Replicas of cultural-heritage sites have been created for many purposes: to serve didactic functions, allow visitors to experience heritage sites that are difficult to access, removed from their original location or closed for their protection, lost to time or destroyed by war, and now, increasingly, to serve as a documentary record in support of a site’s preservation.Recent advances in three-dimensional capture, in rapid prototyping technologies, and in the acquisition of scientific data have led to a proliferation of replicated objects from cultural-heritage sites—in both digital and physical form. This revival in replica production can be attributed in large part to greater accessibility and affordability of such techniques as laser scanning, photogrammetry, digitally controlled milling, and three-dimensional printing, as well as scientific instrumentation that allows for advanced study of an object. The scale of replica creation in the twenty-first century and its general acceptance in the cultural-heritage field can be likened to the systematized production of plaster casts for museum collections during the industrial age. My project explores how the replicas of the past can inform the replicas of today and what role technology plays in this. What values should a newly created replica embody as distinct from its original counterpart? How important is authenticity, accuracy, materiality, and craftsmanship in this? And, what happens to both the original and its replicated twin with the passage of time? Divergence is inevitable: How then does our interaction with replicas shift how we consider the original object, both now and in the future? Looked at from the viewpoint of a conservator, I will study a wide range of facsimiles together with their original counterparts found throughout Italy—examples from antiquity to the present day—by documenting their respective histories and diverging paths. Ultimately, these investigations will provide an intellectual framework and means to better understand the longer term role that replication might play in cultural heritage.