Caligula Story

Digital Restoration: Caligula Sculpture (Roman AD 38-40)

The Story:
Gaius Julius Ceasar reigned as the emperor of Rome from A.D. 37 until his assassination in A.D. 41. He was given the nickname Caligula (meaning little soldier's boot) by his father's soldiers because of the small soldier's boots he wore as a child when visiting the Roman military camps. Today only two of the life-size Ancient Roman statues of Caligula are known to exist. The better preserved sculpture resides in the Virgina Museum of Fine Arts' Ancient Art Collection and the other in Gortyn, Crete. The original Caligula sculpture and the Digital Restoration can be viewed on the VMFA Web site.

Left to Right: Original Statue of Caligula, Digital Restoration

The Challenge:
The University of Virginia's Virtual World Heritage Laboratory and the Digital Sculpture Project approached Direct Dimensions to restore the Caligula sculpture to its original 1st century, Roman form. return to full slide show

The Solution:

3D laser scan the sculpture on-site
Compile high resolution digital model
Work closely with art historians for direction
Digitally sculpt the missing elements of the sculpture in the model to their desired form
Digitally paint the digital model with direction from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts who have studied the preserved color fragments as well as paint traces on other statues of Roman Emperors

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