“It should be added that skillfully made reproductions may give a better sense of their subjects than the original paintings now do. Reynolds could never stop experimenting with materials, and some of his favorite colors tended to fade. “Professional historians of painting,” a commentator says, “would have to agree that the serious disintegration of the pigments, and the prettification of some paintings by overzealous restorers, make the mezzotints—most of them made under Reynolds’s supervision and when the paints were fresh—much better records of the originals than most of the existing canvases.”32 Damrosch, Leo. The Club (Kindle Locations 2657-2660). Yale University Press. Kindle Edition. Damrosch, Leo. The Club (Kindle Locations 2655-2657). Yale University Press. Kindle Edition. ”

— value of prints as records of originals