When it comes to classical works of Renaissance art, one name stands toward the top echelon of sculptors. That name is Michelangelo, and his works are some of the most extraordinary pieces we have ever seen. Over the centuries since his time, there have been many individuals and companies who have tried their hardest to replicate these works, but none have succeeded. There is one simple reason for this; very few artists, if any, have the talent that the legendary Michelangelo had.
We, however, live in an age of technology. Thanks to the recent advancements in 3D scanning and 3D printing capabilities, we are now able to recreate objects of the past with much greater precision and accuracy than ever before. Recently, three companies teamed up to take on a project unlike anything seen previously. Studio FATHOM, Artworks Foundry, and Scansite formed a partnership in order to create scaled down limited edition reproductions of some of history’s most recognizable artworks.
FATHOM specializes in 3D printing, while Scansite is known for their 3D scanning technology, and Artworks Foundry for their professional bronze casting. They proved that when these three technologies are combined, something amazing can occur.
The founder of Artworks Foundry, Piero Mussi, has been using traditional lost wax casting techniques for over 40 years, but recently he opened up to the idea of using 3D scanning and 3D printing as a means to create more precise replicas of ancient art.
“Now we have the facility to be able to reproduce something that is very faithful to the original,” explained Mussi, “and that’s something that’s never been done in the past. We get a reproduction that is really good. No artist can do it. Only the technology can do it.”
Studio FATHOM has been specializing in 3D printing technology for some time now, so when an opportunity arose to take part in a project of this magnitude, they didn’t bat an eyelid.
“What is so unique about this project is the utilization of 3D printing and 3D scanning in an industry which has remained unchanged for over a thousand years,” explained Rich Stump, Principal at FATHOM.
The work is being done for Renaissance Masters, an art liaison that has received authorization to reproduce 28 of Michelangelo’s works. They provided Scansite with permission to scan bronze castings of these works that were made from original molds crafted by the Marinelli Pontifical Foundry in Italy.
Scansite 3D scanned the statues, and then converted the point cloud data into 3D printable STL files that FATHOM can 3D print. Once these replicas are 3D printed, Artworks Foundry uses lost wax casting to cast them in bronze, thus allowing for the recreation of these amazing ancient works.
“For more than 500 years, Michelangelo’s marble sculpture Pietà has been housed in St. Peter’s Basilica,” writes FATHOM on their blog. “Across the Atlantic Ocean and the entirety of the United States, identical bronze castings now exist in Berkeley, California thanks to the blended use of advanced manufacturing technologies. The accuracy of the replicas is unprecedented.”
It should be interesting to see if this combination of technologies is used more and more as time goes on. The ability to have scaled down replicas of various works from history recreated could open a lot of doors within educational institutions. Imagine being able to study sculptures that are housed thousands of miles away in every university in the world, thanks to these incredible innovations.
Subscribe to Our Email Newsletter
Stay up-to-date on all the latest news from the 3D printing industry and receive information and offers from third party vendors.
You May Also Like
Profiling a Construction 3D Printing Pioneer: US Army Corps of Engineers’ Megan Kreiger
The world of construction 3D printing is still so new that the true experts can probably be counted on two hands. Among them is Megan Kreiger, Portfolio Manager of Additive...
US Army Corps of Engineers Taps Lincoln Electric & Eaton for Largest 3D Printed US Civil Works Part
The Soo Locks sit on the US-Canadian border, enabling maritime travel between Lake Superior and Lake Huron, from which ships can reach the rest of the Great Lakes. Crafts carrying...
Construction 3D Printing CEO Reflects on Being Female in Construction
Natalie Wadley, CEO of ChangeMaker3D, could hear the words of her daughter sitting next to her resounding in her head. “Mum, MUM, you’ve won!” Wadley had just won the prestigious...
1Print to Commercialize 3D Printed Coastal Resilience Solutions
1Print, a company that specializes in deploying additive construction (AC) for infrastructure projects, has entered an agreement with the University of Miami (UM) to accelerate commercialization of the SEAHIVE shoreline...