'Worthless' casts to receive £½m revamp

A COLLECTION of 200-year-old plaster casts, once considered near-worthless copies of great Greek and Roman statues and carvings, have earned a £494,000 lottery grant.

The cash will enable the Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) to conserve and restore them.

The casts have been used since the early 19th century as a teaching tool for students to practise drawing and painting. But they fell out of fashion with the advent of modern art programmes and were seen as having little intrinsic value.

However, the head of the Heritage Lottery Fund in Scotland, Colin McLean, said the fund was delighted to help save the "rare and exquisite collection".

The 187 casts include a group donated to the ECA in 1827, which were taken from Athenian statues. There is also a complete cast of the long Parthenon frieze from 1837. Set in the ECA's main hall, it is now in better condition than the pollution-damaged stones on the Parthenon.

Turner Prize winning artist Mark Wallinger is borrowing a cast of one famous statue, The Dying Gladiator, also known as The Dying Gaul, for a new show.