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In this study we explore the role of holographic images within knowledge-transfer systems created for the general public. We first discuss the rationale behind the creation and media display of hyper-realistic images in cultural heritage digitization projects. We then present the results of an ethnographic study of reactions to a holographic showcase in a multimedia library, displaying high-quality images of medieval liturgical goldsmithery belonging to a museum collection. We study how the researchers and engineers who develop the holographic program make decisions about the role and the performativity of images in the process of knowledge transfer. We also analyze the ways in the professionals involved and the publics partaking in the project accommodate to the esthetic and cognitive dimensions of mediatized images of cultural heritage objects.