2019

2021

El Greco’s The Baptism of Christ

The Baptism of Christ was painted for one of the three altarpieces commissioned in 1608 from El Greco for the church of the Hospital de Tavera – the largest commission ever undertaken by the artist and his workshop. Unfinished at El Greco’s death in 1614, it was completed by his workshop under the guidance of his son Jorge Manuel Theotokópoulos.

In 2019, as part of a collaboration with the Fundación Casa Ducal de Medinaceli, a team from Factum Foundation recorded the painting using the Lucida 3D Scanner (designed by artist and engineer Manuel Franquelo with support from Factum Foundation and Factum Arte) and panoramic photography. As the painting is embedded within an altarpiece in the church, it was necessary to mount the Lucida onto scaffolding in order to conduct the recording. The data from this recording will remain the property of the Fundación Casa Ducal de Medinaceli and was used to produce a facsimile of the painting for the Spanish Gallery at Bishop Auckland.

© Factum Foundation

© Factum Foundation

Carlos Bayod and Osama Dawod setting up the Lucida 3D Scanner © Factum Foundation

Recording the painting with the Lucida 3D Scanner in the Hospital de Tavera © Factum Foundation

Registering the colour-printed acetate © Oak Taylor Smith for Factum Foundation

Rafa Rachewsky and Adam Lowe verifying the correct alignment of the sections © Oak Taylor Smith for Factum Foundation

Factum's flatbed printer working on the top left hand corner of the artwork © Oak Taylor Smith for Factum Foundation

The complete facsimile of El Greco's El Bautismo de Christo at Factum's workshop in Madrid © Oak Taylor Smith for Factum Foundation

[Left] Detail of an angel © Oak Taylor Smith for Factum Foundation – [Right] Close up image of the printed facsimile © Oak Taylor Smith for Factum Foundation

Detail of El Greco's depiction of Jesus Christ, placed below the Holy Spirit © Oak Taylor Smith for Factum Foundation

Symbol of the Holy Spirit, placed between the Father and the son © Oak Taylor Smith for Factum Foundation

Detail of the left section © Oak Taylor Smith for Factum Foundation

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