The laser recording and virtual restoration of a wooden sculpture of Buddha

Abstract

This paper details the processes involved in the conservation of a polychromed wooden Buddhist sculpture. The treatment of polychrome sculpture has for many years raised fundamental issues about methods of conservation due to the conflict between conserving the outermost surface and wishing to reveal more about the earlier structure which may lie beneath. We have decided not to physically intervene with the original sculpture but instead to recreate the past appearance of the sculpture in a virtual environment. By using the technique of 3D laser scanning, we have recorded the surface of the sculpture to sub-millimetre detail. The scanned data can then be used to generate a computer model of the sculpture that then acts as a framework onto which surface colour and texture may be added. The educational value of the computer model may be further enhanced by the addition of missing elements or the removal of later restorations. By taking non-destructive surface colour measurements and by examining the layer structure of minute paint samples under magnification, it is proving possible to build a clear idea of how the sculpture may have appeared in previous centuries.