However, the opposite seems to be true: despite the availability of reproductions we have become increasingly obsessed with the breathtaking encounter with the only original. 1 Why does the original matter, when we can see its reproduction everywhere? These reproductions would have been the stuff of nightmares for the German sociologist Walter Benjamin (1892-1940), who fostered the idea that “mechanical reproduction” (in his case photography) destroys the historical, intimate and personal connection to the work of art – the “aura” – for it becomes a popularized object of the masses, ripped out of its context. An image of any work of art can be retrieved in an instant and digital visits to museums will become increasingly common, given the investments of the Dutch government. In an increasingly digitized world, reproductions are omnipresent.
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