ORIGINAL, COPY, DIGITAL ORIGINAL THE PATH TOWARD VIRTUAL MUSEUMS

We really don’t know if the discussion about ‘originals’ and ‘copies / replicas’ started in caves at the time of graffiti when artists sapiens-sa- piens replicated some hunt scenes or far later on when classic Greek statues by Phidias and Praxiteles were copied by Roman sculptors. For sure the art of copying flourished with the re-discovery of classic art and the need to refer to universal ‘models’ in fine art schools and museums. Plaster cast collections are used to enrich the patrimony of museums and art galleries, the opportunity to enjoy the beauty of masterpieces through a full-size reproduction is usually highly appreciated; let’s con- sider, for instance, the Museum of Antonio Canova, with plaster casts and scale models of his famous pieces, located in Possagno, Italy. Through time replicas were used to fulfil different purposes: preserve originals, multiply the instances of relevant artefacts, offer the enjoy- ment of inaccessible artefacts, create a perfect replica to monitor the aging of artefacts, reconstruct the original shape / aspect of historical locations, promote cultural heritage, support education in arts, print 3D models of artefacts. These purposes are mainly connected with the usual