Cutting-edge scanning tech developed in Rotherham is playing a crucial role in the restoration of a prized 18th century statue at Wentworth Woodhouse.
The white-marble statue, which stands at the foot of the Grade I listed mansion’s grand staircase, is in need of some TLC.
Over 270 years old, it depicts Ancient Roman General and politician Germanicus, who was father to the emperor Caligula.
It was created in the 1750s for the Second Marquess of Rockingham by Italian Filippo Della Valle, whose work adorns Rome’s Trevi Fountain.
It journeyed to Rotherham in the 1760s and was displayed in the house for 140 years, before being moved to the garden’s Camellia House in 1902.
But by the late 1900s, the Camellia House roof failed and, left open to the elements, the statue became heavily water-stained. It was moved back into the house in the 1980s, however the damage was done.
The Preservation Trust wants to restore and preserve the Germanicus – and its first step was to turn to 21st century tech developed by two organisations at Rotherham’s Advanced Manufacturing Park.
The Trust collaborated with the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC), a member of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult network, and PES Scanning, part of Performance Engineered Solutions (PES) Ltd.
Using reverse-engineering technology, PES created a highly-accurate 3D scan of the statue. This ‘digital blueprint’ was then used by the AMRC’s design experts to 3D-print three miniature replicas of the Germanicus.
The manufacture took just 31 hours using the AMRC’s Photocentric LC Magna 3D Printer, which is capable of creating large, high-detail, low-cost parts. The miniatures each weigh 348g and are 29cm in height – a fraction of the real Germanicus, which is 180 cm tall.
Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust can now use the 3D scan to monitor any further deterioration to the Germanicus, and could have an exact copy created if the statue was ever seriously damaged.
It also means that miniature statues of Ancient Rome’s esteemed General could one day line the shelves in the Trust’s gift shop to boost fundraising.