On the history of the Museum of Fine Arts’ collection of plaster copies
MúzeumCafé 46.
Since 1945 one of the unresolved issues in the collecting strategy of the Fine Arts Museum has concerned the fate of the plaster copies. The direct parallel and antecedents of the museum’s collection of medieval and Renaissance plaster copies were the collections which had appeared in European and American museums in the course of the 19th century. Perhaps the most striking influence was represented by the personality and conceptions of Wilhelm von Bode. The deliberate displaying together of medieval, Renaissance, Eastern and national works, their harmonious arrangement and the aspiration for universality in their presentation are the foundations of Bode’s thinking. Bode was also involved with the Italian government’s lifting of the ban on copying works under national protection, which accelerated the copying by European museums of longed-for Renaissance artworks. These included works which could be ordered from catalogues issued in Milan, Rome and in Florence. In his 1894 concept for the Museum of Fine Arts, Károly Pulszky did not envisage a separate presentation of originals and copies, but he took it as absolute that a collection should be established for presenting the entire history of sculpture. However, certain problematic issues concerning originals and copies soon arose in practice, since the realisation in 1906 of Albert Schickedanz architectural design did not involve a building constructed for specific works of art, but a continuously expanding museum ideal aiming at universality. The result was that for later generations the problem of lack of space was reoccurring. In addition to the already existing Antique collection, comprising more than 600 items, the final collection, including 295 medieval and Renaissance plaster copies, was established in 1945.