Raphael cartoons digitised (ctd.)
May 26 2022
Pictures: Factum Foundation / BG
Last year, Adam reported on the Factum Foundation making digital scans of the Raphael 'cartoons' at the V&A. The giant works on paper were all photographed in ultra high resolution, from which Factum could make their 3D printed facsimiles. Yesterday, I went to see the Raphael exhibition at the National Gallery, and got to see one of the facsimiles (Paul Preaching at Athens) up close, where it was hung beside the tapestry of the same scene on loan from the Vatican. And I've got to say it is an extroardinary recreation; even from inches away, in the dim light of the exhibition, you'd struggle to tell it was made last year. The surface texture is amazing, right down to the tears and ridges in the paper.
I've written before for The Art Newspaper on how such facsimiles will change the way we value and display artworks, especially contentious ones like the Parthenon Marbles.
