Notes on the display of the Hall of the Expansion of Christianity in the Museu Biblíc Tarraconense: between copies, reconstructions and didactics

Chiara Cecalupo

doi:10.14568/cp31050

Authors

Chiara Cecalupo Conex Plus-Marie Curie Fellow, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Calle Madrid 126, Getafe, Madrid, Espanha https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4230-3803

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14568/cp31050

Keywords:

Museum exhibitions, Replicas, Authenticity, Religious museums, Early Christian art

Abstract

This article presents historical and critical reflections on the display of the Hall of the Expansion of Christianity in the Museu Biblíc Tarraconense. In the first part it recalls the history of the museum and its cultural background; then it describes the hall and its composition. It ends with comparisons with other cases of similar museum displays between the 1850s and the 1950s, and a reflection on copies and authenticity in museum. The aim is to focus on this example of museum recreation of early-Christian burial and cult settlements, to contribute to the study of casts and reproductions and their role in European historical museum displays for Christian archaeology.

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