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May 4, 2015 | By Kira

Modern man is characterized by the thirst for knowledge, and the belief (albeit an egotistical one) that we can come to know everything about life, the universe and everything. However, no matter how many scientific or technological advancements we make, some questions may never be solved. Who built Stonehenge, the ancient Pyramids, or the Long Man of Wilmington? Just what is it that gives Mona Lisa her enigmatic smile? It may be that we’ll never know, but that doesn’t mean we’ll ever stop looking. 

One of the most famous mysteries of the art world is the Venus de Milo, an ancient Greek statue created between 130 and 100 BC. The Venus, also known as Aphrodite, represents the Greek goddess of love and beauty, yet despite the statue’s grace and splendor she has one inescapable flaw: the Venus de Milo has no arms.

Since being discovered in 1820 amidst ancient ruins, the mystery of the Venus’ missing arms, and what could be suggested by her gaze and position, has been the subject of endless theories and speculations. Many have pictured her holding an apple or a baby, looking into a mirror, or even standing next to a warrior, with her left hand over his shoulder. Yet for writer Virginia Postrel, none of these hypotheses were satisfying enough.

In order to come up with a more plausible explanation, Postrel decided to follow-up on an idea suggested by Professor Elizabeth Wayland Barber that imagines Venus doing something that would have been extremely common and immediately recognizable to nearly any woman before the Industrial Revolution: spinning thread. “[Barber] suggests that the statue held a distaff of fluffy fibers in her upraised arm, while with her right she guided the thread toward a weighted drop spindle hanging in front of her,” Postrel said. Not only was it a common activity for Greek women, but the act of spinning was also associated with sex and femininity, making it an appropriate metaphor for a statue depicting the goddess of love and reproduction herself.

Barber's original sketch of Venus spinning thread

In order to test the idea, Postrel hired multi-talented artist, 3D designer and personal friend Cosmo Wenman to see if he could use 3D digital data to reproduce a spinning Venus. Wenman was the perfect fit for the job: he had previously used 3D printing technology to restore the lost nose on the Louvre’s Inopos bust of Alexander the Great, and has even made a 3D photocapture of the Venus de Milo herself. In addition, he is a dedicated advocate for trying to get museums to publicly release 3D scans of their public domain sculptures so that artists can remake existing works in imaginative ways. Wenman therefore had the digital raw material, passion, and know-how to get the job done.

Using Barber’s original sketch, ancient images of spinning, and a YouTube tutorial, Wenman worked with a digital anatomist to create a 3D model of what the Venus would look like with a distaff and spindle in-hand. The result, after several different tries, was a pretty convincing digital prototype. Postrel and Wenman then turned to Shapeways to 3D print a plastic, tabletop replica of their re-imagined and restored work of art.

 “Turning the computer model into a tangible sculpture provided unexpected insights into the original,” said Postrel. “Cosmo quickly realized that neither the distaff and wad of fibers nor the spindle could have been made of marble.”

Indeed, Wenman came to his own conclusion about the materials and possible cause of Venus’ initial damage: “Maybe she lost her arms because some dope did, in fact, put a 30-pound marble ball on top of the distaff, and 20 pounds of extra weight from a solid marble spindle hanging on her right arm.”

To solve the problem and again provide a more plausible explanation of how ancient artists may have created their sculptures, Wenman used lightweight, gold-painted wood and a gold chain for the thread. Aside from taking some of the pressure off of the fragile arms, the striking contrast between white and gold gives the sculpture a stunning, modern aesthetic.

3D print of Venus de Milo Spinning Thread  on the left, and computer renderings of the original 3D scan of the Venus (via Slate)

While Postrel and Wenman’s work is still just as speculative as any other theory, the truth is that we will most likely never know the artist’s actual intentions. However, given the position of her body, the direction of her gaze, the fact that spinning was a common activity, and finally, the rather convincing 3D printed model, this may be the most plausible theory so far.

Although the question of intellectual property and copyright laws still needs to be worked out, as some 3D print enthusiasts have learned the hard way, there is no doubt that Wenman’s ongoing campaign to get museums to allow public access to 3D scans of famous masterpieces, such as the Venus de Milo, could allow for many more of these mysteries to be solved, or at least explored, breathing new life into ancient cultures and artworks.

 

Posted in 3D Printing Applications

 

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