3D Scanning an Historic Sculpture

This month saw the completion of major project that began, for us, in 2007.

The Genius of Connecticut bronze sculpture, standing eighteen feet tall, started its life perched at the top of the statehouse in Hartford in 1876. It was damaged in a hurricane in 1938 and subsequently placed in a storage facility, where it stayed until 1942 when it was melted down for the war effort. All that was left of the sculpture was a full size plaster model which was later coated in bronze and displayed in the lobby.

In 2005 the Connecticut State Legislature decided to recreate the original Genius of Connecticut sculpture in bronze and place it back atop the Capitol Building.

Direct Dimensions was brought in to 3D laser scan the eighteen foot sculpture in 2007. A 3D model was created from the scans and the model was used by Polich Tallix foundry to create a new bronze sculpture using traditional casting techniques.

Earlier this month, the completed bronze recreation was installed in its temporary home in the Capitol lobby. Check out the video below for footage of the sculpture being installed.