The molding workshop

For more than two centuries, the molding workshop of the Rmn-GP has been reproducing masterpieces of sculpture from antiquity to the present day. Founded in 1794 to extend the missions of the Louvre Museum, its vocation is to spread moldings of great fidelity. It preserves and exploits one of the largest collections in the world consisting of more than 6,000 molds made from original sculptures held in the largest French and European collections. The workshop combines handwork and cutting-edge approach: from the production of a traditional mold to 3D scanning for making prints. The know-how of the patina brings the final touch to restore all the nuances of the originals. Located in Saint-Denis, this workshop has become a conservatory of excellence skills. It allows institutions and professionals of history to acquire copies of art but also private individuals or the most sophisticated decorators.

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June 9 and 10, 2018

Exceptional loan of the casting "Dying Slave" for the symposium on Michelangelo at the Louvre.

The two slaves know a great reputation from their arrival in France in the sixteenth century. It is extremely rare to find Michelangelo outside Italy, so they are molded by the casting workshop in 1819, to allow to broadcast the canons of the Master.

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How do you make a molding?

Faithful reproduction of a sculpted work, the molding results from a long and meticulous process which is based on the creation of a mold and then its exploitation to obtain multiple prints, whether made of plaster, resin, baked clay or bronze.
Our moldings are made from a silicone mold, made in direct contact with the original work.
Each draw requires a series of traditional gestures requiring mastery and know-how: casting, demolding, resumption of seams, drying of the work before laying a patina to make the appearance of the original and restore the effect of passage time.
The craftsmen must start each operation again to obtain a new molding, each piece is unique.

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Print taken on the original model

The demolding of the model must be done with the greatest care

Finishing step corrects small defects after demolding

Skating to give the molding its resemblance to the original

Did you know?

The stamp of the workshop affixed to each sculpture attests to the belonging of our collection, certifies its origin and the quality of its manufacture by our molding workshop.