Date

Circa 1910

In the late Victorian era, plaster casts of outstanding classical, ancient, and medieval works were produced by various vendors for museums (and world's fairs), spurred by an initiative of Prince Albert in Great Britain. The plaster cast collection in the Musée national des Monuments Français, Palais de Chaillot, Galerie Davioud was proposed by Viollet-le-Duc in 1879. The west doorway Of Autun Cathedral is dominated by the huge tympanum (4.62 x 6.53 m), carved with the Last Judgment. In 1766 it was considered offensive and concealed with plaster. The projecting head of Christ, which was then broken off to achieve a level surface, was rediscovered and restored to its position in 1948; it was also restored to this cast in 1949 by Georges Latapie. The Romanesque tympanum was signed Gislebertus hoc fecit ("Gislebertus made this").