For the exhibition ‘L’immagine sovrana. Urbano VIII e i Barberini’, Factum Foundation has produced a 1:1 facsimile of the San Sebastian (1615) by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, to be part of the display at Palazzo Barberini in Rome from March 17th until July 30th 2023. The original sculpture, belonging to a private collection and on long-term loan to the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, was recorded in high-resolution in September 2022 using a white light scanner and photogrammetry.
After processing the digital data, the sculpture was 3D printed and a mould was made. The facsimile created by Factum Arte’s Juan Carlos Arias and Aniuska Martin is a perfect visual copy which captures the distinctive, ethereally smooth yet complex surface that Bernini is known for.
As always, the digital data is an accurate record of the surface of the sculpture that can be used to monitor the condition of the original.
The exhibition at the Gallerie Nazionali di Arte Antica will celebrate the 400th anniversary of the election of cardinal Maffeo Barberini as Pope Urban VIII. A great patron of arts, his 21 years as Head of the Catholic church (1623-1644) deeply transformed Rome’s cultural and architectonic landscape. This included a long and continued support of Bernini, of which the commission of the San Sebastian is an example. The sculpture was probably made for a private chapel dedicated to San Sebastian inside the church of Sant’Andrea della Valle in Rome.
Thanks to the collaboration between the Fondazione Giorgio Cini’s Istituto di Storia dell'Arte and Factum Foundation, a selection of paintings in the Galleria di Palazzo Cini in San Vio, which formed the core of Vittorio Cini's art collection, were digitised in high-resolution in March 2023.
The work will provide an accurate database that will help monitor the conservation state of the paintings, study the works in detail both as images and physical objects and disseminate their artistic and historic value.
In March 2023 a team from Factum Foundation recorded the St Pieter altarpiece by Nicolò da Voltri in the C15th and originally painted for the monastery church of San Pietro in Vesima, near Genoa.
The altarpiece was scanned in high resolution in its current location in the Castle of Gabiano, using the Lucida 3D Scanner and composite colour photography in order to produce a facsimile that will form part of the restoration project of the church, which has undergone many transformations since 1159.
The work will also consist of an analytic study to identify the original parts of the frame and the additions made when it was installed in the chapel in the castle of Gabiano.
Factum Foundation and Gerger Kültür Turizm, Sanat ve Hoşgörü Derneği (GKTSHD) are launching a project partnership aimed at recording the historical and archaeological site of Gerger, in the province of Adiyaman in Turkey.
"The ultimate goal is to organise an international workshop in Gerger to share the results of the initial phase of this groundbreaking project together with Factum Foundation and other international and local partners. The recent earthquake has shown the urgency of accurate digital recording and GKTSHD is proud to work together with Factum Foundation to protect our history and preserve its legacy." - Nesrin Karavar, founder member of GKTSHD
Factum Foundation with Ana García Bueno and a group of researchers from the Department of Painting at the Universidad de Granada are working together on a research initiative that forms part of the R+D+I PROJECTS IN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE ANDALUSIAN ERDF OPERATIONAL PROGRAMME 2014-2020 (Andalusian Regional Government/European Union, European Regional Development Fund). The project aims at proposing a digital restoration of the polychrome surface that used to adorn the Comares façade in one of the courtyards of the Alhambra in Granada.
In late January 2023 Pedro Miró was able to acquire accurate digital data of the carved plaster of the façade using photogrammetry.
More on the project
In 2018, an archaeological mission led by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) at Dra Abu el-Naga, Luxor, unearthed an early Twelfth Dynasty funerary garden in a remarkable state of preservation; complete with remaining traces of pollen and seeds planted over 4000 years ago.
As part of the archaeological excavation and documentation of this site, Factum Foundation was enlisted by the CSIC to create an exact facsimile to form part of the protective framework built to safeguard the fragile ancient structure from further erosion; this will extend the garden's life by at least a decade.
The funerary garden facsimile was installed in 2019 and since early February 2023, the whole site is now open and accessible to visitors in Luxor.
Carlos Bayod Lucini, Project Director at Factum Foundation, was awarded a cum laude distinction for his PhD thesis by the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.
The dissertation, titled 'El relieve de la pintura. Una aproximación a la superficie pictórica desde la conservación', is focused on the relief of paintings and how the painted surface can be considered an essential aspect of a work of art. It looks at the history and theory of art conservation and restoration, investigating the ways in which relief has been considered (or acknowledged, ignored, altered, imitated, etc.) by those responsible for the material preservation of paintings.
For more information, please write to info@factumfoundation.org
Carlos also presented the work of the Factum Foundation at the international seminar 'El future de nuestras colectiones' organised by the Museo Picasso in Málaga, on December 16th.
More info here.
On December 5th ARCHiOx held a public event at the Bodleian Libraries to celebrate what happens when high-resolution 3D recording technologies are focused on the material culture of books.
The panel of experts included Factum Foundation’s Jorge Cano and Carlos Bayod and John Barrett from the Bodleian Libraries. They discussed the innovations that are being made at ARCHiOx and show how detailed surface recordings have informed a number of diverse research projects. The Gough Map, the Rawlinson copper plates collection, a selection of Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints, and examples of ‘Insular Manuscripts’ dating from the 8th and 9th centuries will all be explored and discussed.
Bodleian originals were also on display alongside high-resolution images and facsimiles in the Centre for Digital Scholarship following the presentations.
© Bodleian Libraries
Over the past weeks a team from Factum Foundation has been conducting a training programme in digital heritage documentation, focusing on photogrammetry, for participants from EMOWAA (Edo Museum of West African Art) and NCMM (National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Nigeria).
In the first week, the training was hosted by the Nigerian National Museum in Lagos; the second week was arranged inside the National Museum Benin City. Both institutions hold significant collections of material from the Benin Kingdom. Objects digitised included bronze plaques and heads, wooden and terracotta heads, and other ceremonial regalia.
The aim of the training was to establish a team of digital heritage specialists enabled to carry out recording projects both in Nigeria and on projects abroad.
Factum Foundation has been working with the Musei Capitolini and Fondazione Prada on the ambitious recreation of the 13m-tall Colossus of Constantine for the exhibition 'Recycling Beauty' (until February 27, 2023). The scale of the project involved almost all of Factum's various areas of expertise over the course of nearly ten months.
By the end of 2023, there will be two versions of this vast sculpture: one in Rome and the other in Bishop Auckland, as Constantine was proclaimed Emperor in York on AD 306.
Factum Foundation has published a new book titled The Bakor Monoliths: Preserving Ancestral Stones in South-Eastern Nigeria, which explores the cultural significance and preservation challenges of the Bakor monoliths in Cross River State, Nigeria.
The result of six years of work and collaboration with several Nigerian and international partners, it is the first book dedicated to the subject since Philip Allison's 1968 Cross River Monoliths.
At a time when the world's attention is on the return of the Benin bronzes, it aims to provide a platform for debate about the practical issues of restitution in a region of Nigeria that has been historically marginalised. It is hoped that the book will contribute to the case for registering the monolith sites as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Factum Foundation's work on the Bakor monoliths is generously supported by the Carène Foundation.
More about the Bakor Monoliths project
Read the digital version for free
Support the Foundation by purchasing a physical copy
Factum Foundation and Factum Arte worked with Fondazione Palazzo Te on recreating five designs by Giulio Romano as physical objects for the exhibition 'Giulio Romano. La forza delle cose' at Palazzo Te (October 8th, 2022 - January 8th, 2023). The intricate drawings were rematerialised as 3D models before being 3D printed in sections and cast in a variety of materials depending on the size and complexity of their details.
Shortlisted for Digital Innovation of The Year by Apollo Magazine
More on the project
ARCHiVe held its six-monthly meeting on the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore with its core funder Lady Helen Hamlyn and two members of her advisory board, Sarah Thomas and Lady Katherine Gavron. ARCHiVe Online Academy is thriving; a new website is being finalised; a regular online publication is being prepared; the recording of the Cini’s rich heritage of books and paintings continues and the full-time team working in Venice is growing.
ARCHiVe also became a creative producer with La Maschera del Tempo, a digital video artwork created by Mattia Casalegno and sound artist Martux_m, that premiered on September 29th. The artwork, commissioned by ARCHiVe, integrates the data acquired during the recordings of the Teatro Verde, carried out by Pedro Miró, Oscar Parasiego and Imran Khan in 2022, with image processing using machine learning software.
Ilenia Maschietto (right) and Renata Codello (left) showing the lost page of the Fables of Aesop restored into its original book to Lady Helen Hamlyn in October 2022
© Adam Lowe
In November, Factum Foundation will be travelling to Lagos and Benin City in Nigeria to train a Nigerian team from the new Edo Museum of West African Art (EMOWAA) and the Nigerian Commission for Museums and Monuments, Nigeria (NCMM) in photogrammetry for the 3D documentation of the Benin bronzes.
In mid-November, EMOWAA will be holding a ground-breaking ceremony for the EMOWAA Pavillion, their inaugural building, a research facility for field archaeology and 3D documentation designed by David Adjaye.
A Bronze Plaque looted from the Royal Palace of Benin, purchased by the Pitt Rivers Museum for five pounds in 1907 (accession number 1907.66.1) © Pitt Rivers Museum
Factum Foundation worked with Gaby Wood at the Booker Prize Foundation to reinstate, for the first time in decades, the original Booker Prize Trophy in memory of its creator, the beloved children’s author and illustrator Jan Pieńkowski, who died in February this year.
The trophy was originally commissioned by Booker Prize founder Tom Maschler from Jan Pieńkowski, who based it on an art deco lamp he found in a junk shop in Portobello Market.
The original Booker Prize trophy was recorded at ARCHiOx by John Barrett and Ferdinand Saumarez Smith. It was kindly lent for the 3D recording by P.H. Newby’s daughter, Sarah Schenk, The original trophy was over 60cm tall but a reduced version was 3D printed at a more manageable 38cm and was awarded by the Queen Consort to Sri Lankan author Shehan Karunatilaka at the 2022 ceremony.
Factum Foundation is starting a new collaboration in Genoa with Fondazione Friends of Genova to help the preservation and dissemination of the city's unique cultural heritage. Last week, Carlos Bayod Lucini, Gabriel Scarpa, Carolina Gris and Marina Luchetti recorded two paintings by Rubens and Tintoretto, while several other collaborations are being planned.
More about recording paintings
The 500-year-old Whitechapel Bell Foundry, Britain’s oldest manufacturing company where the Liberty Bell and Big Ben bell were cast, is up for sale. As announced on Spitalfields Life on October 5th, the American developers who had bought the purpose-built bell foundry to turn it into a boutique hotel are now trying to sell the building in Whitechapel as a gallery space with luxury catering. It is a great tragedy to see traditional, living craftsmanship and a Grade II listed building being destroyed at the behest of a commercial property sale.
Traditional bell-making is flagship example of the incredible living cultural heritage that beats at the heart the UK. Factum Foundation and Re:Form have evidenced that this living craft has a function in the modern era by creating the London Bell Foundry and successfully making bells with world-renowned contemporary artists such as Grayson Perry, Paula Crown and Conrad Shawcross. As well as a commissioned bell project with an artist in Mexico that will result in two large bells. With discussions of a new bell for a public monument in Buenos Aires. This confirms the irrational and nonsensical nature of this sale. Will sensible decisions be made on the grounds that the Whitechapel Bell Foundry’s optimum value lies in the fact that it is a bell foundry?
More on saving the Whitechapel Bell Foundry
On September 24th 2022, ‘FAREWELL TO THE HOPPERS’ was the first event of AaltoSiilo project produced by Factum Foundation as part of Oulu2026 culture programme.
The main show was offered by Finnish percussion group Transistori, who performed inside the iconic building by playing two industrial metal hoppers formerly used during the cellulose-making process. The group used the hoppers and funnels as percussion instruments during the performance, remixing and enhancing their sound using electronic beats, synthesizers and drum machines. The interior of the Silo acted as a resonating chamber, transforming the building into an urban-sized musical instrument.
Local DJs (Crash Doom, Miha, Otilia) and audiovisual artists (Ohmudog) also performed on the grounds surrounding the Silo.
More on AALTOSIILO.com | Watch the performances on Twitch
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