The Cast Collection at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna

Abstract

The Viennese collection of plaster casts at the Academy of Fine Arts (Academie der Bildende Kunst) dates to the beginning of this institution in the late seventeenth century. In 1851 a part of the collection was first opened to the public and therefore, besides its use as study material for the Academy's students, its second task became the representation of the history of sculpture. In the course of the nineteenth century the taste changed in favor of Renaissance art and therefore some works by Michelangelo were acquired including the Moses. From 1885 onwards Sigmund Freud frequently visited the collection. The architect of the new Academy building at the Schillerplatz—still the site of today's Academy—Theophil Hansen, designated the central hall and eight rooms on the ground floor to house the Museum of Plaster Casts (Gipsmuseum) which was opened in January 1878 and was going to be the biggest museum for plastic works in the history of the city until its closing and clearance in 1935. The article is focused not only on the history but also on the presentation of the collection especially at Freud's time.