About the Journal

Journal of the International Association of Research Institutes in the History of Art

The RIHA Journal was launched in 2010 by The International Association of Research Institutes in the History of Art (RIHA). It is a peer-reviewed and open access e-journal devoted to the full range of the history of art and visual culture. The RIHA Journal especially welcomes papers on topics relevant from a supra-local perspective, articles that explore artistic interconnections or cultural exchanges, or engage with important theoretical questions that are apt to animate the discipline. As a collective endeavor, the RIHA Journal seeks to share knowledge and materials issued by scholars of all nationalities, and by doing so, to make a significant contribution to dissolving the boundaries between scholarly communities. Languages of publication are English, French, German, Italian, or Spanish.

Recently published:

RIHA Journal 0321
Milena Gallipoli: "Unauthorized Plaster Casts at the Louvre's Atelier de Moulage under the Direction of Eugène-Denis Arrondelle (1880-1907)"
DOI: https://doi.org/10.11588/riha.2025.1.109279

Printed letterhead of Eugène-Denis Arrondelle, letter to Eduardo Schiaffino, August 20, 1906 (detail). Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires, Fondo Schiaffino (photo: Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires)

This article investigates the production of plaster casts at the Atelier de Moulage du Musée du Louvre under the direction of moulder and sculptor Eugène-Denis Arrondelle between 1880 and 1907. This chef d’atelier engaged in dubious practices, producing casts to which patinas were added without authorization, or selling casts made using the resources of the Louvre workshop as products of his private studio. Some of Arrondelle’s unauthorized surmoulages could even be considered forgeries when he marketed them as direct casts of Louvre artworks. As a manufacturer of plaster casts, the Louvre thus was unwittingly exposed to competition with its own head of workshop. This case study allows us to explore the notion of authorship and authenticity in plaster casts and to highlight how commercial dynamics affected these concepts.