Friday, July 22, 2016
How Replicas Could Save Threatened Artworks
Conservation Lab | The Creators Project: The European company Factum Arte really knows how to fake it—with the best of intentions. In 2014, they unveiled a replica of Caravaggio’s Nativity with Saint Francis and Saint Lawrence where the original painting once stood, before it was stolen in 1969 from the Oratory of San Lorenzo in Palermo. After digitally reconstructing the painting based on available photographic evidence, the team worked towards a “re-materialization” of the work: On a canvas coated with animal glue, pigment, and calcium carbonate (the type of ground Caravaggio would have used), the painting was digitally printed in several layers, retouched by hand to add texture, then stretched, varnished, and hung in its frame. It may only be an optical illusion, but visitors to the church can now forget, if only for a moment, what the space has lost.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
As masterpieces get older and older, I think it’s important that we are able to preserve the works of the masters in a way that no matter what happens to the original pieces, we will still have a way to view the masterpieces of history. There have been many times in which masterpieces and monumental works of human history have been or have gotten close to being destroyed or ruined beyond repair. From the tombs that were not meant to be opened to the priceless pieces of artwork that were almost lost forever due to World War Two, history has shown that not everything can last forever, and I think that it’s awesome and commendable that technology has been used in such a way to preserve the history and culture of the world so that in the future, no matter what has happened to the original works, future generations will still be able to experience the inspiring works of art that we can sometimes take for granted today.
Post a Comment