The process of sculpture restoration, the repairing of environmental damage in a work of art, has long been a careful and meticulous art. Capturing the aesthetics and techniques used by an artist is challenging in and of itself, but translating them to fill the voids left by missing pieces is a skill possessed only by a handful of individuals. To aid conservators in the restoration process and lower the skill floor required to carry out restoration work, we collaborated with the Worcester Art Museum to develop a modern set of techniques for sculpture restoration. Our case study for the project was Shipwrecked Mother and Child, an 1851 sculpture by New England sculptor Edward Augustus Brackett. After over 80 years in storage, the sculpture broke in five places, losing various amounts of marble. We set out to recreate the damaged portions and restore the statue to its original state.
We began by using 3D scanners to digitize the sculpture over several days. From there, we imported the models into a 3D workflow where we recreated the missing portions of the statue. Finally, we 3D printed our replacement parts, fitting them onto the statue to replace what was once lost. Throughout the project, we experimented with more sophisticated printing technologies such as PolyJet and ceramic SLA, as well as using augmented reality for rapid iteration without the need to 3D print at every stage. While the project did not see a definitive conclusion due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it provided a solid foundation for future work in digital sculpture restoration.