The cast collection is installed in Galleries B-2, 10, 11, 12 and the J corridors on the First Floor. To view the collection in chronological sequence, the visitor should proceed from the octagonal Gallery B-2 (V century Greek sculpture) down the north side of corridor B-3 (V century Greek sculpture). Returning, the visitor will find in the alcoves on the south side of the corridor casts of Greek sculpture of the IV century and Hellenistic periods, and casts of Roman sculpture. The collection is continued in Gallery B-10 (Gothic sculpture), which should be entered from the corridor. Casts of Renaissance sculpture are exhibited in Gallery B-1 (Early Renaissance, XV century) and Gallery B-12 (Late Renaissance, XVI century). Other casts of sculptures of the Renaissance and later periods are exhibited in the west corridor.

The educational value of a cast collection is beyond question. Through these mechanical reproductions, it is possible to obtain a fairly adequate idea of the great masterpieces of sculpture, that are inaccessible to many, except in this form. In the plaster cast one may study proportions, composition, style and even technical procedure; but it must be remembered that the qualities of color and texture, which contribute so much to the effect of the original, are almost, if not entirely, lost in the plaster [pg 2] cast. This defect may be overcome in part by treating the plaster in various ways so that it conveys some suggestion of the original material. This has been done with our casts, adding materially to the attractiveness of the collection.

In connection with the casts of Greek and Roman sculpture in our collection, the following notes on classical art may be of interest. As to the characteristics of Gothic and Renaissance art, the reader is referred to the notes on pages 31-32 and 47-48.

A remarkable civilization (Minoan, Cretan, Aegean, or Prehellenic, as it is variously called), extending over a thousand years, preceded the classical period of Greek art. This earlier civilization was brought to an end by the so-called Dorian invasion at the close of the second millennium, and several hundred years had to elapse before conditions once again were right for the flourishing of art. Greece of the classical period begins to emerge towards the end of the VII century B. C. The Archaic Period (about 625-480 B. C.) was one of experimentation, preparatory to the age of perfection, when, technical difficulties having been overcome and aesthetic aims defined, Greek art attained an eminence never surpassed.

Victorious at Salamis and Plataea, the Greek world arose triumphant from its struggles with Asia. The birth of national consciousness ushered in a new period of art, the Golden Age of Greece (480-400 B. C.). The conventions of the archaic style gave place to a free style, adequate to the sculptor's every need. Grace, simplicity, and truth in the representation of the living form characterize the sculpture of this period; draperies are rendered with marvelous skill. Liberal patronage was extended to the arts, particularly by the state. Under these favorable conditions, which reached their climax in the Age of Pericles (461-431 B. C.), Hellenic ideals of proportion, sanity and self-command found perfect embodiment in sculpture. From about the middle of the V century, Athens was the unquestioned leader in the field of art, her nearest rival, the ancient school of Argos. Among the great sculptors of the V century, three stand out in particular prominence: Myron, who excelled in the representation of bodily forms and action; Polyclitus, the sculptor of athletes and the exponent of academic perfection; and above all Phidias, the great genius of the age, who combined technical skill with the expression of lofty, spiritual ideals.

In the next period, that of the IV century (400-323 B. C.) individualism began to dominate Greek thought and action, replacing the earlier civic and religious influences. Art became more individual and more emotional. Portraiture grew in favor. The austere style of Phidias gave place to the dreamy sentiment of Praxiteles, to the fiery passion of Scopas. The gods descended from high Olympus and walked the earth in human guise. The three great sculptors of this age were Praxiteles, Scopas and Lysippus.

Sculpture of the Hellenistic Period (323-146 B. C.) shows a further development of tendencies already manifested in the preceding century. Individualism led to a vigorous development of portraiture and genre sculpture. Art ran the whole gamut of passion, from the bestial to the ideal, and this amplification of the emotional theme was accompanied by a wider range of subject material than had yet occurred. With these changes came a lowering of ideals. Spiritual emptiness, sensationalism, and lack of self-restraint are only too often characteristic of Hellenistic art. The chief centres of art in this period were not in Greece, but at Pergamon, Rhodes and Alexandria.

The development of Roman sculpture was influenced, on the one hand, by native Italian realistic tendencies, and on the other, by the example of Greek sculpture. Not only were there in Rome numerous Greek sculptures to serve as models, but also many transplanted Greek artists, who had left their native land to seek employment in Italy. To the copies of famous masterpieces executed by these eclectic artists, it may be remarked, we owe our knowledge of many celebrated works of Greek sculpture, which otherwise would have been lost to us. In studying Roman art we note first one tendency, then the other, predominating, but neither is ever lost to sight. It is this dualism that gives to Roman art its distinctive character.