Discover the objects in the Princely Collections in 3D
In recent years digitalization has become an important focus for museums and collections. Modern digital technologies enable us to visit collections online all over the world without the necessity of travelling to see them. On the website of the Princely Collections users will find high-resolution images that can be viewed in the smallest detail using the zoom function, as well as a number of outstanding pieces that have also been photogrammetrically scanned and translated into faithful photorealistic 3D models. Among these are the bust of Marcus Aurelius and three other works that are being exhibited in this year’s MARCH AT THE PALACE exhibition entitled THE CONSTANT PRINCE – Joseph Wenzel and his art.
The Golden Carriage of Prince Joseph Wenzel I von Liechtenstein is one of the rare surviving examples of eighteenth-century Parisian coach-building. A large number of documents in the Princely Archives provide information about its construction and use. Contemporary accounts and depictions of the official events at which it was used attest to its importance.
Take a look underneath the carriage, step inside and examine decorative details from close up – many of which wouldn’t be visible even if you were standing next to it!
The Equestrian Statuette of Ferdinando I de’ Medici (1549–1609) is one of the most outstanding sculptures in the Princely Collections. Around 1600 Ferdinando I de’ Medici commissioned Giambologna to make an equestrian statue of himself which has stood on the Piazza della SS. Annunziata in Florence since 1608. The work in the Princely Collections is the original model for this statue.
The photorealistic 3D model gives you the opportunity of examining the smallest details of the chasing. See if you can find Giambologna’s engraved signature!
First discovered in 2004, this portrait head, which has meanwhile entered the Princely Collections, was identified as the Bust of Prince Joseph Wenzel I von Liechtenstein (1696–1772).
Described by admirers as ‘veracious, contemporary and timeless’, Messerschmidt’s creations trod a new path in Austrian portrait sculpture. Joseph Wenzel gazes confidently ahead, the visible part of his torso naked in the fashion of antiquity, rendered in a way that detaches its subject from any context.
The 3D model offers the opportunity of seeing the exceptional artistic quality and consummate
craftsmanship of this important early neoclassical portrait head on your screen.
The fully gilded Bust of Marcus Aurelius shows the emperor, who ruled in the second half of the second century, as a young man. He is bearded, clad in tunic and cuirass, and draped from his shoulders is a cloak fastened on the right with a rosette-shaped clasp. Antico represents the face graphically, marking eyes, pupils, eyebrows and beard with deep incisions. The full gilding of the bust may have been inspired by the gilding on the famous equestrian statue of the ruler in Rome that was still evident in the fifteenth century.
Examine the elaborately worked details of the drapery and hair on the 3D model and have a look inside this cast bronze!
Notice: The models are hosted free of charge as part of Sketchfab Cultural Heritage & Non-Profit Programmes and displayed using the Sketchfab 3D Viewer.
