Image and thing: the distribution and impact of plaster casts in Renaissance Europe.

The article discusses the use of plaster as a disseminator of sculptural forms during the 16th century. The question of the ways in which copies and variants underlay many developments in sculpture in the Renaissance is addressed. The validity of the observations of Italian art historian Giovan Battista Armenini in his treatise "De veri precetti della pittura" is considered by reviewing the early history of the use of plaster casts as a means of dissemination of visual ideas across Europe.