About this 3D model

Update 6/23/14: I used a compilation of photos of other people's prints of this model in a presentation to LACMA on February 3, 2014. Here's an adaptation of my presentation: * [3D Printing, 3D Capture, and Opportunities for Design Custodians](https://medium.com/@CosmoWenman/3d-printing-3d-capture-and-opportunities-for-design-custodians-7985097d2ac4).* Please share it with anyone you think might be interested -- Thanks. *** *"Supreme western works of art, like Oedipus Rex and Hamlet, preserve their indeterminacy through all interpretation. They are morally ungraspable. Even the Venus de Milo gained everything by losing her arms."* -- Camille Paglia, *Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson* **** In the 19th century, important works of sculptural art were reproduced in plaster. Artisans carefully made molds of the ancient originals, and high-quality reproductions were then cast in plaster to be bought, sold, and traded by museums, universities, art schools, and private collectors everywhere. Plaster casts of the 2nd century BC *Venus de Milo* were very popular, and would have been found in cast collections all over the world. But the plaster cast tradition [faded](http://goo.gl/aFX84x) in the early 1900s. Cast collections were broken up, sold off piece by piece, and in some cases actually physically destroyed. Today there are only a few sizeable collections of plaster casts left in existence. The Skulpturhalle Basel museum in Switzerland maintains one of the world's few surviving large collections of plaster casts. They have a very high quality cast of *Venus de Milo*, which was commissioned by the University of Basel and carefully cast by the Louvre's own atelier in 1850. In September 2013, with the museum's permission and the financial support of Autodesk's Reality Capture division, I spent a week working in the Skulpturhalle, taking 3D surveys of my choice of casts. I took hundreds of carefully staged photos of *Venus* and used Autodesk's *ReCap Photo* photogrammetry software to process them into this high-quality 3D model. This model of *Venus de Milo* is a modern artifact and direct descendent of the plaster cast tradition, which is poised for a 3D captured, 3D printed, digital renaissance. It is to my knowledge the first high-quality 3D survey of the *Venus de Milo* to be freely published, and I am pleased to be able to offer you direct access to its ancient, enigmatic, and graceful contours, which descend to us through an unbroken chain from antiquity -- from the Greek island of Milos 2,100 years ago, to the Louvre, to the Skulpturhalle, through my camera lens, to you. You can read more about my project, *Through A Scanner, Skulpturhalle,* at http://ThroughAScanner.com. I will be publishing more results, including *Winged Victory of Samothrace* and the *Medusa Rondanini,* among others, and cataloging them here: http://thingiverse.com/thing:83781 I post occasional updates on Twitter as well: http://twitter.com/CosmoWenman If you know anyone who would be interested in sponsoring more of this kind of work by me, please send them my way. Thanks, -- Cosmo Wenman http://cosmowenman.com http://twitter.com/CosmoWenman cosmo.wenman@gmail.com **** The 3D print shown in the photos and video was made with white PLA and finished in patinated copper using Alternate Reality Patinas (coming soon!). It's the first of its kind, and it was shown at the London and Paris 3D Printshows in November 2013. **It's for sale.** I am also offering 3D prints of *Venus de Milo* through my Shapeways shop, http://shapeways.com/shops/CosmoWenman In addition to my Shapeways offerings, [I can cast *Venus* for you in bronze or stainless steel](http://cosmowenman.wordpress.com/2013/10/24/3d-scanning-3d-printed-lost-pla-bronze-casting-and-the-art-of-the-living-dead/) in any size. **** Information, Tools, and Specifications: *Venus de Milo* Skulpturhalle Basel accession number 261 1850 plaster molded and cast from the original by the Louvre atelier, with only very slight evidence of parting lines, and a false patina likely added in the 1950s or 1960s. Skulpturhalle Basel: http://www.skulpturhalle.ch History of the Skulpturhalle and uses of plaster casts: http://goo.gl/aFX84x 250 JPEGs processed with Autodesk's *ReCap Photo* cloud-based photogrammetry application: http://recap.autodesk.com, using every other third photo from 663 sequential positions, plus a selection of detail shots. Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II Lens: Sigma EX 50mm Using a wireless remote shutter release and a loose tripod for shots at eye level and below, and a tripod on extended legs with wheels for shots from above. Camera settings: f/16 ISO-100 .8 seconds No flash 5616 x 3744 pixels per shot Lighting: Normal museum lights plus three additional fixed spotlights, with diffuse light from skylight on a cloudy day. Scaling, cropping, sectioning, and print preparation of the model was done