Digital reconstruction of heritage: case of the sculpture The Purity

Abstract

In the province of Mendoza in 1923, during the government of Carlos W. Lencinas, the sculpture The Puritywas acquired to be placed in the Rose Garden of General San Martín Park. This beautiful work is part of a setmade up of a statue and a small pond, made by the Florentine artist A. Belli. Unfortunately, in 2015 thesculpture was the victim of anonymous vandalism. Its head was broken off and stolen, and it has remaineddecapitated for eight years. As it is considered a work of art, and artistic and cultural heritage, and part of ourcommunity’s social identity, investigation of different technologies that may accomplish its recovery isessential. One hundred years after its installation, a 3D digital reconstruction is proposed. For this, areconstruction of the sculpture will be made in its current state, through photogrammetry. This procedurerequires a number of photos that can be processed by software that will generate a file that can be exportedto a digital sculpture program. Subsequently, the model will be 3D printed on a smaller scale. Restoring thework would constitute the return of its original meaning, its appreciation and understanding, by resignifying thehistorical, aesthetic, and symbolic value it carries.