Indirect lost-wax casting
Bronze, a combination of copper, tin, and small amounts of other metals, has long been
prized for its preciousness, endurance, and its ability to register fine details and
reflect light. Beginning about 1500, patrons became intrigued by the famed bronze
collections of antiquity and began their own collections of ancient and contemporary
bronzes. After much experimentation, artists in the 1500s refined a technique of making
bronzes called indirect lost-wax casting. This technique made possible the production of
multiple versions of the same piece.
See also a video on direct lost-wax casting