14 DAY TRIAL // Original art pieces will always carry the most value, but they're ultimately incapable of being in multiple places at once, which is a loss for every museum in the world. Fortunately, there is such a thing as copying.
It's one thing to make a good copy and another to provide a makeshift imitation though. And let's not even get started on simple photographs, no matter how high-resolution.
When it comes to sculptures, things get even harder or easier, depending on whom you ask. No matter the situation, however, there is no way to make a perfect replica.
3D printing technology can come really close though. In fact, Studio FATHOM, Artworks Foundry, and Scansite have formed an alliance meant to create limited edition reproductions of history's most recognizable pieces of art.
The 3D printed replicas of Michelangelo's statues
Scansite, as the name implies, are very good at making 3D scans of things. Meanwhile, Artworks Foundry is known for their professional bronze casting, while FATHOM is a 3D printing specialist.
The three are now doing some work for Renaissance Masters, an art liaison that recently got authorization to reproduce 28 of Michelangelo's works.
Thus, the three companies are making versions of some Michelangelo sculptures, like Moses. The prophet is the one in the video below.
Michelangelo is well known for having painted the Sistine Chapel, but he considered himself more of a sculptor than a painter, even though he was very good at both.
Scansite didn't get to directly scan the statues. Instead, it is making models of bronze castings of the works made from original molds crafted by Marinelli Pontifical Foundry in Italy.
The point cloud data is converted into printable STL files which then go to FATHOM. Once the 3D prints are complete, Artworks Foundry uses lost wax casting to cast them in bronze.
By this time next year, museums from other areas in Italy and beyond should be able to put a Michelangelo sculpture replica on display.
The big names
Michelangelo’s marble sculpture Pietà won't be available for viewing just in St. Peter’s Basilica anymore, for example. Berkeley, California already has a bronze replica. Over the next decades, we expect 3D printing to be used in this manner more and more.
