Martin SCHAICH
(ArcTron 3D GmbH, Altenthann, Germany)
Since 2005, ArcTron 3D GmbH has been engaged in recording, reconstructing and reproducing the remaining fragments of the Constantine Colossus from the Capitoline museum in Rome. The project was carried out as part of the Trier state exhibition “Constantine the Great” and had a number of objectives.
Ten fragments of the monumental statue are preserved in total, the head alone measuring almost 3m in height. These remaining pieces were precisely documented using high-resolution 3D scanning technologies and modelled on computer.
Archaeologists and graphics specialists subsequently reconstructed the colossal statue. The reconstruction is executed in the style of an enthroned Jupiter and is over 12m tall in its entirety.
The precision of the scanned 3D models enabled innovative methods to be employed which take structural factors as well the stylistic and iconographical aspects of the tonne-heavy fragments into account.
A number of pieces, including the foot and right arm, were reproduced for the exhibition in various scales and materials using CNC milling technology.
Manufacturing the 1:1 marble copy of the distinctive head was particularly challenging. This technical tour de force was achieved through the collaboration of several companies. From complex machine programming to specialist tool development and sculptural finishing of the stone, a unique sequence of procedures was devised, paving the way for future projects involving objects of monumental size.