Researchers at Britain’s Westminster Abbey have used photogrammetry to digitally recreate the appearance of the country’s first Tudor monarch: Henry VII.
Working with ThinkSee 3D, a 3D content creator specializing in heritage preservation, abbey researchers have captured a funeral effigy – one of their most popular exhibits – in high detail. The work of Italian Renaissance sculptor Pietro Torrigiano, this realistic-looking bust arrived in England in 1509-1510, shortly after Henry VII had passed away.
With the effigy said to have been developed using Henry VII’s death mask, a wax or plaster likeness of the king himself, it’s believed to be an accurate representation of his face. Though the historic artifact was previously part of a larger tribute, this was water damaged during WWII, leaving only the head behind.
Now the effigy is kept safely under lock and key in Westminster Abbey. But digitization would all but ensure the exhibit’s survival for many more generations to come.
With their incredibly lifelike model, that’s exactly what the abbey researchers and ThinkSee’s team have achieved. Taking multiple high-resolution photos from all around the effigy also allowed them to stitch together a beautifully textured 3D representation, which provides viewers with a better idea of Henry VII’s true appearance over 500 years ago.
“Visitors to the Abbey’s Galleries are fascinated by how life-like Henry VII’s funeral effigy head is,” said Dr Susan Jenkins, the Abbey’s Curator. “We now hope to prove that sculptor Pietro Torrigiano moulded it from the same death mask that he used for the V&A’s contemporaneous terracotta bust of the king and his magnificent gilt-bronze tomb monument in the Lady Chapel at Westminster Abbey.”
As part of the initiative, the tombs of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York were also digitized, alongside a separate terracotta bust. Though the models themselves haven’t been released just yet, the team behind the project have committed to publishing the results later this year.
With advances like AI Photogrammetry, the technology is only going to become easier to use and deliver better results. Who knows which piece of history will be brought to life next!
