3D Representations in Museums

Abstract Museums have developed strategies to allow their visitors to “walk through” three‐dimensional replicas of great cathedrals and palaces, tombs and catacombs, stately houses and other architectural achievements from distant lands and ages, and to walk around the great sculptures of the past several millenniums. Casts (three‐dimensional replicas) provided these 3D experiences in the mid‐nineteenth century. In many respects, the older technology of casts retains its advantages over the present state of digital virtual reality, though it has fallen out of favor. This article examines the usefulness of this earlier way of viewing sculptural objects.