This plafond, among other works of art, was exhibited in the “Algerian” pavilion at the Exhibition of Art and Industry held in Paris in 1867.

At the Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace in 1851 a massive, full-colour reconstruction of the “Assyrian Court” was based on recent discoveries at the Assyrian city of Nimrud. There was also a parallel “Egyptian Court” as can be seen in this photo.

Fragments of the minbar from the Ibn Tulun Mosque in Cairo were on show at the exhibition held in Paris in 1867. Exhibitions displaying objects such as this sparked interest among European museums to acquire similar artefacts, such as the rosette seen here, which is now in Vienna.

The decoration of the Egyptian Gallery at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna was realized in 1877. It copies exactly the decoration created for the “Egyptian” pavilion, at the World’s Fair held in Vienna in 1873, by Ernst Weidenbach, which he copied from the paintings in the Tomb of Chnumhotep II in Beni Hassan (central Egypt).

This is a general view of the Egyptian Gallery at the Kunsthistoriches Museum in Vienna where the ancient context is evoked in vivid style: the wall decoration is the same as that used for the “Egyptian” pavilion at the World’s Fair held in Vienna in 1873.

At the exhibition held in Vienna in 1873, at a time when the Austrian Empire was very interested in fostering trade relations with the Ottomans, the Ottoman Empire was represented by a “Turkish” quarter posed, like the Egyptian one, in front of the main hall. In the main pavilion was a re-creation of the Fountain of Sultan Ahmed III, built in 1728, in front of the Topkapı Palace in Istanbul.

A perfect reconstruction of the enormous portal from the Great Mosque of Algiers (Djama’a al-Kebir) located near Algiers Harbour. The replica, which was presented at the exhibition held in Paris in 1878, in displaying some of Algeria’s most important architecture, represents a form of cultural promotion of the country.

This faithful reconstruction of the “Chapel of the Mihrab” was made for the exhibition held in Paris in 1878. Construction of the Great Mosque of Córdoba above the previous Christian church was begun by the Emir Abd al-Rahman I in 786 CE. Decoration of the replica was realised by Giuseppe Botana who specialised in mother-of-pearl and the mosaicist Zuloaga.

In this chromolithograph from the exhibition held in Paris in 1889 the area dedicated to the exhibit “Histoire de l’habitation humaine” can be seen: there are reconstructions of residences of the world, in a pastiche of styles without continuity, through which visitors can wander.

The most incredible reconstruction on display at the exhibition held in Rome in 1911 was the Temple of Ancyra, dedicated to Augustus and the goddess Roma. Accurate in the extreme, the reconstruction was based on casts taken by the archaeologist Azeglio Berretti, among whose finds is the engraved inscription on bronze tablets, the so-called Res Gestae, representing the testament of the Emperor Augustus.

Archaeological material and casts on display in the room dedicated to Austria at the exhibition held in Rome in 1911. This exhibition, which celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Italy’s Unification travelled from Rome to Florence and then to Turin with a different theme at each location; for example, the Roman exhibition was dedicated to archaeology and the new discipline of ethnography.

Actual material evidence and casts of objects from Islamic Spain displayed in the “Baths of Diocletian” at the exhibition held in Rome in 1911. The material created for this exhibition created so much interest on a scientific level that the curators decided to exhibit them permanently, and most of the works are now held at Museo della Civiltà Romana (Rome).

For the exhibition held in Rome in 1911, a complex called the “Baths of Diocletian” was re-created under the direction of the archaeologist and topographer Rodolfo Lanciani. At the same site there was an “Archaeological Exhibition dedicated to Roman culture in the Imperial Era with a particular interest in its positive influence on the ex-provinces”. Some material from this exhibition can still be seen at the Museo della Civiltà Romana (Rome). Seen here is the room dedicated to Greece.

The “International Exhibition of Marine and Maritime Hygiene: The Italian Colonial Show”, was held in Genoa in 1914, curated by the architect Gino Coppede. This photo shows the replica, created for the occasion, of the famous Tower of Galata that the Genoese had rebuilt in the district of Constantinople in 1348.