l'objet original, et
meme dans quelques cas avec le de fabrication - qui
est a son tour une copie d'un autre ori-
ginal, mais sans qu'il existe "creation" dans le sens llIeme
du mot -, il n'y aura iamais.de coincidente en ce qui concer-
ne l'icpression qu'y y est evidente mais tout
de meme bien Du moment ou l'on voulait faire usa-
ge de cette on serait en train d'utiliser le subs-
t1tut original.
1.2 Le substitut le Musee.
Pour ce qui concerne l'introduction.du substitut dans 1e
processus de communication du musee, et partant du .schema
suiva..'1t:
objet -"",::,memoire
on peut considerer de deux differen-
tes de relation entre substitut, original et spectateur:
a) substitut original
/d::.
b) spectateur :> substitut ? mecoire
C'est a dire: un substitut peut etre use dans le musee comme
reference a un original (substitution de sa presence physi-
que), aussi que pour remcttre a 1a memoire (substitution de
1a valeur docltmentaire de l' originel ou, en d' 2.utres mots,
en utilisant lc contenu de I'original a travers du substitut).
136
2. Sssai de
Dans la relation de mots que nous
quelques-uns d'entre employes synonimes dans
notre lang:?ge commu.."1, nous <lvons essaye de fs.ire ressortir
ces relations-la, qui, a notre les differencient des
autres, afin de contribuer a d'un lexique
bien clair.
2.1. Original. C'est l'objet (2) prinitif, d'un procede
de formation ou de creation, aui n' jal!l2.is la conie.
2.2. Substitut. C'est ce cui remnlace une autre chose; i' en
la place dans un usase determine. Usage
dans notre cas, qui pourtant n'a rien a voir avec l'usage-
raison d'etre de l'original remplace par Ie substitut.
2.3.Modele. Ce aui sert comme objet d'imita.tioni c'est a dire:
la nature du existe en fonction de la II res-
te done bien different de l'original, qui existe parce que
il est la,et qui peut servir comme modele,
au besoin.
2.4. R.epetition. veut dire au' on f2.it U!!e chose deu:{
fois ou nlus, d'une consecutive. II en resuIte, se-
lon nous, une idee d'exactitudeet une ma-
nere, de routine, ou l'idee de creation f2it absence.
2.5. Replique. P2I le meme auteur aui a fait
Blle re9ait pratiquement la
encore qu'elle !Jravient plutot d'u.."le
que non creative. Par le seul que souvent elle a des
details qui :La rendent differente de la primitive,
langage expressif de l'utetcr n'est pas copie mais
que Ie
. ,(
spon-r;a.ne,
i'Tous cOr:lprenons corrJ;',e o'Qjet
I'evolution de :La D2.ture et
"n'importe c,uel
,., ,'h -" (If
..... e _ .L
teooin de
135. Leiden 7)
137
et que la valeur contextuelle est la meme - ce qui peut
varier c'est l'information non intentionr-elle -, nous som-
tentes a comme une forme plus
proche de l'original copie.
2.6 Copie. Quelaue chose f,c,ite nour ressembl er UIle autre chose.
recherche de la similitude est, dans ce cas, le trait
qui implique une certaine id6e de servilisme, de
absolue de l'action creatrice pour raison de la
ressamblance.
Dans le domaine de la nous crayons pouvoir
distinguer plusieurs formes:
2.6.1 Fac-siffiile. C'est la conie cui orend corose non seule-
1 de l'objet orieinal. ma;s aussi son
de fabrication.Dans une certaine mesure il pourrwt etre con-
sidere comme double copie meme si dans la pratique on
qualifie souvent fac-simile des copies qui proviennent
des techniques bien differentes de celles des originaux.
2.6.2 L'imitation se par contre, a finale de
l'objet independantment de la pour l'atteindre.
La plupart des fois, c'est UIle copie mecanique, prend
le volume, le relief, la couleur etc. du

La renroduction, enfin, sianifie
l
cr6er-de-nouve2cu", at el
1
e
contenu de re-cr6ation et aussi, d'avance
une de l'orizinal choisi.
Cela signifie done, de possibilit6s de fausser, par le
fait de d6tacher au bien oublier des aspects concrets du mo-
et aussi d'introduction quand Ie
est
Les reproductions peuvent avoir lieu d3ns le meme
avec Ie meme au non du - peinture
de peinture, de maquette de sculpture
ou d'architecture, photographie de photogr:,p!lie ...
01.1 un divers: reduction de 3 a 2 (pho-
tographie ou dessin oojet changement
138
de couleur (couleur - bin), etc.
essai de
Dans Ie groupe des originaux, on Deut trou''er des objets de
differentes sortes - et imcateriels -, dont il faut
tenir compte:
3.1 L'original
dans Ie monde de la culture: produitd'une intervention
forte de l'auteur/s, la rendent
a fait different de n'importe autre.
dans Ie monde de la nature: tout ensemble ou
chaoue manifestation de la nature ensemble sont uni-
pour ce est part,
dualisation propre de tout etre vivant, nous ne les consi-
derons pas comme originels excepte dans des cas
aberrants (des etres etc.).
3.2 L'original repete
dans le monde de la culture, nous considerons origi-
nal repete:
a) lesorigi
naux
de serie, habituellement numerotes et si -'-
nes par l'auteur, realises la vie de l'auteur:
litographies, gravures, sculptures tout est
tible d'avoir eu une directe de l'auteur,
ne fut ce qu'au niveau de supervision; d'autre part,
s'il s'agit de tirages posterieurs sa mort, nous les
comme des copies
b) les originaux sont uniques parce qu'ils sont faits
individuel1ement, mais qui sont egaux a d'au:res ante-
rieurs et qui seront suivis pareils.
Nous lee originaux parce que la similitude
entre eux est Ie resultat de la recherche de la fonction-
nalite et pas du desir D'habitude, ils ont
aussi intervention de l'auteur. En
realite, ces originaux repetes partie d'un
evolutif lineal de l'objet, ou tous ses elements se Dodi-
fient, t ouj ours er:. fcnction d 'une rr:eilleure ad:::.pt2.tion.
139
NOU3 aussi dans ce groupe les prOCed8ntes
des faprications de serie, mais qui sont nuoerotees individua-
lisees, ainsi que tous les actes rituels, dont on peut dire
qu'ils subissent un pareil a celui dont nOU3
venons de parler
Ie monde de la nature, la plupart de ses elements (geolo-
gie, flore, faune).
3.3 qui, en realite, n'est accepte que
"!I!odele" 01,1. "type" caracteristique, presque co=e une abstrac-
tion d'une categorie d'objets repetes en quantites presque in-
finies et sans qu'elles aient individuellement aucune differen-
ce: ce sont les bi.ens de consommation.
4. Substitutsj t'{uologie et fonctionalite.
4.1 Substitut-memoire.
Dans les cas ou il n'est pas possible d'avoir l'original de
l'objet que l'on con3idere la thematique et
les objectifs du musee
par sa perte
- POttr impossible de l'obtenir
- parce qu'il s'agit a'un original immateriel, dont la seule
maniere de le fixersoit sur un registre qui, bien sUr, le
conserve tout en 1e en meme temDS.
4.2 Susbtitut d'usage.
C'est le commun, a cause de la difficulte que
souvent le fo.it de travailler avec c.es origim'.Ux. En eL'et,
c'est le resultat d'uno certaine contradiction qu'il y a dans
le but du musee: c ol".servati.on et d. i ffusion. La e;arantie d 'une
bonne conse:'vaticn (surete incll,1.e), oblige le musee a se se'vir
de substituts POttr sa diffusion, 30it pour 180 soule pr0sentation,
soit surtout pour la manipul3tion avec fin didactique, ou.au
travail do c0nStute et d'investigation. Dans cos derniers cas,
le substitut (d'habitude la conToe un pas
dans 1e cneoin vers un original, 1e cont2ct direct avec cct
140
devient inevitable.
Le substitut apr-arait aussi une solution convenable
les situations ou i1 est impossible avec
des originaux, pour des raisons de voluee, de poids, etc.,
ou simplecent de reference des le des objets ou
ensembles places dans d'autres endroits.
4.3 Substitut de cornnlement.
Il peut avoir lieu. en fonction des fonds du pour
effets du contexte, comparaiscn ou typologie, aussi bien
pour appuyer des originaux memes
vis a vis du discours.expositif (contextuation, presen-
tation des entourages, information supplementaire )
vis a vis de la (sur meme, sur
l'auteur, l'epoque, etc.).
4.4Substitut de divu1aation.
lis substitut;l k.. d:j.vulgation permettent offrir a tous
la possibilite de jouir, aussi bien hors du et de for-
me plus directe, des elements du patrimoine collectif (vente
de copies de toutes sortes), aussi que de promouvoir le.mu-
seeet en faire extensiv'? l'offre culturelle (publicite,
editions photographiques, etc.).
4.5 Substitut-original.
Il Y a des fois ou il est vraiment difficile d'etablir la
limite entre et original; voila par
substitut correspondant a un original inexistent ou
differe considerablement d'un edifice. ou groupe
sculptural qui ne s'est pas arrive a construire, esquisse
d'une peinture qui a ete variee au cours de son execution... )
substitut d'un original theorique, qui n'est, r;n realite,
120 d'une abstraction qui interesse com-
me document pour inclure dans le discours expGsitif. ("le
Chat"; "1e bri.sa..'1.tin" ) En fait, cela r;st en partie U!1e
reproduction hypotetique et en partie originale.
141
3ubstitut "par del'original, soit parce que
au fur et r::esure a fait des restaur::>.tions, la
originale a change peu a peu cause des ele-
ments introduits qui leur apparence, soit
parce qu'il s'agit d'originaux tout a fait impossibles
de conserver dans leur (etres vivants).
142
Petr Sulei', Srno - Czechoslovakia
Betore getting into matter of my contribution, I feel
that I should precise some ot the terminological obscurity
of which the consequences might make the understanding of this
problem difficult. In the first place it is necessary to explain
the correlation of some terms frequently used as synonyms,
even though they are different terms. I have in mind terms such
as originality, authenticity and identity. Especially mea-
ning ot the term" original" is very vague and it is expected
that there is no dispute as to its content.
However, I would like to make a few comments on this pro-
blem in the very context of museum work where its application
has many specifics. Above all, id is necessary to recall that
the term" original" is in no case a constant, static unit. It
is a dynamic term, in this case originating from the movement
of its functions and meanings, The object must be original with
regard to something, it must originate from something, it must
. represent a certain reality in a metonymic Therefore, tor
the museum worker, painting representing a certain
artistic reality a indiViduality of the author is just as ori-
ginal as a rhotograph showing a historical event. Both ot these
artifacts are on the level ot original documentation. their
museum function is clearly demarc.ated in the formation of col-
lections. Therefore, in this function, originality is condi-
tioned not only by the origin of the object itself, but, at the
same time, by its' place in the structure of museum activities
according to the following spheres :
(1) Structure of semantic and intentional bonds
(2) Structure of emotional bonds
(3) Structure of ideological bonds
(4) "Museality" ot the object and its representative ability
(5) Extent of semantic loading of the object in the pro-
cess of presentation
It sHould however be mentioned that the position of the
object delimited by these spheres is not completely identical
143
in all the museum functions. If spheres (1) and (4) are accen-
tuated in the structure of the collection proper most of all,
then, in the structure of the exhibition they are spheres (1)
to (5). is quite comprehensible if we realize that domi-
nating in the formation of collections is the museum worker -
- thesaurus worker and representative of museum application
of the respective discipline; in the formation of exhibitions
it is the museum worker - presenter communicating through the
exhibition loaded with an interpretation function. It could be
one and the same person, since it is in the very mutual con-
ditional character of both processes that the specific proper
of museum work is firmly rooted. However, this brings us to
the term - authenticity.
I understand authenticity as the originality of the object,
i.e. originality of the matter and form; at the same time I find
it necessary to prOVide necessary data fixed to the object and
around it. It is thus a term which merges with the term origina-
lity in many professional studies. From the museum point of
view it should be mentioned that in the sphere of
there is a very strong bond with the atmosphere which in some
way itself necessarily afflicts the authenticity of the object;
e.g. if, at the present time, a historical building is placed
in a modern town, if its historical enviroment has disappeared,
then, it is true, it cultures this modern enviroment in a wel-
come way, but simultaneously it seriously affects the authenti-
city of the object proper.
In contradistinction, identity is the identity of the object,
i.e. the optimal place ( actually existing in its history) in
the systems of historical, social and economic bonds. The fin-
ding of the identity simultaneously anticipates the finding of
all binding connections and their merging in the object, along
with the finding of the mechanism of the effect on the user. It
is not only a finding but also a fixation and the operations
connected with it, and also publicizing the ,nost valuable items,
viz.most frequently and most effectively in the form of direct
presentation.
Therefore the object must be placed into the network of
these bonds and relationships and its unchangeable place must
be fiwed and this material must be presentationally utilized in
144
museum exhibition work. The museum is capable of disclosing and
reconstructing also some bonds and realities already extinct
which, of course, strengthens the identity of the object. At
this instance we might object that such intervention could even
damage the authenticity of the object. However, it must be un-
derstood that authenticity cannot in the least be comprehended
as the contemporary state of the object. On the in
order to strengthen the authenticity, it would be useful to re-
move later applications of innovations and deformations.
We can see that there is a very strong tension between
the teo terms. This tension is extremely useful as it increa-
ses the topicality of the object in conditions which must en-
sure the stability of the system. Weakening of any part of the
system evokes a state of lability and thus many consequential
difficulties as well. The weakening of authenticity of the ob-
ject is very reflected also in the state of iden-
tity and by weakening or not applying the viewpoints of identi-
ty it is not possible to assert the qualities of the authenti-
city of the object.
That is why, in this connection, the problem of substitu-
tion and imitation is so important. Seemingly, every application
of these techniques decreases the authenticity of the object in
an effort to increase the identity of the exhibition. However,
that is merely an illusory loss. since the substitution of des-
or missing elements can emphasize the authenticity pro-
per of the object, no matter if new techniques and technologies
are used. Exceendingly sensitive however is the degree of these
interventions. If it is a complete copy or reconstruction, the
authenticity is naturally very poor and we must proceed to in-
terventions which would make the system al least partly stabile
( conservation, using authentic details fnr completion). In
general. copies and reconstructions in exhibitions always streng-
then the identity 01 the object while fully respecting the authen-
ticity. And, at the same time, full use of the authenticity of
the object, fully respecting it, its emotional utilization. are
an ideal base for determining the identity.
If we are now to deal with the classification of substitu -
tes, I will limit myself to presentation work and the formation
145
of exhibitions. The commercial use of any copies and maquettes
falls into a different sphere of museum work and is primarily
regulated by the principles of museum publicity activities, the
economic conditions of their existence, participation in com-
merce, and common esthetics, to say nothing of problems of mu-
nicipal law which considerably differ in the various countries.
However, I consider the sphere of utilization of these sub-
stitutes in presentation activities of museums to be the domain
of museologists, so that is why I would like to analyze it at
least roughly.
When speaking about a ~ of an object, I mean a duplica-
te ( not necessarily a contemporary one ) of an existing authen-
tic object. If such a substitute is used in presentation activi-
ties of the museum it is, as a rule, brought about either by
efforts nrit to expose the object to danger, or by the fact that
the object is simply not available at the respective institution
Therefore, it is not a falsification, ~ though such an object
could be misused.
\ replica is basically understood to be a "repeated" origi-
nal by the same author. It is thus no substitute; however, we
are sometimes at a loss when determinig the dividing line between
replica and a new wirk of art. In the sphere of the naturalities
this term is Virtually non-existant.
A reconstruction is a planwise creation of a substitute" on
the base of an authentic object which does not exist any mote.
On the one hand, reconstruction is based on indirect documents
( descriptions of the object, illustrations, results of scien-
tific analyses ) and, on the other handm on relics of authentic
objects ( fragments, posherds, imprints etc.). In its importan-
ce in the exhibition system it comes close to the authentic
object. It it is that the authenticity of such an object is
very poor, but very important in this case is the emotional sti-
mulation of perception giving the object a kind of " substitu-
ting " authenticity.
A maguette is merely an external imitation of an authentic
object in liIferent scales. A maquette in a 1 : 1 scale evokes
a resemblance of this artifact to copies and reconstructions.
"hereas in copies and reconstructions we try to imitate or
146
147
reconstruct the original function of the object as well, it is
not necessary on the maquette, and often not even desirable
(e.g. maquettes of modern weapons used in theatres and museums;
on the contrary, in such instances it is necessary to prevent
their misuse ).However, in the structure of the exhibition, the
maquette can successfully represent the authentic object, if
only its appearance.
Close to a maquette is a model of an object. The model is
also formed in various scales in dependence on its intended
function. In museums there are, as a rule, two reasons for -
king and using models - a) when authentic objects are very lar-
ge and cannot be preserved in their original site, b) when it
is necessary to represent the function of the object which can-
not be seen on the authentic object. An example of the latter
could be a ,nodel of a turbine, made in such a way so as to
enable to observe how it works, including the internal mecha-
nisms otherwise hidden from view. In t9is case however, the
object must be taken as an original object with regard to its
specific demonsration function.
Altogether specific are counterfeits, imitations, plagia-
risms, and falsifications which are created with the intention
to deceive the reeeptor; in this role other substitutes can be
misused an/or authentic objects of less value. The aims of these
efforts may vary; however, from the ethical point of view, they
are always unacceptable.
When summarizing my considerations, I come to the conclu-
sion that the position of substitutes in exhibitions varies, or,
to be more exact, that the standard of their functions is diffe-
rent. In the collection; the substitute documents itself, viz.
namely the tendencies leading to its origin, i.e. the technology
used, a kind of philosophy of substitutes with interesting per-
meatbns into contemporary social consciousness. Somewhat con-
sciously exaggerating, we can thus refer to "authentic" or, if
you wish, "original" substitutes.
In exhibitions must be applied for substitutes similar cri-
teria as for authentic objects. From the theoretical point of
view it represents especially the consideration of the enthropy
and redundance of the object, what is very important for deter-
minig the semantic, ideological and esthetic capacity of the
object.
148
Petr SUlei', Smo - Tchecoslovaquie
Avant de me consacrer au theme-meme de ma contribution,
j'eprouve ln de preciser certaines obscurites termi-
nologiques qui pourraient dans leurs consequences rendre la
comprehension de cette problematique uifficile. Tout d'abord,
il faut eclaircir le rapport mutuel de quelques termes utilises
souvent comn:e synonymes, quoiqu' il s' agisse des notions diff'e-
rentes. J'ai en vue les termes "l'originalite", "l'authenti-
cite" et "l'identite". Surtout le terme "originel" est utilille
dans un sens tres vague et son contenu semantique est suppose
indiscutable. Je voudrais commenter ce probleme directement
dans le contexte museal ou son application se distingue par
plusieurs traits specifiques. 11 faut rappeler avant tout que
la notion "()riginel" n'est aucunement une unite stable, inva-
riable. 11 s'agit d'un terme dynamique resultant dans notre cas
du de ses fonctions et sens. L'objet est originel par
rapport a quelque chose, i1 doit issir d'une certaine situation,
representer une certaine realite de fa90n methonymique. rour
un travailleur de musee, un tableau de Vermeer representant
une certaine realite artistique et le cBractere de son createur
est un original aussi bien qu'une photographie temoignant d'un
evenement historique. Les deux artefacts se situent au niveau
de la documentati()n originelle, leur fonction museale dans
l'exposition est clairement determinee. Dans cette fonction,
l'origina1ite est done conditionnee non seulement par l'ori-
gine de l'objet en question mais aussi par son emplacement
dans la structure des activites museales donne surtout par les
faits suivants:
1. Structure des relations semantiques et intentionnelles
2. Structure des relations emotionnelles
J. Structure den relations ide()logiques
4. de l'objet et sa representativite
5. de charge semBntique de l'objet dans Ie processus de
1a presentation
11 faut rappe1er que la position de l'ohjet, delimi-
149
tee par les facteurs ci-dessus, .. n' est pus identique dans toutes
les fonctions rnu::;ealE:s. Si l'on accepte, d::ms la structure de
la collection, surtout les points 1 - 4, dans celIe de l'expo-
sition ce sont les points 1 - 5. Ceci est comprehensible si
l'on que dons la creation des collections c'est Ie
de musee - thesauriseur et representant de l'appli-
caticn museale de la discipline scientifique en questir.n qui
domine la situation, tandis que dans la creation des expositions
il s'agit j'un travailleur de specialise dans la presen-
tation et communication par 1 'exposition dotce de la fonction
:j'intE:rpretation. II peut s'agir d'un meme travailleur car
c'est justew.ent dans Ie rapport conditionne mutuellement des
deux proces"us que repose la specifici te du travail museal. Ce-
, ., ,
Ie nous amene cependant vers un terme SUlvent - celul de 1 au-
thenticite.
Par l'authenticite je comprends l'originalite de l'objet,
c'est-a-dire l'originalite de Ie matiere et de la forme tout en
considerantndcessaire d'assurer une quentite adequate de don-
nees concernant l'objet et son contexte. II s'agit doncd'une
notion qui, dans beaucoup de travaux specialises, coincide avec
celIe de l'originalite. II faut rappeler que du point de vue
r:.useal il existe, d8n" Ie domaine de 1 'authenticite , un lien
tres fort avec Ie miJieu qui, f.orcement, influence j'une fa90n
ou j'autre l'euthenticite de l'objet - p.ex. si un ttiment
\1istorique est aujourd 'hui situe dans une ville moderne et son
milieu historique a donc disparu, Ie milieu moderne en est
rendu plus culturel mais en mgme temps il trouble gravement
l'authenticite de l'objet en question.
Par contre, l'identite est la place optimale de l'objet
/existent reellement dans son histoire/ dans les systemes de
rapports historiques, sociaux et economiques. La decouverte de
l'identite suppose Ie devoilernent de toutes les relations et
leurs influences sur 1 'objet ainsi que la connaissence du me-
canisme de leur influence sur l'usager. En plus, il ne s'agit
pes seulement de la decouverte mais aussi de sa fixation et
des crerations relatives ce processus air.si de la publi-
cation des composcntes de plus grande valeur, Ie plus souvent
sous forme de presentation directe qui est la plus efficace.
11 faut donc plucer l'objet dans la filesse de ces liens
et rapr:orts, fixer sa place ininterchangeable et profiter de
ce materiel dans la presentation du travail du musee relatif
aux expositions. En meme temps, les musces ant la pcssibilite
de devoiler et de reconstituer merne certains liens et reelitee
150
deja disparu ce Qui renforce l'identite de l'objet. lei, on
que ces ingerences peuvent, Ie css echeant,
cnrrompre l'autllenticite de l'objet. il faut se rendre
compte de ce c.ue l'authenticitc ne doit absolument pas
con9ue comme l'etat actuel de l'objet. Au contraire, pour Ie
renforcement de l'authenticite il est utile d'ecarter les ino-
vations et defor!llatiol:s ulterieures.
II exinte donc une tension tres rrononcee entre Ie" deux
tcrmes. Une tension qui est extremement utile, car elle 8u6mente
l'actualite de 1 'objet dans les conditions qui doivent assurer
la stabilite du systeme. L'affaiblissement de n'importe quelle
partie du systeme signifie l'instauration d'un etat de lat.ilite
et entraine toute une pleiade de problemes consecutifs. L'af-
faiblissement de l'authenticite de l'objet se ret'Hte d'une fa-
9cn defavorable meme dans l'etat de l'identite et l'affaiblisse-
ou des points de vue de l'identite empechent de
profiter de la valeur de l'authenticite de l'objet.
r'est pour cette raison que la question des formes de sub-
stitution et de remplacement renresente dans ce contexte un
important. Apparemment toute utilisation de ces
techniques diminue l'authenticite de l'objet, en recherche de
de l'identite de l'exposition. Ceci n'est cepen-
dant qu'une perte apparente, car Ie remplacement des elements
detrui ts ou manquants peut accentuer I' authenticite de I' objet
, A
-meme, meme si des techniques et technolobies nouvelles peuvent
y entrer en jeu. Cependant, la mesure de ces ingerence est une
affaire de haute sensibilite. Dans Ie cas d'une corie absolue,
Ie cas echeant d'une reconstruction, l'authenticite est natu-
rellement mini me et il faut recourir a certaines ingerences
pour rendre Ie systeme au moins partiellement stable Itraite-
ments de conservation, remaniements de couleurs, completisetion
par les details authentiques etc./. En general, on peutdire
que l'utilisation des copies et des reconstructions dans les
expositior.s sert toujours au renforcement de l'identite de
l'objet tout en respectant l'exigence de la sauvagarde de son
authenticite. Et en meme temps, l'exploitation complexe de
l'authenticite de l'objet, son respect maximum et son
tion emotif'nnelle forment une base ideale pour la determination
de l'identite.
En classifiant les objets de subntitution J8 me bcrnerai
au domainc du travail de presentation et de Ie creation
car la questicn de l'exploitation commerciale des
c 'pies et maquettes eventue11es appartient jans un autre do-
151
maine du travail museal et ob61t surtout aux principes de la
propagande de l'activite des musees, des conditions economiques
de leur existence, de la participation aux activites de la
sphere commerciale et se conforme a l'eathetique generale,
S8ns prendre en conderation les questions juridiques generales
qui d'ailleurs different essentiellement de pavs en pays.
Je Is ouestion de l'exploitation des substituts
dens l'activite musea1e de presentation comme un domaine des
muse10gues et c'est pour cette raison que je voudrais l'analyser
8 1a
En par1cnt de 1a copie d'un objet, j'ai en tete Ie double
Ipos necesaairement contemporainl d'un objet exis-
tant. Si cet objet de substitution est utilise dans Ie travail
muse?l de presentation, c'est surtout pour 8viter que
coure le risque d 'etre eneJommage pendant l' exposi-
tion ou bien, l'objet question n'est pas, tout
a la disposition de l'institution. II ne s'agit done pas d'un
faut, quoique l'abus de l'objet cree de cette fa90n ne soit
pas exclu.
La repligue est en principe un original O'repete", cree
par le meme auteur. 11 ne s'agit donc pas d'un materiel de
substitution, cependant il peut y avoir la confusion en deter-
minant les confins entre la replique et une oeuvre nouvelle.
Ie domaine des objets de la nature, ce terme n'apparait
praticuement pas.
Par la on comprend la creation d'un oejet
de substitution :i' apres un plan qui doit imi ter un objet .au-
thentir;ue deja disparu. La reconstruction s'appuie d'une part
aux documents indirects Idescription de l'objet, illustration,
resultats d'une analyse scientifique/, d'autre nart aux restes
des objets authentiques Ifragments, tessons, empreintes etc.I.
Dans Ie synteme d'exposition, elle s'approche, par sa capacite
semantique,de l'objet authentique. 11 est vrai que le degre
de de cet objet est tres bas mais un role im-
portant appartient ici a la stimulation emotionnelle de la per-
ception qui confere a 1 'objet une sorte d' aut:1entici te "de sub-
stitution".
La maoue.!:..t.!1. est une imi taticlU purernent exterieure de
l'objet et pouvant etre confectionnee a des echelles variees.
IJ est clair que c'est justement la maquette a l'echelle 1:1
qui implique 1a proximite de cet artefact des copies et re-
constructions. Vais tendis que les copies et reconstructions
tendent a l'imitatlon ou reconstitution de Ie fonction 0rigi-
nelle de l'objet, ceci n'est pas necessaire et parfoiR me me
pas .:Jesirable pour les maquettes /p.ex. les r.laquettes des
armes modernes utilisees aux theatres et dans les mUSeeSj la,
il faut au contraire empecher l'abus de ces objets/. Par son
apparence, la maquette peut avec succes remplacer l'objet au-
thentique dans la structure de l'exposition.
Le modele s'approche partiellement de la maquette. Lui
aussi peut etre a des echelles variees depenJant de la fonction
prevue. Dans les musees il y a deux raisons de la creation et
utilisation des modeles: a/ les objets authentiques de dinen-
sions trop grandes ne peuvent pas etre conserves dans leur
volume primitif, b/ il faut demontrer Ie fonction de l'objet
qu'on ne peut pas-contempler sur l'objet authentique. Comme
exemple du second type peut servir le modele d'une turbine
confectionne de qu'on puisse suivre son travail y inclu
les IDecanismes interieurs qui sont normalenent caches. Dans
ce c:as, on peut cependant- concevoir cet objet comme orie.;inal,
vu sa fonction de
Une place 8 part appartient aux faux, imitations et
giats qui sont fabriques avec l'intention de tror.lper le desti-
nataire. M@me d'autres objets de substitution, le cas echeant
les objets authentiques de moindre valeur, peuvent etre abuses
pour ce but. Les objectifs de tels efforts peuvent etre varies
mais ils sont toujours inadmissibles du point vue ethique.
En resumant reflexions j'aboutis a l'avis que la po-
sition des objets de substitution dans les collections Jiffere
considerablel!!ent de celIe des objets dans les expositions ou,
plus exactement, elle differe au niveau des fonctions. Dans
une collection, l'objet de substitution documente soi-meme,
donc surtout les tendances menant a sa naissance, la technolo-
gie ut11isee, une sorte de philosophie des substituts penBtrant
d'une fS90n interessante dans la conscience sociale contempo-
raine. Avec une certaine exageretion on peut done
parler des objets de substitution "authentiques" ou, si vous
voulez, "originels". l'exploitation de ces collections
pour les buts de presentation dans ce role specifique et quel-
que peu bizarre n'est pas exclue.
Cependant-, dans les expositions il s'agit deja du rempla-
cer.lent des objets authentiques. lei, il faut poser les memes
criteres pour les objets de substitution que pour les objets
authentiques, c'est-a-dire suivre la paire partiellement a
conflict des liens semaniiques et intentionnels, definir les
ideologiques et suivre les possibilites de
. 153
des donnees dans le cadre du tableau
Je 1 'exposition final. Du point de vue theorique, cela repre-
sente avant tout le jugGment de l'entropie et de la redondance
de l'objet ce qui est essentiellemtn important pour determiner
les capacites seT-antiques, ideologiques et esthetiques de
l'objet et pour juger les possibilites et limitesde l'exploi-
tation de l'objet dans toutes les dimensions de cette capecite.
154
Contributions to the symposium
Sub-topic No.4
Substitutes - the implications for the work of museums
Contributions au colloque
Sous-tMme no 4
Les objets substitutifs - les implications pour Ie travail de musee
155
156
Marianne Bro.Jergensen, Viborg - Denmark
Copies are always second best compared to original museum ar-
tifacts. That is the case in any function within the museum and
also in relation to the public and the surrounding society.
It is an amazing experience to see the difference in approach,be
it from a group of youngsters or old people, to an original,
somewhat rusty viking age axe, that they are hardly allowed to
touch, and a beautiful, extremely correct copy of a viking age
sword, that they can not only hold, but sWing in the air.
The fact, that something is genuine, genUinely old, that it
has survived through the ages, that it represents a direct con-
tact to a person from the ancient times, who made or used the
object, creates a very special aura around things, that cannot
be explained rationally. Nevertheless it is there,and it must
influence the way museum people go about making exhibitions,
educational and cultural activities.
It means that a museum, to fulfil its purpose, should always
exhibit a certain large amount of original material, that edu-
cators should use a certain amount of original museum objects
in their work. It should be done, not to slowly wear down the
collection through violent or steady use, but on the contrary
to create through the irrational respect for "old things" a
deeper respect for the ingenuity, skill and care, that lie
behind the objects. Through the original objects we learn some-
thing about the people of those days, about their feelings and
desires, and it is possible to teach even people of todays
use-and-throw away generation to be careful and to admire some
of the things, embodied with so much skill and ingenuity.
That is the one function, that copies can never fulfil, unless
they are presented as something that museums have
rejected long ago.
In documentation, education, exhibitions and other ways of com-
municating with the public it can be necessary to use these se-
cond best museum object. Under the condition that you tell
people that you are using a copy, it can even have certain ad-
vantages.
157
An object can be so fragile, that it cannot be exposed to the
light and varying climate of exhibition-rooms. A copy of the
object can be the only way of exhibiting it and therefore bet-
ter than nothing. Strictly speaking that can of course be said
about all museum object, at least if you ask the museum con-
servator, but in most museum staffs it is possible to find a
balance between fnagility, exhibition conditions and communi-
cation in order to limit the amount of copies to the absolutely
neoessary.
It can be a matter of a very rare object, that per definition
belong in the National Museum, but it may also at the same time
constitute a vital piece of information about the culture and
life of a certain region or small locality, and therefore be-
long in the regional or local museum as well.
Here a copy illustrates better than pictures or texts, and again
theD2 is the additional advantage of having a copy of the excep-
tional objects in case the original is lost (through theft, fire
or atombombs and the like).
In the educational. area copies have the advantage of being ro-
bust. Especially concerning implements, whose function you want
to demonstrate, it is important that they can stand being swung,
beaten against eachother and against other material.
An experiment to show the ability of flint- and bronze-axes to
cut down trees, would hardly be thinkable without copies. A
child grown-up visitor gets a better knowledge of fighting
from being able to hold, cut and
thrust with a copy of a bronze-age sword with its short hilt
than from ever so many drawings and words.
Copies have a function, that they share with the recontruction,
another of the communication media available to museums.
Both media make us see in detail and consider deeper about the
things we copy (or reconstruct), and that deeper insight can
eventually increase our knowledge about the primary object and
the society, that it was part of.
Copying and reconstructing can be an attempt to repeat the pro-
ces that originally created the object. It is through attempting
to reach the exact replica of the original that one can at ti-
mes get a glimpse of the tecnique and skill, that overcame the
obstacles in the past. How they managad.t to grind flint axes
smooth as baby cheeks, how they cast the bronze tubes of the
famous lures of the bronze age and fitted themtogether with
158
bronze sockets of a different alloy, how they hammered iron
into swordblades with intricate patterns and perfect sharp-
ness and flexibility.
Copies, even for educational purposes, should always be as
close as possible to the original in its present state both
in material, form and surface. Missing parts or fragmentary
surfaces should not be filled out, but the copy must be as
exact a replica of the original as it is possible for a per-
son to do, who is thousands of years and devellopment from the
original creator.
Anything else is a reconstruction, something that is a further
devellopment of the present state of the object.
Anything from putting a shaft through a single-grave stone axe
to building an iron-age house involves a lot of present day
thinking, finding comparative anthropological or ethnological
material and deciding between tecnical possibilities.
It is virtually impossible to abstract from your present cul-
tural background, and therefore you can never be sure to hit
on the "right" solution to a recontruction problem.
But used with the adequate amount of open-minded scepticism
recontructions can teach museum people and their visitors a
lot about the things from the past and their functions.
A lot of the experiments that-has been done over the years on
living in reconstructed iron-age houses have explained many
obscure details concerning the way of living and accomodating
in these houses. Reconstructed textile implements and clothing
have given new knowledge on the tecnique, employed in the
bronze and early iron age.
In relations to the public reconstructions can be of great
help to understand fragmentary situations such as the flint
blade as part of the complete flint axe or the black post-
holes as remnants of the construction framework of an iron-
age house. It is allright to ask visitors to use their ima-
gination/ but unless you have some knowledge to gUide you,
the results can be rather unpredictable, and a lot of people
simply give up. Here a reconstruction can be just that push
that makes the fragments understandable as parts of a whole.
159
Copies and recontructions are both very good aids in edu-
cation and other forms of communication with the public,
but they require honesty about them.
The honesty, that is underlying the fact, that you have to
make them as true to the original as possible, and in the
case of the reconstructions as true to the present state of
knowledge about the tecnical level of the period in question.
The honesty, that is incorporated in the fact, that you tell
people when they are looking at or handling a copy.
That is one of the reasons why I think it is easier to use
copies in situations where you are in direct contact with peop-
le and can explain and compare copies and originals. In the
exhibition situation, where you have to depend upon people read-
ing a text, a text where you inform them that they are in some
way been cheated out of the original object, copies are much less
easy to handle and should only be used in cases of utter fra-
gility og rarity.
160
Dolors ForreJlad i Domenech, Sabadell - Spain
The about the use of copies in Museums is tather inte -
resting and it implies serious problems.
Uhen I first planned the subject in subtopic 4: "Substitutes
- a part of 1,luseum collection?", I thought I could easily understa-
ke it but as I have been going deply into it I have realized how mo-
re complex it was.
I certainly believe that the use of substitutes is jus-
tified but I think that lC<leping them as Museum objects is only justi-
fied in certain occasions.
The use of copies is interesting for two reasons:
- Copies substitutes of the originals.
Copies as an 'additional source of communication.
The first, will take place when the originals have gone lost
or when they are in a serious danger of (items highly dam-
naged or hardly able to be preserved).
The second paragraph refers to the copies explainning objects
or actions not quite clarified.
In the first case, those copies will be able to considered as
collection.
From a museum's point of view, a copy isn't I-rorth an original.
It is useful_ only ,rhen the original is missing or in a state of di-
fficult preservation.
It is advisable not to increase the number of copies even uhen
they are justified under certain circumstances. Obviously when
used, people_ should be properly warned. It is innecessary to do so
I-rhen lie refer to I-rell kno'rn objects but we must think of the case
when a museum curator could refer to hardly known objects or to minor
items,
I believe that copies as.substitutes of the originals are only
'justified in very specific occasions and so, only in certain cases, 161
they will be able so be a part of collection. Vgr. objects repre-
sentative of the culture in the area of a museum, uhich are available
under no cmrcumstances missing, belonging to ather countries or ins-
titutions.
In that case a reliable knowledge of our history, so we may use
a copy as accurate as possible as to material, colour, size, etc. And
;Ie uill be able to registrate the item as a part of the musaum collec-
tion.
Should it be difficult to be carried out because of its cost
or to achieve, it uould be better to use a scale model or a diagram.
Then, it will be considered as an additional source of CDmcU-
nication and it uiilll not be registered as museum exhibit.
In this sense I mainly refer to historical or archae<lllogical
objects able to recreate an ambiance. Objects that we own only in a
little portion but that ;Ie can complete accurately as a uhole.
But I would like to pinpoint the topic uhioh I am more
ced in: Art.
,en Art Museum is a museum where artistic objects under seve-
ral aspects and made by unusual are an aes-
thetic pleasure.
From objects we can infer:
- A knowledge of the author
.A knOliledge of various styles.
Society.
;';conocics.
- Tecl!LniquQs.
- Etc.
In c.;eneral t.erms and in spite of the use of copies, can get
a Goneral knowloqge about the Art evolution throueh the aces and about
its implications in social, and religious development.
:;e can also kno;1 the various artistic technique:;, 11Mt can also
162
be made ;"ii thout the use of copies.
But, if ,'Te ,rant to deepen an artist! 6 I'Tork, ,re are to use orisinals.
Vgr. to explain Goya, a copy of one of his picturos is useless
since an imitator, even a real knowledge of Goya's technique,
can't get his colour, brush-stroke, shades. I knOlt that there are real
forgery skilled people ltho have caused expert hesitation, but this
aspect is a more serious one: professional ethics.
Besides, I don't think it to be convenient, taking a masterpiece
out of tts contc;:t. That's to say, I donI t justify the olmership of a
Goya by a .:1.5::11 only Hork.
an Art 8}:is"'t;:;nce is by i tDGlf hard-
ly justifiable, should have a definite idea of its aims. Its taeoreti-
cal planX'..ing 3hould refer to its oun public, ,:eeping a tiGht rebtion-
ship Iri th them.
It 3eems to be rather locrical that a HuscUr.! :rould exphin the art-
tistie development of the place where it stands, by means of the origi-
nal materials.
Then I might be convenient to relate to the same artistic deve-
lopment or "ill9llls" carried out cOI:lparably in other places.
In that instance, u3ingsubstitutes could be useful to perfect
the information but I don't believe that the use of copies should be
essential. I consider it to be far more important, using photographies
or diagrams to illustrate the objects or the places 1',hGre they are sho'm
or to complete thelll IIi th a sui table theoretical information.
In my opinion, photography, video. cinema are very important
means to have available testiI:lonies hardly possible to get in other oir-
oomntanoes.
A photography on an artistic sUbjeot (painting, sculpture, archi-
tecture, etc.) is ahrays useful tlil guve us a knolfledge of a ,rork.of
art. In the oaso of paintinc, it obviously reduces our kno:rledge of the
',ork (texture, brush-stroke, etc.), but it is an ooular ::itness of
163
something that is or has boen, but that we don't. have nOlT.
Besides, I esteem it to be more faithful or, at least, more neu-
tral as the photographer doesn't appraise the original but only represents
it the other hand, we are always uncertain about tho impartiality of
an imitator.
As to works in three dimensions it is logically less faithful:
but it is more comprehensible since it is completely reliable.
As to Architecture, scale-models can be used as they are highly
understandable by non specialized people.
Refering to video technique I emphasize its aptness to get a series
of of art impossible to keep because of their dinamic and ephemere
natUlle.
Video and photography themselves can be considered as works of
art. On going into this topic I think the ethic aspect, reproduction,
to be very important. We refer to a technique which enables the mass-re-
production of the original (it is all the same with engraving: lithogra-
phy, etc.). In this case, I believe that setting the patterns of copyright
;:ould be useful.
In relation to photography we could say that the original consist
of the negative and the positive and as to video, it is the master. So,
when the Museum includes th*se works into the collection, it is to acquire
the uhole original and, 11 t any case, to set the conditions of reproduc-
tion ,Iith tho artist himself.
In connection with this sort of materials and because of their
relative new existence, we don't quite know hOlT long-lasting they are.
In spite of the problems that it implies we do know that they can easily
be reproduced.
But this is the gist of the matter, since we can't obviously es-
teem a photography made by its own author in the same way than a copy from
made over fifty years later.
We should consider that many of the artistic photographs are tou-
164
ched up during the developing process and so, it $s difficult to repeat
them.
We all know too, that this is a difficult material to be preserved
if it is exposed to the light. In the Art Museum of Sabadell, we have the
specific case of some photographs by the artist Joan Vilatoba, eaily this
century. Granted that there are not many photographs from this period
and that some of them are either representative of their period or tokens
missing places, they have been thought interesting to be displayed.
If ;re do so, ITe are aI,are that .,e hasten their dsteriorationql but, on the
other hand, if we hold them, what;s the use of having this materials if
ue kGep them unknolm? ;Ie madG a decision ;;hich I think to be fair and "hich
can OG taken as an example to other materials in si,ilar situations.
The originals photographs are kept in the store in appropriate
conditions, "hGreas those displayed are only copies. ,Ihat- about these co-
pies? Obviously, people are warned about it but we are in condition to
spread these works in order to delight and to report to the public.
In order to kn01, the tecnique so as to get the shades - but we
do consider that people interested in a deeper research are ahTays able
to look up at thG originals.
In these circumstances, the originals are really Huseum exhibit,
but we should consider too, that if by any chance, these originals went
lost, thG reliable copies could be a part of museum collection.
As to the classification, do we believe that, if any of thGse
copies-worked out legal questions- went to another museum, ;;ould it be
justified to keep them as a part of museam collection? I don't think so,
since it would loose its meaning to a large extent. I would only agree
in the opposite cqse. That's to say, if a strange museum had the originals
and thG Art Museum of Sabadell - exhausted legal possibilities - was com-
pellecl. to get a cepy of a 1-Tork by a local artist which, in many circums-
tances, shmrs urban landscapes -of this tmm. Under those circumstances,
I do believe being my duty to get it and to keep it as a Huseum exhibit,
165
so as to avoid a neN lost of these hereditary funds.
I believe too that I should succeed in avoidine the overrun
.ith further copies (I refer to real copies, not to reproductions).
This exaoplc, based on a specific experience and material, can appy,
according to my opinion, to similar situations. So I will refer to another
specific case, to an object of historical nature, the "Coca" in I.latllr6.
This is a votive offerinrr reproducing a characteristic fifteenth century
ship. Av present, the original is displayed at the Prins ITendrik Uuseum
in Rotterdam.
-. The Huseum in r.Iatar6 has a replica from the original model, made
by a local craftsman. Because of its popularity, it was essential to
exhibit this work, but, being impossible to get the original the
exhibition of the copy and its inclusion in the museum collection, liere
accepted. This specific situation, be, could have been solved by means of a
a photorrraphy, but we should consider that this replica was made by a local
volunteer - it a rcq,uost of the intltitution - and 'iTe can't ignlilre it.
I think that the two examples explained impl,. is my mm position 0
on the subject. Copies may be used in museums to strenghhen the documenta-
tion and iil they arc a part of the museum .collcction, they should have to
be registcred as such.
shouldn't forget how useful they are in education prorrrams. If
using museum materials in Education Departments has always posed tho pro-
blem of preservation, \'le should think of the didactic opportunities based
on the use of copies.
Of course, we must avoid excesses but every museum could investiga-
te which copies is interested in and how to get them made.
If we are not convinced, we might put a group of schoolboys to a
test: As we teech them the diverse materia$s used in sculpture we let
them touch and feel the differences between marble, bronze and a piece of
pottery. And we will sea how their eyes light up.
we have than an image is worth one thousand words -
as audiovisual techniq,ues prove - we should afford to [iva touch and smell
166
in addition to image, and certainly we Inll be pleasantly surprised.
Obviously, in the case of didactic copies it uill never be necessary an
accurate copy. It could even be suitable a copy enlarged 0 r reduced to scale.
\Ie should also decide ,-,hather to keep up the original material (marble,
cold, etc.). or not.
I believe that in every object and according to its aim, we should care-
fully choose "hich are the features to be leept or not. I don I <b think that those
meant to be ussd by people, should be considered as musoun eXhibit, but
only, objects providing a botter information_ and education.
167
168
Dolors Forrellad i Domenech, Sabadell - Espagne
Depuis Ie moment od je me mise Ie du
symposium "Originaux et substituss dans les et plus
tement dans la mdmoire de base numero 4 , qui fait au
de si ces copies peuvent former partie.des collections du musde,
pensd qu'on pourrais l'accepter sans complication, mais
au fur et mesure que je me suis posd la question en profondeur et
surtout en essayant de me situer dans l'aspect dans j'ai plus.
Ie est devenu plus complexe,
Si je peux l'usage des Bubstituts dans Ie musde com-
justifid, Ie fait de les accepter comme des objets musda-
bles, seuleoent peut se rdaliser dans des occasions tras spdciales.
L'usage des copies est interessant dans deux butsl
1 - Copies I substituts des originaux.
2 - Copies.comme compldment.
Dans la prdmiere partie, 9a aura lieu quand les originaux aient
disparus ou bien ils soient en danger grave de disparaitre (objets
trds ddtdriords ou de conservation trds difficile).
La deuxHme partie f"it rdfdrence la
des objets ou des processue qui ne sont pas trds 4vidents.
Les copies, du point de vue musdologique, jamais peut @tre com-
parable l'originel. Elles peuvent nous @tre utiles seuleoent quand
il n'y A pas l'originel ou bien.quand celui-ci devient trds difficile
conserver. II ne faut pas non plus encourager la prolifdration des
copies, malgrd qu'elles puissent atre dertainement justifides dans des
cisrcomstances prdcises. Evidemment si nous utiliser des co-
pies, il faudra avertir toujours au public. Cette affirmation peut
nous gratuite, mais cela nous apparait tras quand
i1 s'Agit d'objets suffisamment connus, mais nous ne pouvons pas oub1ier
la temptation de quelque responsable d'sn musdedans Ie cas d'objets
peu cocnus ou qui ?uisse penser que lorsqu'il s'aeit de piaces qui n'ont
pas une importance capitale,ce n'est pas ndcessaire de Ie faire
tre.
169
La copie comme substitut de geulement
dGBB des et pourtant uninuement dans.des
situations elle pourrR former partie des collections
du .
Par exemple, objets et significatifs de Ie vie
au la culture du territoire comprend Ie musde, et pour diver-
ses raisons l'on ne pe ut pas disposer de 1 'originel , soit
apartienne ! d' autres insti tutions ou pays, soit 'il aie dispa-
ru. Dans ces occasions, si nous avons une connaissance digne de foi
de l'objet, il pourrait indispensable pour tdmoigner la propre
histoire et pourtant nous setions obligds de rddiger une copie Ie plus
fiddle possible - mdsure, matdriau, forme, couleur, etc. - et alors
nous allons l'enregistrer comme objet musdale.
3i cela devient difficile, par effet des prix au par l'impossi-
bilitd de rdalisation, il sera mieux de parvenir une maquette au !
une illustration, peuve nous l'objet sans vouloir Ie
substituer. Alors on aura affaire! une documentation
et cela n'implique pas une de la colleotion musdale.
Je fais en generale, ! des obje ts historiques, ar-
et d'autres, qui pe rmettent la d'une ambian-
ce, des objets duquels nous en poss<!dons seulement une partie, mais
que nous pouvons en d<!duire Ie reste avec Ie maximum de garanties de
vdracit<!.
Mais je voudrair- me r<!pandre dans l'aspect qui est plus proche
de man exp<!rience et qui peut me donner une vision plus compr<!hensible
du th<!me, Ie musda d'Art.
5i nous proposons un 1.:us<!e d'Art comme un musde dans lequel
nous allons exposer les t<!moins de la crdation artistique et lesquels
nous parviennent sous l'aspect'de manifestations differentes, pro-
duits de l'expression des gens ne se bornent ra s aux moyens usuels
de rdprdseni&tion qui nous sont familiers, il faut penser que des ob-
jets expos<!s nous pouvons en ins<!rer:
connaissnnce de l'nuteur.
- connaissance des differents styles.
societ<! dans laquelle ils se sont
170 connaissance des employdes et son dvolution _ etc.
Du point de vue globale, lOon utilise des copies, nous
pouvons 'luelques unes de ces informations, par exemple, 1"'-
volution de l'Art travers Ie temps, ses implications sociales,
nomiques, . Aussi bien nous pouvons conna1tre les differentes tech-
artistiques (pour ce cas concret, ce n'est pas de
faire appel aux copies des g2ands ma1tres, on peut profiter des oeu-
vres d'auteurs moins connus).
Pourtant, si nous un plus d'un
artiste je pense 'lue c'est indispensable l'annalyse des
origin",ux. Par exemple, si... 1 'on veut expliquer une peinture de Goya,
on peut Ie faire ! partir de copies, puisque malgr4 l'imita-
teur aie une vraie connaissance de la tecanique pictorique et
de l'oeuvre de cet artiste, il est pratiquement impossible qu'il puis-
se nous transmettre les touches, impressions, etc. Evidemment
je connais l'existen:e de vrais dans la techni'lue de
falsification, lesquels plus d'une fois ont fait douter les experts,
mais en ce je crois que nous avons un aspect
tellement grave, que c'est proffessionnelle.
En plus de ces raisons je trouve ce n'est pas in-
terssant de l'oeuvre d'art du contexte lui apartient. Je
vais je ne crois pas qu'un veuille se van-
ter de un chef d'oeuvre, par excellent 'lu'il soit, s'il n:a
pas d'autre connotation d'atre la uni'lue.
Je crois d'Art, doit avoir une vision claire
de ce veut expliquer, sa programmation doit concerner
Ie auquel il s'adresse et pourtant il faut chercher les
tions qui peuvent Ie rapprocher lui. Je trouve assez logique que Ie
explique artistique de l'endroit dans lequel il est
en utilisant Ie autochtone, lequel certainement va lui
servir. En plus, il peut atre convenient les relations avec
cette de st;y:le ou ",isllles", qui ont eu lieu dans d'autres en-
droits. Alors peut devenir utile l'usage de substituts, 'luoi'lue je pen-
se 'lue ce nes.t pas imprescindible d 'utiliser des "ooies. Je trouve
plus de pouvoirutiliser des substituts au niveau de graphi-
'lues ou photographies 'lui pourront donner l'existence des
171
oeuvres, en plus d'informer des lieux l'on peut les c9ntempler au
na ture 1.
Je continue penser la Ie video, Ie
sont des moyens nous pe rmettent disposer de
moins d'uutre feqon seraient difficiles d'avoir.
La photographie.en plus, c'est un moyen tout! fait correcte pour
nous feire connaltre une oeuvre d'art. S'il s'agit de peinture, evidem-
ment la photographique va nous limiter l'annalyse de l'oeu-
vre (texture, touches, et ), mais c'est un visuel de
chose flui existe ou a et nou ne posslldons pas. Et je trouve
:\llssi ce moyen. devient plu'J ou eu moins plus esliptiClue, 'lU
copier, Ie ne va pas interpreter l'ori-
gi:!lel doncs il va se borner ! Ie photographiPlr, pendent flu'une copie
avec une autre technique, peut toujours nous faire douter de l'impar-
tiali tll 'de l'imi tateur.
Quant oeuvres en trois dimmensions, c'est logique la pho-
to moins fidllle, mais aussi elle donne un rllsultat
sible, et elle ne trompe !loint. Peut atre si l'on P'! rle d'architec-
ture on peut utiliser les ma'luettes de faqon ussez interessante.
Faisant rllfllrence au video, je crois qU:11 nous permet d'obtenir
des tllmoins d'une clesse d'oeuvres d'art que par son carectllre
ou din?Dique, nous serait impossible de conserver.
Aussi il faut contempler Ie video et la photo en soi marne, comme
moyens de crllation artisti'lue. Au moment de parler de ce je pen-
se devient tras important l'aspect llthique des rllproductions.
Nous !larlons de techniques qUi.permettent facilement la rllproduction
sllrille d'un originel (de mllme que lesgravurest lithos, eto.). Ainsi
je trouverai oonvenient d'lltablir un oode de proprietll. Dans IPl cas de
la photoeraphie, on peut dire que l'originel est du negatif et
sn positivation, et dens Ie oas du video on peut parler du master et
les C091e5. C'est important que Ie muslle qui aoquiert une ouvre artis-
dans oes teohni'lues, exige Ie proprietll de l'originel oocplet
et aveo 10 artiste les possibilitlls et conditions de

172
Sn plus nous parlons de ces par sa
nouve lIe existence, nolUS ne "OUvons pas conna! tre eXllct"",en t ses possi-
de Ie que puisse
ce que nous savons avec certitude c'est la de
qu'ils onto rci, '110rs, revient Ie "quid" de la question, puisque 10-
giquement nous ne pouvons pas la valeur (non seulement
une photographie par l'auteur, qu'une copie
du negatif originel cinquante ans On doit penser aussi
que beaucoup des photos de ont subi des pendant Ie
de et pourtant c'est difficile de les
1e photographique est difficile conserver s'il est ex-
la
Dans Ie d'Art de Sabadell, il y a des photographies du
du Etant qu'il n'y a pas beaucoup d'exemplai-
res photographiques de cette (photos artistiques) , que les
qu'elles nous montrent sont bien du style du mo-
ment ou bien elles sont des de quelques endroits disparus,
nous avons compris l'intirAt de les au public. Dones, si nous
faisons qa, nous savons que sa va par con-
tre si nous les serrons dans les salles de quoicva nous ser-
vir des chefs d'oeuvre l la C'est alors que
nous avons de conserver les originaux dans la et on a
des copies Atre Cette solution permet la
difrusion de l'artiste et son oeuvre au de plaisir
et d'information au public. ':).uand l'aspect d de Is techniaue,
la solution ne nous convient pas - i1 faut penser quo pour la
tion des copies d'un original en blanc et noir, dans Ie but d'obtenir Ie
gradations de tons, on a du utiliser la technique de la cou1eur - mais
si l'on que les gens dans un plus serieux
du pourront en conna!tre l'existence consulter Ie s originaux,
la solution devient
Dans ce cas les objets de sont les originsuY., mais il faut
se poser la si de ces arrivaient
dispara1tre, les copies pourraient antrer comme partie de la collec-
tion
173
Pour je voudrais mcntionner
se les oue une de
ces cO!,ies parvenait 1\ un ?outre est-ce n,ue nous accepterClns
qu'elle rat admise comme fond de ce Je crois que 9a serait une
erreur, puisque elle perdrait beaucoup de son esprit. Plus tat j'en-
visagerais ls de l'accepter dans le cas c'est
dire, si un les originaux et le locale,
les actions uniquement peut obtenir la copie d'un
chef d'oeuvre d'auteur autochtone. Alors, vraiment je crois que se-
rait presque un devoir la copie et l'enregistrer comme col-
lection de afin d'essayer nouveau puisse se pro-
duire la perte du fond patrimoniale.
II faudrait aussi parvenir controler In des co-
pies.
J'ai le dans une et un concret,
mais qui peut se des situations parei.lles, comme cet autre
exemple qui fai t un objet de nature historinue, la "Coca"
de Matar6. II s'agit d'un ex-voto, c'est la d'un
navire catalan typique du L'originel est actuelle-
ment le Prins Hendrik Museum de Rotterdam. Le de Matar6
une du p-r un locale. Comme
il s'agit d'une il indispensable de pouvoir
l'exposer. Depuis que l'on a pour In
de l'originel, sans on a d'exhiber la copie et de la
gistrer dans In collection. Peut atre dans ce cas concret, on aurait
pu faire appel A une photographie de l'originel, mais il fnut penser
que la existait dejA et par vocation localiste - c'est ne pa s
l'institution qui la - pourtant il ne serait pas logique de l'ig-
norer.
Je crois qu'svec les exemples que j'ai on peut comprendre
attitude devant du qui nous
Pourtant 'les substi tuts dans le sont d 'une gr'lIlde utili
pour la e!octlme:\tntion et naturellemcnt si elles arrivent
former du fone! elles devront atre comme les
objets
174
On ne neut oublier non olus Ie service peuvent nous
rendre dans les 5i l'usage du
desn les Departements ant toujours Ie de la
conservation, n'oublions pas les didactiques que
peuvent offrire les substituts. Logiquement on ne doit pa s tomber
dans mais on peut dans cahque en particulier
quels seraient les objets 8i lOon n"est pa s
encore convaincu il faut au moment d'expliquer a un group
ooliers les differents en sculpture, laissons- les tou-
cher et la difference entre un marbre, un bronze, une
et nous verrons leurs yeux de couleur. 8i lOon a qu'une
image vaut mieux que cent paroles, et les audiovisuelles
nous Ie fRisons l'essai de donner en plus de l'image, Ie
toucher et at sarement nmln en serons surpris.
Certainement l'utilisation de substituts dans an but didactique,
n'exieera pas toujours une copie exacte, puisque dans quelques occa-
sions peu va nous devenir plus une au un
II faut sous ce point de vue, sa-
voir choisir quand il est indispensable de respecter Ie ori-
ginel au lOon peut Ie remplacer. Pour chaque objet et selon la finali-
que lOon obtenir il faudra soigneusement quellee sont
les caracteristiques indispensables de maintenir et d'autre qui ne Ie
sont pas.
Les copies pour but par Ie public, ne
doivent pas objets de la collection du
sinon oomme des objets qui vont nous permettre une mei-
lleure information et formation.
175
176
Menotti Mazzini, Firenze - Italy
Originals and in Museums of Palaeontology
The notice of a symposium about this theme concerns me closely
because it regards directly the Paleontological Museums and,
particulary, the Geoloqical and Paleontoloqical Museum of the
university of Florence, which could be considered the most im-
portant Italian institution working in this field.
A Paleontological Museum makes extensive use of cast, repro-
ductions and models during all the stages and of its
functions: preservation, research, didactics and exhibition.
The exchange of casts of fossil specimens among similar insti-
tutions is continuous and it aids in the enrichment of the
patrimony of a Musenm. In pr<:.ctice, the exchanqe of the origi-
nal specimens is impossible, because these often are the only
available pieces and we cannot deprive ourselves of a represen
tative whole of a certain fauna or of a certain locality.
On this subject very important are the casts of the
mens because in this way we can implement the systematic collec-
tions with some useful pieces which we, logically, cannot have
in the original form. Very. common, infact,. are the Plastotypes,
in the collections of many Museum.
Undoubtedly usefull are the casts in the scientific studies,
which are carried out bY the comparison of the specimens consi-
dered with material certainly identified. In these situation we
often make use of casts coming from many localities, sometime
scattered allover the world, and whose original forms are kept
in several institutions too
When the data from literature are inadequate we commonly use
copies and casts which enable us to appreciate closely very
distictive feature. So, we can axamine oply the pieces related
with our study and then continue analizing few other original
pieces directly in those few institutions which keep them.
In the University didactics the casts are as much useful as the
original specimens because this activity involves all the animal
177
and plant systematics and so it is impossible for a Huseum to
have all the oriqinal material to show the students the evolu-
tive characteristics of every phylum.
Furthermore the casts have sometime been useful to save some
single pieces destroyed during war or natural events.
The casts can be even useful in the reconstruction of deformed
material. The casts built with plastic material of law thickness
can be dissected in several anatomical parts and therefore a
model of the original can be reconstructed with its own compo-
nents.
Sometime we have to split up the oriqinal form and this opera-
tion could be dangerous for the specimen itself, therefore the
cast can remain as valid evidence in the unlucky case of destru
ction. The same problem can occur during the excavation and
then we make the casts in place.
~ present technique allows the reproduction by cold hardening
gums. These kind of gums are expecially elastic and so they
eliminate the risk of undercuts; their silicon contents make
lasier the detaching and let us make models with synthetic
resins. The casts are particularly exact. It is possible to
use also thermoplastic gums, but in this case some limits occur
because thei have an high melting ?oint (+ 170 C).
Other particular gums offer the possibility to obtain in a few
minutes the matrixes of some little pieces.
We can use, during the execution of the casts, other kinds of
material like chalk, according to their utilization. However
I don't want in this paper to deal with reproduction techniques.
I point out that there is a convenction, among the various
institutions, which provides by request the supplying of casts
coming from other Museums only by their authority received.
As regards the exhibition, the casts express their best use.
The show of compiled skeleton usinq copies is expecially useful
for many reasons: the original specimens can stay in the prese-
rving places, available for the students; the assembling phase
os easier because the pieces are lighter and they can be armo-
red in the inner part; the original pieces don't deteriorate
178
near the armours. Unfortunately, ~ o n the visitors, and also
among the students, there is a sort of fetichism for the
exhibited piece, and so even if the casts are almost indisti-
nguishable from the originals, they are not very appreciated.
Recently in the Museum of Geology and Palaeontology of the
University of Florence a new r o ~ was carried out' devoted to
the horse evolution, with the collaboration of all the techn-
ical and scientific staff.. This exhibition was almost entirely
realized with plastic models some of which came from the Ame-
rican Museum of Natural History of New York. Finally the Museums
of Palaeontology make a large use of life size models in order
that the visitors can realize how these animals lived in their
enviroment. These kind of models are useful also in the pre-
paration of dioramas in which the various enviroments are showed.
For the didactic purposes we sometime build an enlarged size
cast for a better understanding of very little fossils. ! hope
I had been brief and exhaustive and I am at your disposal to
explain and to complete all the subjects of this paper and those
which I could let out.
179
180
Menotti Mazzini, Firenze - Italie
Originaux et reproductions dans les Musees de geologie et
Paleontologie
L'annonce d'un symposium sur ce theme m'a particulierement
interesse parce qu'il concerne directement les Musees de Paleor
tologie et particulierement Ie Musee de Geologie et Paleontolo-
gie de l'Universite de Florence, en tant que plus grande insti-
tution operant en ce domaine en Italie.
Les Musees de Paleontologie font un grand usage des copies, re-
productions et des maquettes tous les niveaux et tous les
stades de leursfonctions: conservation, recherche, didactique
et exposition.
L'echange des copies des pieces fossiles entre institutionsana-
logues est constantet il contribue a. l'enrichissement du
moine des Musees.
II est pratiquement impossible d'echanger les pieces originales,
puisque s'agit-il souvent des pieces uniquesd'un materiel dont
on ne peut pas se priver, parce qu'il constitue un ensemble uni,
que representatif d'une localite ou d'une faune.
Tres importantes sont les copies des types des pieces fossiles
qui sont indispensables pour completer les collections
tiques et damtl onre possede naturellement pas les originaux.
En effet, dans les collections des Musees on trouve tres fre-
quemment des Plastotypes.
La necessite des copies pour cequi concerne la recherche scien
tifiaue est inconstestable. Pour la recherche on doit comparer
les pieces a examiner avec Ie materiel deja identifie avec su-
rete; c'est pour cela qu'on utilise souvent des copies prove-
nant de localites les plus disparates, parfois diffusees dans
Ie monde entier, et dont les oriqinaux sont distribues dans lefi
institutions tres eloignees.
Les donnees fournies par la bibliographie n'etant pas suffisan-
tes, on requerit les copies qui donnent ainsi la possibilite
d'avoir une vision plus large des caracteristiques distinctives.
Apres cela, seulement les pip-ces essentielles peuvent etre pri-
181
seSen consideration pour la recherche et lIon 9asse a la phase
successive qui prevoie l'etude des oriqinaux chez les institu-
tions qui les gardent et qui son par consequent moins nombreu-
ses. Les copies sont egalement utiles pour l'activite didacti-
que universitaire, puisque celle-ci doit examiner toute la sy-
animale et veqetale et il est impossible qu'un
se puisse avoir tout le materiel original necessaire pour illu-
strer aux etudiants les caracteristiques evolutives des diffe-
rents philums.
Dailleurs les cories se sont demontrees utiles pour sauver les
temoignages de pieces qui avoir ete detruites par des
uvenements naturels ou de guerre. On peut avoir encore une au-
tre utilisation des copies pour la reconstruction du materiel
deforme. Les copies realisees en plastique a basse-
peuvent etre sectionnees en differentes parties anatomiques; ce
la permet ne reconstruire un modele de la piece originale en
ses memes parties.
En d'autre cas,il est necessaire de demembrer des pieces origi-
nales; parfois l'operation reut etre risqueuse pour la sauvega
de de la mais la copie, dans d'une destru-
ction de peut demeurer un valable temoiqnaqe.
Ce probleme de la destruction de l'original peut se verifier
pendant la phase de recuperation; on fait alors des copies sur
place. La technique actuelle qui permet la reproduction prevo"
ie l'utilisation de caoutchouc indurant au froid. Ces caout-
choucs sont !lastiques et par consequent eli-
minent Ie danger d'encastrement, leur contenu de silicone en fa
cilite Ie detachement et offrela possibilite de ::aire des mo-
en resines synthetiques. Les copies qui en resultent
sont fideles. II y a la possibilite d'utiliser
aussi des caoutchoucs thermoplastiques, mais ceux-la ont des
limites d'utilisation a cause de leur haut point de fusion (170
c). Par d'autres caoutchoucs On peut obtenir des matrices en
peu des minutes de de petites dimensions. Les moules
peuvent etre obtenus meme par d'autres materiaux, par exemFle
182
le plhtre, selon l'utilisation des copies
Cependant, je n'ai pas l'intention de traiter des techniques de
reproductions en ce bref memoire.
Je signale l'existence d'une convention parmi les institutions
qui prevoie l'eventuelle replique des copies provenant d'autres
Musees seulement apres livraison d'une autorisation des
Musees. Pour ce qui concernela fonction de l'exposition, l'ut2,.
lisation des copies est de 1a plus qrande importance. L'osten-
sion de squelettes montes en utilisant des copies est particuli
erement efficace par plusieurs raisons: les oriqinaux peuvent
rester dans les salles de conservation a disposition des spe-
cialistes, le montaqe est plus simple parce que les pieces sont
plus leqeres et peuvent etre armees a l'interieur, les origina-
ux ne risquent pas de se deteriorer au contact des armatures.
Chez les visiteurs mais aussi chez les specilistes il existe
'30uvent une forte attitude fetichiste pour les pieces exposees;
c'est pourquoi les moules ne sont pas bien acceptes, bien qu'i],
soit pratiquement impossible de les distinguer des originaux.
Au Musee de Geologie et Paleontologie de l'Universite de Floren
ce on a recemment realise, avec la collaboration de tout le peE
sonnel technique et scientifique, une nouvelle salle consacree
a l'evolution du cheval; celle-ci a ete presque entierement
lisee en utilisant des moules en plastique, provenant en partie
de l'American Museum of Natural History de New York;
Enfin, dans les Musees de Paleontologie on fait un qrand usage
des maquettes a naturelle ou reduite des reconstructi-
on a ronde-bosse des animaux fossiles, afin que le publique
,
puisse se rendre compte de ce qu'ils etaient dans la realite.
Ces maquettes son employees parfois pour la realisation des dio
, -
ramas ou 'l'on developpe aussi la reconstruction des environne-
ments.
Des maquettes a echelle multipliee sont parfois realisees pour
une meilleure comprehension des fossiles de petites dimensions.
J'espere d'avoir ete concis et exhaustif et ;e reste a votre
disposition pour toute clarification, integration ou question
sur les sujets traites ou sur ceux qui peuvent m'avoir echappes.
183
184
Lynn Maranda, Vancouver - Canada
Substitutes in Collpctions and for Communication
There are reasons to support the inclusion of substitutes
in, for example, museum ethnological collections and some of
these reasons will be cited in the paper, but the r.eader would
bear in mind that certain substitutes which serve other museum
functions do exist and therefore would not be included in any
collection.
1. Culture change
With thp changing cultures of aboriginal peoples, there
has been the manufacture of replicas and miniatures for trade
or sale. The Pacific Northwest Coast Indian peoples, for
example, have produced, throughout their contact with
contemporary Canadian and American cUlture, miniatures of
canoes, totem poles, argillite (a stone) carvings,
anthropomorphic or zoomorphic figures, and so forth. Such
items are valuable as they represent ideas and a changing way
of life of the indigenous people. Further, some of these
miniatures, notably the argillite carvings, have created their
own market. These items do exist in the museum's collections
and serve the purpose as objects of culture change and as
transporters of native ideas.
Replicas, including masks, blankets, basketry, food bowls,
storage boxes, and totem poles, are to be found in the museum's
collections as contemporary creations of an older form and are
valuable as examples in authenticating the experience of what
was. Though this seems to say that replicas are tools for
185
communication, a 000d replica, because of the rliliqence nf its
manufacture, would have considerable worth and would therefore
be housed wit!l care in tIle museum's collections. Such replicas
be distinquished from visual aids and props used to
exploit theme of an exhibition.
2. Communication
Substitutes make possible the completion of an area of
study where physical gaps may exist and therefore can mak=
possible the increase of a knowledge of either a utilit; or an
existence that can no longer be perceived. is especially
true when depicting a total overvinw of a past culture where
substitution can reveal relationships and other pertinent
information acquired from perceiving the totality.
Substitutes permit experimentation. Though this excludes
such substitutes from a location in the permanent collections,
nevertheless, an 'accurately made substitute can be valuable 3S
an adjunct to museum research.
Thotlgh the manufacture of replicas serve the communication
requirement of the museum, these substitutes will have worth
because of their manufacture and will be treated with respect
ane attention and so these items have every opportunity in the
future of becoming permanent members of museum collections.
This evident if one considers that, with the passage of
time, any distance achieved between the replica's origin and
the time of its viewing enhances the probability that the
replica would be viewed as a treasure itself. For example, a
fifty foot totem pole carved today without any genuine totemic
instruction but done to a replica specification, would certainly
186
be viewed, as it would be today, but even more so in one-
hundred years, as a treasured example of Native art "and belief.
Today's source of communication may become tomorrows legitimate
item for inclusion.
3. Substitutes in collections
Without begging the question that there is a distinction
between substitutes and true indigenous material, the following
thoughts have been reasoned out in view of the existinq
contemporary realities.
Indigenous or aboriginal cultures have changed to such a
degree that it is now difficult to define the 'originality' of
the material products of these cultures. In fact, the
definition of what is or is not 'original' is one which has
been proposed not by the aboriginal peoples, the makers of these
items, but rather by those of us on the outside. We have set
the standards of and collectability and as a
consequence, the indigenous sources of 'original' items,
through the processes of culture contact or acculturation, have
changed drastically or disappeared altogether, so too the
'original' items themselves have suffered the same fate. with
the disappearance of 'traditional' or 'original' Cultural
environments and the consequential diminishing supply of
'traditional' or 'original' objects, it has become difficult to
ascertairr what is properly collectable. Former notions of
by necessity and so that collecting C3n continue,
have been forced to alter to keep pace with the changing nature
of indigenous cultures. In time, many types of items in museum
collections, formerly considered in the category of 'substitute',
187
take on status as 'originals'.
4. Public viewing habits
The demand on is from two fronts:
pUblic desires to be entertained with information;
one, how the
two, the
for academic and scholarly verifications
As a tool for communication, substitutes offer the museum
flexibility ane can assist in dramatizing informative
situations. of the exhibition material is akin to
theatrical props ane are not valued for collection. However,
some substitute material is of fine manufacture would he
registered among the museum's holdings. Even research can
benefit from using replicas by gaining knowledge throuqh the
use of and experimentation with such substitutes without fear
0: damage to any item of
In conclusion, I om unable to discover a philosophical
difference as to what substitutes would be included or excluded
frem museum collections. From experience, however, the broad
reference of the collections legitimately have included ahd
would continue to include the following:
(a) 'functional' material of 'traditional' origin
'culturally' but which has undergOne modification as
a result of contact with European style CUlture, fo=
example, fish hooks with iron (not bone crantler)
barbs bound to shanks with commercial cordage (not
plant root or sinew);
(b) 'functional' material used 'culturally' but which is
believed to have come into existence as a result of
188
contact, for example, totem roles;
(c) arts, crafts and other sale or trade items
manufactured primarily for purposes other than
indisenous 'cultural' use, for example, stone
carvings, silk screen prints, silver jewelry;
(d) items manufactured for sale or trade replicate,
in contemporary fashion, 'functional' mater-ial of a
'traditional'form, for example, masks, hlankets;
(e) 'functional' material newly manufactured for use in
contemporary Native cUlture, for example, masks,
rattles, blankets.
It is normal practice to.exclude the following kinds of
sUhstitutes, used primarily for exhibition or education
purposes, although in some instances they appear similar to
those in the permanent collections: photographic blOW-Ups,
graphic representations, display moctels, dioramas (full-scale
or miniature, includinq contrived or natural settings), full-
scale reproductions (including 'working' 'artifacts'),
simulated or real flora and fauna,' some raw materials, casts,
mannequins, 1 i ve dem.onstra tions, audio-v isual prodllctions,
mechanical devices.
role of the museum, as it serves the of
the pUblic, appears to dictate what substitutes and replicas
should and should not be in the collection.
189
190
John J Whitlock, Carbondale, Illinois - USA
THE CREATIVE USE OF REPRODUCTIONS IN MUSEUM EXHIBITS
The use of substitutes or reproductions in museum exhibits raises inter-
esting questions for the museum profession. Peter van Mensch in his paper,
"Museums and Authenticities" has focused on the key issues and concepts
regarding the use of reproductions in museum exhibits, educational programs
and in the replication of objects for research purposes.
The Southern Illinois University Museum at Carbondale has made use of
on several occasions for reasons of security and the unavail-
ability of original works of art or artifacts. Several recent exhibitions
can be used to illustrate the use of reproductions.
The First Inhabitants exhibition was created for the purpose of bringing
the history and culture of the American Indian to the University Museum's
constituency, namely, the students, faculty, staff and citizens in the
southern Illinois community. The exhibition included original effigy fig-
ures and ceremonial smoking pipes, as well as two carefully reproduced clay
figures which were used because of the high risk involved in exhibiting the
originals. The UniversityMuseum's curatorial staff felt justified in
using reproductions when the value of the original objects warranted special
care and treatment. The reproductions were labeled as copies in the exhibit.
Ulysses S. Grant: Man of War, Man of Peace, an exhibition at the
Southern Illinois University Museum, made an extensive use of photographic
reproductions of the images of Matthew B. Brady and his documentation of the
American Civil War, (1861-1865.) It was not necessary, nor even permissible
to borrow the original photographs from the United States Library of Congress.
For communicative purposes and dramatic effects, it was to the museum's
advantage to enlarge many of the historic photographs used in the Grant
exhibition.
Another example of the use of photographic images and changing the
191
size and even the texture or color of a photo is best illustrated by the
recently installed exhibition at the Univerity Museum, entitled, The History
of Photography. The exhibit presents original cameras and laboratory equip-
ment supplemented with reproductions of photographs that trace the evolu-
tion, development and history of photography as a technological phenomenon.
art form and pictorial record. One question to be addressed pertains to
the issue of absolutism versus relativism in the use of all original works
or objects in a museum exhibition or display, and the intermingling of
reproductions or replicas in an exhibit for security reasons or the unavail-
ability of objects.
The Southern Illinois University Museum is developing a Sculpture
Garden which will serve all persons in the university community, including
the visually impaired. Sightless persons will be able to touch maquettes
of the larger sculptures in the garden. We feel this is a justifiable use
of reproductions, since people with vision problems cannot fully appreciate
a sculpture if they cannot imagine its shape, scale, texture and overall
character as a work of art.
The use of substitutes in museum exhibitions can be easily understood,
but the question of including copies in museum collections raises a compli-
cated issue. Van Mensch stated in his article that the Museum fUr Deutsche
Geschichte in East Berlin displays copies, including copied paintings. It
seems to this writer that it would be more meaningful to exhibit works of
fine and decorative art and historical artifacts that manifest the history,
creative activity and scientific accomplishments of one's community, rather
than displaying contemporary copies of art. However, the other argument
would be that it is better to show your museum visitors replicas of fine
art, rather than nothing at all. These are obviously decisions that members
of the museum profession and museum trustees will have to make as they
reflect on the purpose, mission and methodology of their individual museums.
When one reflects on the high quality of color reproductions. this
writer is reminded of an exhibition of Cezanne watercolor paintings exhibited
at the Chicago Art Institute in 1971. The exhibit was reviewed by the
Art News periodical that same year, and strange as it may seem, the repro-
ductions in the publication were "better" than the paintings. Actually,
the paintings were naturally old and the colors were very muted and perhaps
faded somewhat from exposure to ultra-violet. The printers embellished the
paintings when they were reproduced and this resulted in an erroneous message
for the viewers of the exhibit who had previously seen the publication and
the color illustrations.
Museums are obligated to develop a sensitivity toward the creative use
of substitutes or reproductions for use in special educational
however, they must avoid the fraudulent use of reproductions which would
mislead the public.
Peter van Mensch makes a thought-provoking point in his paper when he
refers to the matter of the conservation of original works. He purports
that "change and conservation are incompatible." "He is right! Through
conservation treatment, an object gradually becomes merely a replica of
itself. This is the classic dilemma that all conservators face as they
"restore" a work of art or an ancient artifact.
The irony in a discussion regarding reproductions, copies and the whole
topic of replication of artifacts, is that one can overtly make a copy and
label it honestly; falsely display a copy, either knowingly or unknowingly;
,
or simply continue to restore a work of art or an artifact until it, too,
is no longer the original.
193
194
Views on substitutes
by specialized institutions
Exposes sur les objets substitutits
par les institutions specialisees
195
196
Gallery of Frescoes of the National Museum
Nada Komnenovic, Beograd - Yugoslavia
MUSEum OF COPIES OF FRESCOS AND PLASTER FORillS
Under the SUBSTITUTES - A PART OF J\'lUSEUhlS, it might be of
a certain interest to draw attention to the existence of a
specific museum - the Gallery of Frescos in
copies of immovable works of art:i.e. frescas painted on walls
and scupltures,an organie part of architecture,are displayed.
It is a known fact that the first museum exhibiting copies
and plaster casts was the Museum of French ;.!onuments in Paris.
The second museum of this copies of
medieval frecos executed in the Byzantine style,is the
Gallery of Frescas,founded in 1952.Prior to the
ryf the Gallery, a and important exhibition of
medieval art was held in Paris,at the Palais Chaillot,in 1950.
In addition to objects of art,it also
included copies of frescos and plaster casts of sculptures,
as works that most faithfully represent hhe wealth of immovab-
le art. After this first presentation to the world in the
cultural ffietropolis of world art,where it was regarded as a
great success,the exhibition was transported to
and placed in the newly-constructed building of the recently-
founded of Frescos.Since 197J,the Gallery of Frescos
has become part of the National l'fuseum.
197
The copies'of frescoes that constitute the bulk of all exhibits
in the Gallery, are of a paramount importance due to the fact
that they are the most direct intermediaries between the
original works of art - i.e. frescoes painted on the
walls of medieval churches and monasteries,and the viewer,
whether he be an expert or merely an art-lover. The copies
are to a large degree responsible for providing accurate
data concerning all the artistic particularities of the
they represent and for an experience
that only true works of art can create.Therefore,the copies
of frescos must correspond in the possible measure
to their in terms of dimensions,structure,
and colouring,and even depict the resulting
from the passage of time.
In copying,it is not sufficient to match the dimensions of
the original and convey the general impression the latter
gives.The copy must assume the character of wall
and reflect the simplicity of the painting technique as well
as the ease and virtuosity of movement. Accuracy in trans-
posing colour is one of the most delicate elements of paint-
copies.In this endeavour,a feeling for true measure
must be achieved in dealing with the remaining and damaged
surfaces as well as with the patina which should,under no
circumstance,be uredominant in the copY,but a balance must
be found and moderation must prevail so as to enable the
painted to come to the forefront.
In this inter-action between fresco-copy and viewer,a major
role may be attributed to a seemingly invisible factor which
nevertheless constitutes the mainstay of creative effort,i.e;
the author of the copy,in other words,the painter- copyist.
198
His basic task is to comprehend the spirit the
he is to interpret, and to identify
himself to the freatest possible degree with the medieval
artist.In so must suppress his painter's tempera-
ment and his artistic individuality,thus his pain-
ter's manuscript in the service of the work of art that he
transfers from walls to canvas.
The whole of this delicate procedure in trans po-
a work of art necessitates a of the techni-
ques used by the older masters,It furthermore requires a
decyphering of their procedure and,finally, the
use modern means and material,i.e. linen ( stret-
ched on a blind frame), a base (that must have different pro-
perties - adhere firmly to the base,be souple,possess a
variety of structures,both smooth and coarse,so as to imi-
tate mortar on which frescoes are painted),and must also
offer optimum possibilities for painting( from pttose stro-
kes to glaze,painting and of damages parts).The
quality of the colours used is also of a crucial importance
for the apnearance and durability of the copies.The best
would be to use pigments (finely ground powder colours),the
binder being either casein or an egg on
whether the fresco is mat ( with a glaze more or less worn)
or glossy (with glaze) ,The colours must not be erased or
darken with time)Uniformity of material,its quality and
durability are prerequisites for the quality of a copy.
As concerns the specialisation of painters in the field of
fresco copying, our Departments of Fine and Applied Arts
do not provide for such a possibility,or rather do not.
have appropriate sections.Therefore,the only opportunity
199
for for this beautiful and noble not easy work
is through seminars and courses,or.throuorh practica:' activi-
tV,where the experienced painter-copyist assumes the role of
instructor and urnfessor.If the younge painter-copyist is
also exuerienced in conservation work related to medieval
frescoes,he has an added advantage in being able to interpret
wa'l paintinu in the most authentic manner possible.
A specific phenomenon and a special kind of museum object,
the copy a manifold value and may thus be observed from
different aspects.
One of the most significant and durable aspects of a copy
is its documentary value. The painted copy is a testimony of
the state in which the original was found at the time the
copy was being executed .. It depicts the stac;es thrnua;h which
pacsed in the case of individual monuments,at
different periods of time. Generally speaking, there are two ba.-
-sic states in which frescoes may be found: prior to conser-
vation and following conservation.The first state indicates
the changes taken place the centuries that
affect the wall decoration:different types of damages of a
mechanical or chemical nature,coverings of mortar or lime,
layers of soot and dirt, including unskilled,though,perhaps,
well-intentioned,work on freshening up and copying the initi-
al layer. Insofar as the collection of the Gallery is concer-
ned,the first copies executed for the 1947-1949 Paris Exhibi-
tion,testify to just that period in the lives of frescoes.
The second of copying took place in the period followin.
conservation work carried on in medieval buildinus after the
service for the protection of cultural monuments had been
founned in Yugoslavia after 'i/orld War II.The Gallery of
Frescoes includes a special collection of frescoes from
200
medieval churches that are in a state of ruin,whose
are severly damaged,only their remaining in tact.
Such copies are of a special documentary value since they are
the sole witnesses of painting doomed to destruction in a
nearer or more distant future.+In addition to this collec-
tion ,1
individual copies in the are unique
copies in terms of their value since they testify to the fact
that the painting a<; it was when the copy ha.1 been made was
better preserved than it is today.In other words,the copy
pr0vides much more information about the fresco's artistic
values than the original itself in the present moment.
As far as the role of copies of frescoes is con-
cerned,it provides information to secondary school and univer-
sity students about a variety of scientific disciplines,pri-
marily stemming from the history of art (the Serbian .,Iedie-
val State belonging to the circle of Byzantine art,whose
monuments date back to the period between the XIth and Xyth
Century and are situated on the territory of the Socialist
Republics of Serbia,',1acedonia and Montenegro), from history
(o0rtraits of medieval historical figures wearing historical
c0stumes,with worn by the rulers,models of churches)
well as abundant data relating to the way of life in the
Yiddle well as objects used in every-day life,about
musical instruments, implements and weapons.hloreover, small
exhibitions concerned with specific topics and ananted to
individual age groups and objectives,also playa special role
in the educational process.In many instances,the copies of the
have inspired young people to paint original and sug-
works inspired by motives from the frescoes.
+ In such cases, copying become:; a form of protection.
201
exhibitions of conies of frescoes,mainly
In character,monumental in terms of volume and dimensions of
exhibits,were held abroad,virtually in all the canitals of
Western and Eastern Europe,in South America,canada,the United
States,India and Burma.In this waY,medieval art annearinq on
the territory of the Serbian State of the time has qained a
place of renown in the hllstory of world art.Thanks to these
presentations,world public has not only been qiven a closer in-
into the cultural richess of our nations but also the
possibility of apprehending the importance of efforts invested
by our contemporaries in view of the protection of artistic
monuments,their preservation and presentation,not only by
means of conies of frescoes but also throuqh various publica-
tions concerninq medieval art.In the wealth of our
cultural heritaqe and its considerable artistic value,these
exhihitions of copies of frescoes have served as an inspira-
tion to the lovers and those familiar with this sort of art
to come and visit our country and tour the medieval monuments
bearing these exceptional on their walls.It is inte-
restinq to note that as a result of holding the conies of fres-
coes exhibitions abroad,referred to by some critics as "unique
in their kind" and described as "excellent retrospective pano-
countries have also expressed the desire to exe-
cute copies of frescoes from their own artistic monuments
(Switzerland,Italy,Mexico,India).
Unlike many museums in the world,in Which one may find the odd
CODy to substitute an exhIDit which cannot be nlaced on display
in that this is essential for providinq an overall picture of
the art as such,the Gallery exclusively we have
pointed out earlier on, conies of frescoes and plaster castsl
202
medieval churches that are in a state of ruin,whose
are severly damaged,only their fragments remaining in tact.
Such copies are of a special documentary value since they are
the sole witnesses of painting doomed to destruction in a
nearer or more distant future.;'In addition to this collec-
tion,t
individual copies in the are unique
copies in terms of their value since they testify to the fact
that the painting a" it was when the copy l,ad been made was
better preserved than it is today.In other words,the copy
nr0vides much more information about the fresco's artistic
values than the original itself in the present moment.
As far as the educalli
r
mal role of copies of frescoes is con-
cerned,it provides information to secondary school and univer-
sity students about a variety of scientific disciplines,pri-
marily stemming from the history of art (the Serbian .,ledie-
val State belonging to the circle of Byzantine art,whose
monuments date back to the period between the XIth and Xyth
Century and are situated on the territory of the Socialist
Republics of Serbia,l",1acedonia and Montenep.;ro), from history
(u0rtraits of medieval historical figures wearing historical
c0stumes,with worn by the rulers,models of churches)
well as abundant data relating to the way of life in the
well as objects aaed in every-day life,about
musical instruments,implements and weapons.Moreover,small
exhibitions concerned with specific topics and ananted to
individual age groups and objectives,also playa special role
in the educational process.In many instances,the copies of the
Gallery have inspired young people to paint original and sug-
gestive works inspired by motives from the frescoes.
;. In such cases, copying becomes a form of protection.
201
exhibitions of conies of frescoes,mainly antholoical
Ln character,monumental in terms volume and dimensions of
exhibits,were held abroad,virtually in all the canitals of
Western and Eastern Europe,in South America,Canada,the United
States,India and Burma.In this waY,medieval art on
the territory of the Serbian State of the time has gained a
place of renown in the hllstory of world art.Thanks to these
presentations,world public has not only been given a closer in-
into the cultural richess of our nations but also the
possibility of apprehending the importance of efforts invested
by our contemporaries in view of the protection of artistic
monuments,their preservation and presentation,not only by
means of conies of frescoes but also through various publica-
tions concerning medieval art.In revealing the wealth of our
cultural heritage and its considerable artistic value,these
exhibitions of conies of frescoes have served as an insnira-
tion to the lovers and those familiar with this sort of art
to come and visit our country and tour the medieval monuments
bearing these exceptional paintings on their walls.It is inte-
resting to note that as a result of holding the conies of fres-
coes exhibitions abroad,referred to by some critics as "unique
in their kind" and described as "excellent retrospective pano-
ramas" ,other countries have also expressed the desire to exe-
cute copies of frescoes from their own artistic monuments
(Switzerland,Italy,Mexico,India).
Unlike many museums in the world,in Which one may find the odd
cony to substitute an exhIDit which cannot be nlaced on display
tn that this is essential for providing an overall picture of
the art as such, the Gallery exclusively we have
pointed out earlier on, conies of frescoes and plaster casts;
202
to this fact,there is yet another specificity
the acquisition of its eXhibits. As distinct from classical
museums that obtain the objects they display in the usual way,
(purchases , gifts , excavation) ,the Gallery has ,in a sense,opted
for the production of its exhibits,or rather the planned forma-
tion of its collections,which is an advantage as regards the
materialisation of individual conceptions.The of
copies as museum exhibits also,of course,resides in the
fact that copies are set apart from a multitude of wall paint-
ings covering the walls of churches and disDlayed in the
museum in such a wav as to provide for lighting and place
the exhibit at an aDDro-priate height. Thus, in a new setting,
a cODy may better disclose its plastic artistic qualities,
which is not frequently the case with its original in a church,
lost in a large number of scenes,sometimes hidden in poorly
illuminated parts of a temple or placed too high to be proper-
ly viewed by the visitor.
Still,to be perfectly frank,the copy tends to lose some of its
since it lacks the irreplacable charm characteri-
the and is separated from its overall decorative
system to which it is inextricably linked.Despite the fact
that the cODies of frescoes are set apaet from their milieu,
the architechtural framework of a wall or a
thus deprived of its specific atmosphere particular
are nevertheless assembled on one spot and thus of
a considerable utility since they make it possible to study
these works that are scattered over a large territory,often
situated in inaccessible areas,and to acquaint ourselves with
their artistic evolution over a period of five centuries.This
comprehensive insight into the artistic wealth and diversity of
styte in medieval paintings ,holds a particular in-
203
terest,even for exnerts who are familar with the fres-
coes.To lovers of art,they are a source of pleasure equal to
that by a true artistic show.
La Galerie des fresques fut fondee en 1952 et constitue (apres
Ie J:,usee des .,1onuments fran9ais a Paris)le second musee de ce
genre dans Ie monde ou sont exposees les copies de fresques et
sculptures par moulage. Avant qu'elle ne fut fondee,une grande
exposition de premiere importance portant sur l'art medieval
youaoslav avait ete organisee en 1950 au Palais Chaillot R
Paris,ou des nombreuses copies de fresques furent presentees au
puhlic.Ayant faitune premiere conquete du monde a la suite de son
tres succes dans la metropole de l'art mondiale,l'exposition
fut transferee a Ie nouveau batiment de la Galerie
des fresques qui venait d'etre construit.Depuis lors,la GaJ.erie
avait des nomhreuses expositions de copies des fresques
pour ainsi dire dans toutes les metropoles de l'Europe occidentale
et orientale,en Amerique du sud,au Canada,aux Etats-Unis,en Inde
et en Birmanie,contribuant de cette maniere a ce que la peinture
medievale nee sur Ie sol de l'Etat serbe de l'epoque acquiert du
renom dans l'histoire de l'art mondiale.Les ouvraqes qui se
trouvent exposes dans la Galerie sont pour des
de fresques remontant a l'epoque allant du XIe jusqu'au
204
XVe siecle.De Dart leurs dimensirlnS.structure,dessin et c'lloris, elle
des conies fide les des ouvra,.es originaux. y cOlnoris
des narties Dar Ie passaP.'e du temps,qui se trouventsur
les murs des et monas teres medievales.Les copies de
fresques ont ete executees par des peintres academiques ,.specia-
lises dans ce genre de travail artistique.s'effor9ant de copier
la technique utilisee par les maitres medievaux.
Les dont les copies sont en exposition dans la Galerie
ont Bubi l'influence de l'art byzantin et se trouvent sur Ie
territorie des republiques de Serbie,de et de
de
En nlus/foumir des illustrations et jouer un educatif,ces
copies revetent une valeur documentaire considerable et permettent
une connaissance et communication entre les peuples.
205
206
Gipsformerei, Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz
Ellen Weski, Berlin (West) - Federal Republic of Germany
Original and substitute
When in 1984 for the first time since 20 years two apprentices
could be engaged in the qipsformerei, every appliant who told
me he wanted to take up a creative job from the outset discredited
himself. Castings needSa special combination of physical fitness
in order to move large moulds, and a sensitive hand when scrapping
of seams from casts made by several pieces. But it does not involve
creativity. On this assumption there is no difficulty to get to
a precise definition which allows us to distinguish between a
piece of art and a piece of fine craftsmanship in casting. Casting
tries its best to repeat the surface of the original. The standard
of all efforts is the authentic volume and the authentic structure
of the surface of the original. This envolves a high standard and
a long tradition of stricly exclud_es creativity
of the individual caster. Casting tries to be the most objectiv
reproduction of all means of reproducing.
At the same time, the uncoloured plaster cast will never try to
fake. It is an abstraction of the original, delivering its pure
sculptured substance without competiting. It will not be mistaken
for the original. Everyone will recognize it as a cast, just as
nobody would mistake a photograph for the sculptured original. But
unlike the photograph it does not give a two-dimensional impression
of the object, but it gives the figure as it was. One can handle
the cast, touch it. There will be no doubt about its real size. II ffnn rrnn

One is confronted with it and the presence of the three-dimensional

will have an emanation that can only be compared with the original
itself. It is this effect that ewakens nowadays the interest in
plaster casts after a glut of pictures whose effects have blunted
the eye.
Younger people especially prefer to buy uncoloured white casts which
do not hide their modest material. But about 80 % of all plaster
casts bought from the Gipsformerei, leave the shop 'coloured like
the original'. The reaction of most customers will be somewhat like
"Never mind that it is plaster, provided one can not tell," that is
their thought, although the process of colouring the plaster cast
to the shade of the original is nothing more than an illusion.
207
Even if some "bronzes" do look like being made of this material
when painting is finished, how could anybody be able to imitate the
surface of marble of alabaster, or how do you give the
right impression of crumbling paint of a medieval wooden sculpture?
There always remains an awkward feeling of incompetence which the
cast itself does not evoke. In this field the distance between
cheap souvenirs and well intended copies is certainly narrow.
Knowing thisjprivate firms make a great ado about limited editions,
certificates, special gift boxes etc. There is no such re-evaluation
done in the Gipsformerei. We stick to two maxims: Multiplication in
series is affirmed as a fundamental of casting.
And second, the meaning of a cast never lies in itself, it always
points to the original.
Whenever a cast is used in a museum as a substitute for the
of course colouring as similar as possible to that of the original
is insisted upon. Supposed the original is lent to an exhibition fa
a certain time, a substitute in pbster will be far less disappointing
than a gap in the showcase. As long as every cast is labelled as such,
and as long as it is granted that the substitute is only on temporary
displaY,a cast indeed should substitute an original. These caveats
originate from the fact that the State Museums in Berlin are art
museums who must maintain definite standards. To document history is
not their primary function. This explains why there is only a very
low demand for casts as substitutes within our own museums. The main
purpose of the Gipsformerei is to sell their products to private
customers, or tosmaller museums which mostly belong to universities.
The private customer will be reminded of the original which he would
never be able to purchase because of its tremendous und unique value.
i. e. one of Michelangeeo's slaves, or a small Roman bronze which
would still as an original cost a fair amount of money. Some people
even collect casts as they would collect art, if they only could
afford it. In any case the cast will be a substitute for the original
Nevertheless some people buy casts without ever having seen the ori-
ginal. Their interest is the sale result of a browse through the
Anyway the customer will be confronted with an art object within
his own home, even if it is through the medium of a cast. Like every
object of art the cast will develop its own atmosphere which might
even change the one of the room. And anyone living with this cast
will come to know this piece of art by heart. Close
knowledge misht end in boredom, but as far as my own experience goes
208
the likelihood of boredom is far greater in the case of painting than
with a plaster cast, since the former often becomes part of the back-
ground to the wallpaper.
As long as the cast represents a real masterpiece, it will never be
necessary to excuse the production of good quality casts. What is
the intention of a museums other +han to make people familiar with
art? As we all know one needs to get to a museum within certain
hours, one can seldom sit and watch, and there
obviously exists a subconscious pressure to look at more objects
than real concentration allows. On the other hand a cast at home
misht make me - perhaps after weeks and months of contact -
the total depth of the conception, without my making a conscious
effort. Once one comes to understand the artistic value and importanct
of a piece of art, the memory of it will never be blurred.
The intention of university museums, mostly institutes of Classical
Archeology, are nothing but educational. A cast mounted on wheels
can be easily studied from all sides and angles. Methodically only
a good collection of casts really gives the opportunity of valuable
comparison. Comparison by means of photographs always has the disad-
vantage of needing to eliminate the different conditions of the
photographs inbguestion and further to eliminate the unfortunate
UO Je.cHJ
illusion in size are the same. Last not least the
human eye optically is not equal to the photographic lense.
As originals of Classical sculpture are scattered allover museums
throughout the world, only casts enable a methodical procedure,
when using stylistic comparison. I think the positiv evidence within
this medium needs no further illustration.
Even more self-evident is the importance of casts still existing
when the original has been damaged or lost entirely. About 1500
moulds from a total of 6000 in the Gipsformerei belong to this
category.Added to this one must mention the useful aid of casts
taken from sculptures, which are difficult to reach as for in-
stance figures of the donators from the Naumburg dome in the GDR
are for people from the FRG. Of educational as well as of scien-
tific value is the possibility of reconstructing lost states of
an original statue as for instance, mounting the head, now in New
York, to the belonging torso, now in Naples of one of the ancient
Greek tyrant-slayers. On a much larger scale it had been possible
to reconstruct the northern portal of the Frauenkirche in Trier
by means of still existing moulds in the Gipsformerei, while the
original statues, sold during the last centur to diffe rent mu-

209
seums, have in the meantime been partly destroyed.
Replacing a.monument which had to be taken from the open air to a
museum for conservation grounds is perhaps the least questioned
use of casts. One of the most valuable future practices of the
Gipsformerei will concentrate on this aspect. Up to now the con-
ception of the Gipsformerei is a relict of the last century, when
casts were placed between originals in the Berlin museums, to do-
cument the development of art. After photography came into use,
casts were more or less banished from the museums collections
proper. Although the Gipsformerei survived the last world war almos
without damage, closure was suggested in the fifties. The late
leader of the Gipsformerei succeeded in stopping this threat from
being carried out, by finding out .how much support the Gipsformerei
had in both Germany and abroad. But on the whole the State Museums
did not know. what to do with their Gipsformerei.
The main this are as follows. Parts of the collection
of moulds stem from a nowadays abandoned scientific question of
anthropology i. e. casted part, mostly faces, of living people.
Further partial casts of masterpieces, as those taken from figures
of the apostels from Munnerstadter altar by Riemenschneider
Then there are iconsiderable amount of busts showing people
sculptured after a graphic model, by no great artist at all. Even
more annoying are diminishing copies of well known masterpieces.
All contribute to the highly emotional prejudice which generally
exis. ts against plastic casts .
...
These non-artistic works made for the use of the educated
classes, nevertheless represent an entire program of the demands of
the 19. century.
Back to the question of substitde or original. The Gipsformerei can
possibly contribute to one of the most ardently discussed topics
of the past years. When the Germans about 1880 excavated the famous
temple of Zeus in Olympia, the originals remained at the very spot
where they belong to. For one of the first times the excavation of
a foreign country did not mean the loss of eminent masterpieces to
the country of origin. Moulds of every sculptured part, even very
fragmented pieces, were taken. They came into the possesion of the
Gipsformerei. in 1985 was a museum of casts of the
Antiquity been estabished. Among others these sculptures from
Olympia will finally go on show. Meanwhile the original altar of
210
du probleme
Moulages ex-
Zeus taken from Pergamon/Turkey to Berlin is one of the best known
masterpieces among visitors of museums in the eastern part of our
city.
One should not playoff orignal and substitue against each other.
As long as only the content is demanded, the cast will sufficiently
equal the original. It is an esthetic category, including Benjamin's
aura, that a cast lacks. Travelling will always been needed to see
the original, but how much could we manage by means of casts if we
lose our prejudice?
RESUME
En ce qui concerne les points a au sujet
des originaux et des substitutions, l'Atelier des
prime Ie point de vue suivant :
II est certain, qu'il ne s'agit pas, dans Ie cadre du moulage,
d'une mais d'une tres grande ambition arti-
sanaIe mise entierement au service d'un reproduction aussi
fide Ie que possible de l'original. L'importance du moulage
ne pas dans Ie moulage en soi, mais celui-ci se r&fere
toujours a l'original. Cela est particulierement net dans Ie cas
de moulages n'ayant pas colores. Pourtant, la plupart de noc
clients preferent Ie moulage peint "comme l'original", alors,
la matiere de base,qui est Ie ne les repousse pas lors-
cue la reproduction des couleurs de l'original leur semble
d'une similitude trompeuse. dans les on
utilise des moulages peints pour remplacer un original qui
a ete pour une periode donnee. Cependant, les musees
d'Etat a vocation purement artistique n'utilisent normalcmcnl aucun
moulage.
Quant a la clientele privee, Ie moulage remplit une fonction
de substitution pour ceux qui, pour des raisons financieres,
ne peuvent se pCl'mettre d'avoir des originaux dans leur in-
terieur. Aucun autre moyen de reproduction ne peut obtenir
ce rayonnement bien particulier que possede un moulage tri-
dimentionnel, et ce moulage, du fait de sa presence quoti-
dienne veille une sensibilite approfondie pour les arts.
C'est une des raisons pour lesquelles on peut dire qu'une
reproduction peut jouer un educatif superieur A celui
qu'aurait un original, que l'on observerait vaguement dans
un musee.
211
Pour les qui des moulages, l'aspect
catif est primordial. Et ce n'est qu'A l'aide de ces repro-
ductions que l'on peut des comparaisons entre styles
exactes.
L'importance de ces moulages devient
lorsque l'original a entre-temps. 11 en va de
pour la de moulages d'un monument qui, en raison
de dommages subits A cause de la pollution ne
pourrait rester plus lontemps A l'air libre. Ceci prouve que
l'utilisation de substituts doit vraiment con-
comme une valable
Les contre ces moulages ne visent des oeuvres
d'art n'ayant Que partiellement reproduites, ou rcproduites
A plus petite echelle, ils concernent egalement des oeuvres
d'une qualite moindre, Qui certes, des personnages
celebres, mais qui ne sont pas reellement des oeuvres d'art.
Ces moulage-Ia satisfaisaient au gout du XIXeme siecle, mais depuis
, l'Atelier de moulages n'a pas developpe une autre conception de
travail. Alors, on pourrait bien, ici, apaiser la discussion enf1ammee
sur 1a restitution des originaux a leurs pays d'origine, et ceci en
utilisant intelligemment les moulages.
212
du
Moulages ex-
Zeus taken from Pergamon/Turkey to Berlin is one of the best known
masterpieces among visitors of museums in the eastern part of our
city.
One should not playoff orignal and substitue against each other.
As long as only the content is demanded, the cast will sufficiently
equal the original. It is an esthetic category, including Benjamin's
aura, that a cast lacks. Travelling will always been needed to see
the original, but how much could we manage by means of casts if we
lose our prejudice?
RESUME
En ce qui concerne les points au sujet
des originaux et des substitutions, l'Atelier des
prime le point de vue suivant :
11 est certain, qu'il ne s'agit pas, dans le cadre du moulage,
d'une activite creatrice mais d'une grande ambition arti-
sanale mise au service d'un reproduction aussi
que possible de l'original. L'importance du moulage
ne reside pas dans le moulage en soi, mais celui-ci se
toujours a l'originnl. Cela est net dans 1 cas
de moulages n'ayant pas ete colores. Pourtant, la plupart de nos
clients le moulage peint "comme l'original", alors,
la de base,qui est le ne les repousse pas lors-
aue la reproduction des couleurs de l'original leur semble
d'une similitude trompeuse. dans les musees, on
utilise des moulages peints pour remplacer un original qui
a ete pour une periode donnee. Cependant, les musees
d'Etat vocation purement artistique n'utilisent normalcmcnt aucun
moulage.
Quant a la privee, le moulage remplit une fonction
de substitution pour ceux qui, pour des raisons
ne peuvent se pel'mettre d'avoir des originaux dans leur in-
terieur. Aucun autre moyen de reproduction ne peut obtenir
ce rayonnement bien particulier que un moulage tri-
dimentionnel, et ce moulage, du fait de sa presence quoti-
dienne veille une sensibilite approfondie pour les arts.
C'est une des raisons pour lesquelles on peut dire qu'une
reproduction peut jouer un educatif superieur a celui
qu'aurait un original, que l'on observerait vaguement dans
un musee.
211
Pour les qui des moulages, l'aspect
catif est primordial. Et ce n'est l'aide de ces repro-
ductions que l'on peut des comparaisons entre styles
exactes.
L'importance de ces moulages devient
lorsque l'original a entre-temps. 11 en va de
pour la de moulages d'un monument qui, en raison
de dommages subits cause de la pollution ne
pourrait rester plus lontemps l'air libre. Ceci prouve que
l'utilisation de substituts doit vraiment con-
comme une valable
Les contre ces moulages ne visent 0.ue des oeuvres
d'art n'ayant que partiellement reproduites, ou rcproduites
plus petite ils concernent egalement des oeuvres
d'une moindre, Qui certes, des personnages
mais qui ne sont pas des oeuvres d'art.
Ces moulage-la satisfaisaient au gout du XIXeme siecle, mais depuis
, l'Atelier de moulages n'a pas developpe une autre conception de
travail. Alors, on pourrait bien, ici, apaiser la discussion enflammee
sur la restitution des originaux a leurs pays d'origine, et ceci en
utilisant intelligemment les moulages.
212
Musee des monuments antiques de Versailles
Simone Besques, Paris- France
Les moulages dans l'antiquite et dans les Temps modemes
Resume
DaDs le them. choisi par votre Comite pour oe Colloque auquel vous
m'avez fait l'holUl8ur de m'inviter. je voudrais dire quelques mots de oe
que nous oonnaissons des moulages dans l'Antiquite. de ce qu'ils sont
devenus dans les Temps modemes. leur fiJJalite et les cozmexions qui
existent entre moulages antiques et moulages modemes.
Ce lien. il est apparemment minCi; mais il existe en realite car la
finalite est la memes o'ast la oecessite. soit artistique. soit didactique.
soit commerciale. de faire conna!tre f un public. sePare et par les dis-
tances geographiques et par la distance dans le temps. d' oeuvre,;- plastiques
qu'il us pourrait guere conna1tre autrement.
Car la copie est lente. et souvent peu fidela; car les facilites de
voyager. la multiplication des expositions sont des notions toutes moderues.
nees pourrait-on dire. avec le developpement de l'aviation.
Car la reproduction par le dessin. dans l'antiquite comma dana les
temps modernes n'est pas fidele. fouction de l'interpretation de celui qui
tient le pineeau. :La plume ou le crayon.
Car la photographie meme reste fouction de l'angle de prise de vue.
des eclairages. voire de la personnalite du photographe.
x x x
a connu le moulage.- sans parler des figurines en terre
cuite. oeuvres sorties de moules et qui ont popularis& dana le monde anti-
que les copies miniaturisees des oeuvres de soulpteurs Mais bien
du moulage et du surmoulage. pris sur una oeuvre plastique. sculpture ou
decor en relief soit a l'aide de platre. du grpse. soit &l'aide de
l'argile.
A en juger par des" tenes trop rare/S. les Grecs ont q-ku le moulage
I
de statues. d'apres lequel ont travaille des sculpteurs et leurs eleves. Et
surtout. ils ont utilise le surmoulage du deoor des vases en metal. des
armures. du harnachement des chevaux.- on en a retrouve des uemples en
Russie meridionale. en Afghanistan. en GrOOe. en Italie, en Egypte ptola-
maIque.
Quel est l"interet de ces surmoulages ? 11 est multiforme. Interet
purement commercials ces surmOulageS servent en quel :"_-" que sorte de
Catalogue. ils peuvent etre suspendus aux murs des boutiques et envoyes
213
dans tout Ie monde antique,- pour wendre des vases, des miroirs, des
armures, des bijoux
Interet d'ordre religieux: ces substituts de bijoux, ces copies en
terre cuite de casques a reliefs sont deposes dana les tombes.
Interet d I ordre e3thetique: les figuri.JJes de terre cuite ont popularise
de l'Est a l'Ouest de la les creations d'Athenes, de Tanagra,
de Tarente ou d'Alexandrie.
Et eDfin,-et ce n'est pas una des moindres decouvertes des dernieres
decencies, interet de la connaissance des methodes de travail des copistes
italiens, a l'epoque imperiale: decouverte faites a Baies depuis 1954 d'un
atelier de moulages, ou l'on a retrouve les fragments de moulages en
antiques pris au ler siecle ap.J .C. sur des oeuvres en bronze grecques
celmes, Ie de1T:rnumoctoDeS' l'Amazone Ilattai, l'Apollon du
Be1Tedere, eto
C'est aux Temps modernes, a partir de 1& Renaissance qu'intervient
la notion de oollection de moulages, notion d'une variete puisqu'elle
couvre aussi bien les collections de moulages antiques, ou de soulpture
moderne, que les collections de moulages prehistor1ques, les collections
des museums d'Histoire Natuelle, et celles des de numismatique.
Lorsqu'a. la fin du XVIe siecle, en 1583 furent decouvertes, au Latran,
les copies romaines du Groupe des Niobides, Ie grand-duc de Toscane s'en
fit faire des moulages pour etre exposes a Florence, aux Offices.
Notons, entre parentheses, que ces moulages furent donnas a. l'Eaole
des Beaux-Arts de Paris, peu apres sa fomation par Ihgres au debut du
XIXe sillcle.
Puis au debut du XVIr.e siecle, lorsque Ie (;ardinal B=omee crea a
Milan l'Academie des Beaux-Arts, il y reunit une importante collection de
moulages parce que, comme l'exprima Lippert au milieu du XVIIIe siecle,
les gravures sont infideles et ne valent rien pour etudier Ie style des
oeuvres antiques.
Au XIXe siecle, Ingres adjoignit a l'Academie des Beaux-Arts, creee
en 1795, une importante collection de moulages de sculptures, pour laquelle
fut edifie Ie Falais des Etudes. Et dans toute l'Europe, puis aux Etats-
Unis, academies des beaUX-Arts et surtout Universites se virent adjoindre
des collections de moulages. AujoDrd'hui il n'est guare d'Universite qui
214
n'an ait at souvent oes moulages sont de veritables oar ils
ont souvent ete pris avant de malenoontreuses rsstaurationa, ou avant que
les deoors arohiteoturaux ne soient abtmes par 1a pollution atmospherique.
Ces oreations, oomme sussi oelles dee musees d'Etat, musee des monu-
ments antiques a. Versailles, musee de monuments franl;ais a. Paris, Skulptu-
halle a. Ball'l repondent a un besoin bien determinee, a. une finalite qui,
d 'una oertaine maniere rejoint la final1te des moulages dana l' Antiquite.
lls veQJ.ent rassembler des oeuvres disperseaa dans des colleotions
diverses et permettre d'etudier, non seuleme,.t l'Histoire de l'Art antique
ou moderns, mais l'oeuvre d'un Bculpteur, d'uu atelier, d'une ecole. lla
veulent permettre aux etudiants, comme aUlil eoulpteura, de !.2i:!: l' oeuvre
plastique dans ses trois Et oela quel que soit le type du musee,
musea-panorama, Gomme le Museo dei Gessi a. Roms, le musee des monuments
antiques a. Versailles, ou muses ayant choisi d 'etudier un theme, 001llllle la
;.'!<il..
Skulpturhallef'raasemblant, reoonatituant Ie deoor du f'arthenon, ou tel autre
musee travaillant sur le portrait romain.
Et cette finalite, n'est pas seulement oelle des musees de sculpture,
mais elle est oelle des muaees et colleotions de prehistoire, d'Histoire
Na.turelle ou de nUllliamatiqn6 .
215
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216
. : ..; .
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n' en ait une, et souvent oes moulages sont de veritables originaur, oar ils
ont souvent ete pris avant de malenoontreuses restaurations, ou avant que
les deoors arohiteoturaur ne soient abtmea par la pollution atmoapherique.
Ces oreations, oomme aussi oelles des musees d'Etat, musee des monu-
ments antiques a. Versailles, musee de monuments franqais a. Paris, Skulptu-
halle a. Bale repondent a un besoin bien determines, a une finalite qui,
d'une oertaine maniere rejoint la finalite des moulages dans l'Antiquite.
Ils veulent rassembler des oeuvres disperseea dans des oolleotions
diverses et permettre d'etudier, non seulement l'Histoire de l'Art antique
ou moderne, mais l'oeuvre d'un soulpteur, d'un atelier, d'une eoole. Ila
veulent permettre aux etudiants, oomme alDl soulpteurs, de voir l'oeuvr.
plastique dans ses trois dimensions. Et oela quel que soit Ie type du musee,
musee-panorama, oomme ae Museo dei Gessi a Rome, Ie musee des monuments
antiques a. Versailles, ou musee ayant choisi d'etudier un theme, oomme la
J<'l<l).
Skulpturhalle(rassemblant, reoonstituant Ie deoor du farthenon, ou tel autre
musee travaillant sur Ie portrait romain.
Et oette finalite, n'est pas seulement oelle des musees de soulpture,
mais elle est oelle des musees et oolleotions de prehistoire, d'Histoire
Naturelle ou de numismatique.
215
Z16
Views on substitutes
by ICOM International Committees
Points de vue sur les objets substitutifs
par des comites internationaux de I'ICOM
217
218
Simone Besques, Versailles - France
ICOM International Committee for Museums and Collections
of Archaeology and History
Working Group for museums and collections of casts
Le Comite international de I'ICOM pour les musees et collections
d'arcMologieet d'histoire
Groupe de travail pour les musees et collections des moulages
The contribution is reproduced in the section "Views on substitutes
by specialized institutions".
La contribution est reproduite dans la section "Exposes sur les objets
substitutifs par les institutions specialisees".
219
220
ICOFOM Publications
Museological Working Papers - MuWoP
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an international debate review on fundamental problems that concern all
museum workers and museums
la revue de debat international sur les problemes fondamentaux des musees
et des gens de musee
MuWoP No 1/1980
Museology - science or just practical museum work?
La museologie - science ou seulement travail pratique du musee?
134 pp, price usa 10
MuWoP No 2/1982
- 134 pages, prix usa 10
Interdisciplinarity in museology
L'interdisciplinarite en museologie
200 pp, price usa 12
ICOFOM STUDY SERIES _ ISS
- 200 pages, prix usa 12
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preprints of symposia and other scientific activities of the ICDM
International Committee for Museology - ICOFOM
preprints des symposia et d'autres activites scientifiques du Comite
international de l'ICOM pour la museologie - ICOFDM
No. 1 Joint colloquium London 1983
Methodology of moseology and professional training
with 10 basic papers, 6 comments and 1 summary, 146 pp.
professionnelle
resume, 146 p.
No. 2
Colloque joint (avec Ie Comite international
formation du personnel) I Londres 1983
Methodologie de museologie et la formation
10 memoires de base, 6 commentaires et un
Symposium London 1983
Museum - territory - society
with 8 basic papers and 1 comments, 60 pp.
Symposium Londres 1983
Musee - territoire - societe
8 memoires de base et 1 commentaire, 60 p.
de l'ICDM pour la
No. 3 Addenda 1 to the colloquium/symposium 1983
with 1 basic papers, 1 comments to the symposium, and
2 comments to the colloquium, 31 pp.
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No. 3
No. 4
No. 5
No. 6
No. 7
No. 8
Annexe 1 a Londres 1983 (colloque/symposium)
1 memoire de base, 2 commentaires au symposium, et
2 commentaires au colloque, 31 p.
Addenda 2 to the symposium 1983
with 2 basic papers, 1 comments, 1 intervention
and 2 summaries, 36 pp.
Annexe 2 a Londres 1983 (symposium)
avec 2 meffioires de base, 1 commentaire, 1 intervention
et 2 resumes, 36 p.
Addenda 3 to the colloquium 1983
with 3 basic papers, 2 comments, 3 interventions
and 1 summary, 60 pp.
Annexe 3 a Londres 1983 (colloque)
avec 3 memoires de base, 2 commentaires, 3 interventions et
1 resume, 60 p.
Symposium Leiden 1984
Collecting today for tomorrow
with 17 basic papers, 161 pp.
Symposium de Leyde, 1984
Collecter pour demain
17 memoires de base, 161 p.
Symposium Leiden 1984
Collecting today for tomorrow
Comments and views
with 3 basic papers and 4. comments, ?2 pp.
Symposium de Leyde, 1984
Collecter aujourd'hui pour demain
Commentaires et points de vue
3 memoires de base et 4 comment aires , 32 p.
Symposium Zagreb 1985
Originals and substitutes in museums
with 24 basic papers, 223 pp.
Symposium de Zagreb, 1985
Originaux et objets substitutifs dans les musees
24 memoires de base, 223 p.
Huseological News - Nouvelles museologiques
* newsletter of ICOFOM
* bulletin d'information de l'ICOFOM
Since/depuis 1982, Nos 1 - 7
Send your order to:
Envoyez votre commande a:
Editorial Board Office of ICOFOM
Statens Historiska Museum
Att: Dr V. Sofka
Box 5405
S - 114 84 STOCKHOLM, Sweden/Suede
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