Research & Analysis: Saint John The Baptist

The Story:
 "In the summer of 2009 the Kimbell Museum of Art in Fort Worth, the St Louis Museum of Art, the Getty Museum (and Getty Conservation Institute) in Los Angeles and the National Gallery in Edinburgh, Scotland collaborated in a joint research project to study three early Italian bronze statuettes of Saint John the Baptist.

The aim was to determine how these similar figures were related, and how they were made.
The casts are presumed to be after an original composition - now lost - by the Italian architect and sculptor Michelozzo di Bartolomeo (1396 - 1472), who played a key role in the development of the Renaissance style in Florence. The surviving statuettes are of variable quality and date, and are all indirect casts, possibly produced in the late 16th century.

It was decided to carry out other forms of forensic tests including X-radiography, CT scanning and X-ray fluorescence to determine the facture - that is the method of production - of the bronzes in question. Whilst these forms of analysis were deemed to help understand aspects of the bronzes under study, it was decided that 3D scanning would provide the most graphic and comprehensive means of analysis," quoted from Todd Longstaffe-Gowan PhD, owner of one Saint John the Baptist statuettes.                                                                                                                                                                                                                               return to full slide show
The Challenge:  
Digitally capture and inspect three statuettes of Saint John the Baptist to provide an accurate graphic analysis of the intricate deviations between castings without contacting the objects.                                                                                       return to full slide show

The Solution:
  • Digitally capture the three statuettes
  • Process the raw data into 3D digital replicas of each cast               
  • Align and overlay each set of castings for analysis      
  • Use multiple forms of 3D analysis to inspect the deviation from one model to another
                                                        
 return to full slide show
 

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