Angel Enhanced, Still digital image, 2018
Digital interactive display featuring my 3D model at The Fitzwilliam Museum. Image by ColourInstitute Cambridge
Fitz 3D Challenge, The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
15th – 20th May 2018
Angel Enhanced explores the idea of how an edited 3D scan can preserve or best present an object. 3D technologies are not the end solution to preservation, but they can enhance original artefacts and the concepts behind them. I have decided to focus on the lost polychromy information that was once evident in the Kneeling Angel’s shield. Over time the vivid colours of sculptures decay and turn pale which is why I decided to change the figure’s colour to white, creating a sparse blank canvas. I have projected a public domain image onto the surface of the model. The image depicts the Virgin Mary and the Angel Gabriel. The scene is titled The Annunciation by artist Simon Bening. It has been released open-source by the J. Paul Getty Museum. The image brings to life the detail and colour of what might have been, contrasted with the white canvas of what is left today. It adds context in terms of narrative. As well as showing how new technologies can reveal past histories. The model was edited using Paint 3D and as a result is a working prototype, displayed in a digital format.
Sources
Fitzwilliam Museum: Kneeling Angel
The Annunciation by Simon Bening. Digital image courtesy of the Getty’s Open Content Program.