The intention of this volume is to investigate into the dimensions of the cultural practice of the copying of ancient art. Copies as the primary ‒ the original? ‒ that claims to be the secondary are the motor of a range of processes of cultural exchange in which highly varied content and messages were traded and communicated. As products and media of the transformation of antiquity, copies “bring to life” the circumstances of a seemingly simple reception of antiquity.

Tatjana Bartsch, Marcus Becker, Horst Bredekamp und Charlotte Schreiter, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.