Starting from a skeptical point of view on classical philological approach to ancient copies and Meisterforschung, the paper deals with copysts’ signatures in Hellenistic and Roman time. A list of about 30 signed copies proves that copysts used the standard formula ὁ δεῖνα ἐποίει/ἐποίεσε, «such an one has made it», like any sculptor from archaic to roman imperial time. This suggests that copies were probably perceived as standard sculptural artifacts, in which the craftsman could take pride and kleos. Some relevant cases are discussed in full: the bronze Doryphoros herm by Apollonios of Athens from Herculaneum; the àgalma of Athena Kranaia by the ‘sons of Polykles’ in Elateia; the Herakles, Hermes and Teseus by Apollonios and Demetrios of Alexandria from Rooms II and III in the Gymnasion of Messene.
