The two statues, whose value was recognized by historians and collectors in the late 18th century, were sold in 1907 by the last marquis of Biron to wealthy American banker John Pierpont Morgan, who was then president of the Met board. "And when you see these facsimile sculptures in Biron, you'll surely feel the same emotion as if you were standing before the originals," he told AFP in New York. That allows visitors to feel as if they were visiting the cave itself, which was closed 60 years ago to avoid damage to the fragile site, said Sebastien Cailler, who manages the Biron chateau. His atelier is famed for having copied the celebrated Lascaux cave - including its prehistoric wall art - for a museum in Montignac, in northern Perigord The replicas, to be returned to their original spots in the Biron chapel, will cost around 350,000 euros, Rigenbach added. He added that "90 percent of the artistic work" will involve reproducing signs of wear, such as the patina on the ageing marble originals - though both statues are considered exceptionally well-preserved. "By making a digital 'cast,'" said Rigenbach, "we can employ non-invasive techniques" to produce identical copies. Using 3D scanners to make digital images of the sculptures, artisans will be able to create replicas without having to move or disturb the monumental originals. Griffith Mann, the Met's medieval art curator. The technology to be employed in copying the sculptures was described to the French press agency AFP by Francis Rigenbach, who heads the Perigord atelier, and C. The statues, both from the early 1500s and by an anonymous sculptor, represent Biblical scenes entitled "Entombment of Christ" and "Pieta With Donors."Ī tourism promotion agency in the Dordogne, Semitour, will be working with the Atelier of Fac-Similes Perigord (AFSP) to make the replicas over the coming months.įor nearly 400 years, the originals graced the chapel of the Biron chateau in the Dordogne.īuilt on a strategic promontory, the sprawling fortress comprises buildings from different eras, including a dungeon dating to the 12th century.ĭamaged and rebuilt repeatedly through the centuries, the chateau has belonged since 1978 to the Dordogne department, which declared it a historic monument, Dordogne president Germinal Peiro said during a visit to the Met. The facsimiles plan is the fruit of a rare partnership between the Met, as the New York museum is known, and the Dordogne department in southwestern France. But thanks to modern technology and an unusual agreement, precise 3D copies will be made and installed in the French castle where the originals long resided. Two 16th-century sculptures, jewels of French Renaissance art, have been on display since 1908 at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.
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