Casts From the Past XXVI

Casts From the Past is a recurring retrospective of select Palladio GFRG projects.

Originally entablatures and their cornices were exterior features designed to ferry rainwater away from buildings.

This piece’s S-like profile is known as a “cyma recta”. We – and uncountable craftspeople before us – think its subtle wave mimics that of these acanthus leaves.

Interior and exterior plaster decor take advantage of plaster’s flexibility. It’s amenability to sanding, carving, drilling, and cutting allows for this life-size sculpture.

Before silicone rubber, flexible molds were made with “gelatine” or colloquially, “glue”. It could produce up to 6 plaster casts before needing to be melted down and re-poured.

This overwhelmingly geometric pattern is a portion of a larger cornice in a replication project. The blocks (mutules) and cylinders (frusta) are throwbacks to Doric architecture.