It is perhaps the first time that 3D printing has been applied in such a concrete way in the context of restoration of artistic and cultural heritage. It happens in Pompeii, where an important intervention has been started on the casts of the bodies of men, women and children who died two thousand years ago, in 79 AD, following an eruption of Vesuvius, bodies that were discovered and brought to light during the excavations made in 1863.
To carry out the restoration work, the Superintendency for the Archaeological Heritage of Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabia has requested the collaboration of WASP. The first stage involves replication in Pla, 1:1 scale, of ten casts. Two Delta 40 70s are currently at work in Pompeii. WASP has also supplied the material necessary for 3D printing and technical assistance.
According to Superintendent Massimo Osanna, “casts are the most requested testimonials abroad”. The problem is that they are too fragile to travel and this is where the copies come into play, perfectly reproduced with the 3D printing technique. The first prints will go to Canada in a few months and it is certain that subsequently the demand will not be lacking from museums and sites all over the world. What is announced right now is therefore a sort of traveling exhibition.
A decisive step
“Pompeii is an example of how technology can be at the service of cultural heritage – says Massimo Moretti – Until now WASP did not know it could make such an important contribution in this direction. When we were asked by the restoration managers we responded promptly, with the pride of being an Italian company that participates and contributes thanks to its 3D printers to this dissemination work". According to Moretti, what we are experiencing is a decisive step for 3D printing. In fact, we are now moving from the representation of projects to the creation of products. “And one of the most interesting areas is restoration, its use in the field of art and culture. Pompeii is an example of how technology can be at the service of cultural heritage” concludes the founder of WASP, the company from Massa Lombarda (Ravenna) leader in the 3D printing sector.
The recovery of the bodies
But what exactly are the casts of Pompeii? From the site www.pompeii.net: “In 1863 during some excavation work the workers found themselves in front of a cavity at the bottom of which they saw traces of human bones. The archaeologist Giuseppe Fiorelli ordered liquid chalk to be poured into that hole and the nearby ones. Once the casting was dry, the residues of pumice and hardened ash had been eliminated, those cavities revealed the bodies of some Pompeians who remained buried for millennia. The technique of the casts therefore consists in filling with plaster the void left by the bodies now dissolved in the ash and in the volcanic material which, in solidifying, took the shape of what it had submerged. These casts, preserved in theantiquarium of Pompeii, constitute one of the most tragic testimonies of the catastrophe that struck the city. Thanks to the technique invented by Fiorelli we can see the expressions of the faces, the shapes of the clothes, the positions in which the Pompeians were surprised by the fury of the volcano. Not only. The casts also give us back the shape of doors, windows, furniture and even plants and animals”.
The minister at the exhibition
A total of 86 casts were selected for the restoration work, envisaged as part of the Great Pompeii Project, coming from the various buildings in the archaeological area and from the deposits of the Superintendence. The intervention is overall aimed at the conservation and aesthetic rendering of the artifacts. This is the first restoration intervention, in the history of the Pompeii excavations, carried out simultaneously on such a large number of finds. Winds casts are exhibited in the exhibition “Pompeii and Europe. 1748-1943”, inaugurated last year May 26 by the Minister for Cultural Heritage and Tourism, Dario Franceschini.
