Calco

CALCO. - It is the reproduction of objects worked in relief obtained by means of impressions taken from the original with wax, clay, plaster or other suitable material. The material most in use today for making casts is plaster (a special quality for molders).

The practice of making casts is very ancient; it seems the ancient Egyptians knew of it. Lucian, Plutarch and Juvenal allude to it in their writings. In the Renaissance, papier-mâché or scagliola was also used to make casts of objects, especially in relief. Colored or gilded ones depicting sacred images were also frequent. The renewed interest in antiquity spread the practice of making casts of ancient sculptures; collections of casts are found in museums and galleries and in schools of archaeology and art history; the oldest of these collections is the one begun in Milan by Cardinal Federico Borromeo at the Ambrosiana for artists and scholars.

To reproduce graffiti, especially inscriptions, casts are made with blotting or filter paper or, even better, with the specially so-called "casting paper."

Angelo Lipinsky