Abguss

Cast: in art, a copy of a natural form (e.g. death mask) or a 3-dimensional work of art using a pourable material which hardens with time (mostly plaster, clay, wax, plastic). A cast can be a copy of a work of art or the preliminary stage of a metal casting. The Rollettmuseum in Baden (Lower Austria) houses a number of collections of death masks. The Federal Monument Authority as well as private companies also produce casts of endangered works of art. For a long time, original works in Austria have been replaced with casts in order to protect them from environmental wear; the originals are then placed in museums (e.g. patron figures on St. Stephen's Cathedral and Donner Fountain on Hoher Markt in Vienna).