--- type: magazine_content title: How is a work of art turned into a 3D model? language: en url: "https://www.belvedere.at/en/stories/digital-cultural-heritage" --- # How is a work of art turned into a 3D model? ![Image](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/full_width/public/2026-10/4891%209_High_detail_cloud.jpg.webp?itok=KSESYqsD) 23 works of art, hundreds of photographs, and a digitized artist’s estate **Category:** Inside Belvedere Collection [Innovation](javascript:void(0);) **Published:** 06.10.2026 **Reading time:** 5 min read A digital 3D model lets you view a work of art from every angle, rotate it, zoom in, and discover details that are barely visible from the usual perspective. But how is such a digital representation actually created? **Text:** Lisa Ebner-Kollmann **Photos:** Lagari/Stoll, Belvedere, Wien A few photographs aren’t enough. Hundreds of images have to be taken from different angles, processed, and ultimately combined to create a three-dimensional model. The challenges vary considerably depending on the size, shape, material, and surface of the original. As part of the **Digital Cultural Heritage** funding program launched by the *Federal Ministry of Housing, Arts, Culture, Media and Sport*, the Belvedere explored new approaches to digitization. Alongside the digitization of part of Fritz Wotruba’s written estate, 3D models of 23 works of art were created. For the project team, the process was above all about experimenting, gaining experience, and finding solutions to challenges that sometimes only emerged along the way. ![Taking images for Photogrammetry of: Marc Adrian, Nemo contra deum nisi deus ipse, ca. 1970 — Photo: Lagari/Stoll, Belvedere, Wien](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/full_content_width_no_crop/public/2026-05/11.jpg.webp?itok=_JT7xK0W) ## 23 Works of Art, a Wide Range of Challenges ![3D model with and without texture: Fritz Wotruba, Large Seated Figure (“Human Cathedral”), 1949 — Photo: Lagari/Stoll, Collage: Maximilian Kaiser, Belvedere, Wien](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/full_content_width_no_crop/public/2026-05/2-1.jpg.webp?itok=YSL5F2oE) The aim was not to digitize as many objects as possible, but to select works that presented a wide range of conditions for 3D digitization. Size and shape mattered, as did material, surface, color, and complexity. The selection was also intended to span different periods of art history and areas of the collection. Working with the curatorial department, the project team therefore selected a deliberately diverse group of works. They ranged from Medardo Rosso’s *Children’s Head*, just 25 centimeters tall and made of a wax mixture over plaster, to Fritz Wotruba’s monumental *Large Seated Figure – Human Cathedral*, carved from limestone and measuring 153 centimeters in height and weighing 510 kilograms. Different materials and surfaces were equally important: among the works digitized were Franz Xaver Messerschmidt’s *character heads* in metal and alabaster. A very different challenge was presented by the medieval *Holy Trinity* by the Master of the St. Lambrecht Votive Panel, a small panel painting on limewood whose gilding proved more difficult to capture digitally than expected. Practical considerations also played a role: a work had to be available and in a condition that allowed it to be safely photographed from all the necessary angles. Above all, the selection was designed to provide opportunities to learn and gain experience. ## Hundreds of Photographs for a Single Model For the 3D digitization, the project team chose to work with photogrammetry. The process is time-consuming but can reproduce an object’s surface in remarkable detail. ![Process image: 3D model of Franz Xaver Messerschmidt, Character Head No. 34, 1770/1783 — Photo: Lagari/Stoll, Belvedere, Wien](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/full_content_width_no_crop/public/2026-10/3198%2013b_I%20re-detected%20the%20markers%20after%20the%20alignment.jpg.webp?itok=I8tYkb3a) The object is photographed from as many angles as possible. With more complex shapes, this can mean taking hundreds of individual images. Color charts, markers, and scale bars assist with the subsequent processing. For the Belvedere team, the process was uncharted territory, and the optimal workflow had to be developed step by step. Photogrammetry software identifies recurring features in the photographs and uses them to calculate the object’s three-dimensional shape. These measurement points form a digital mesh. Color and surface details are then added through textures. The process also reveals where data is still missing: individual areas can be photographed again and incorporated into the model. ![3D model of Auguste Rodin, Study for a Monument to Victor Hugo, 1890 — Photo: Lagari/Stoll, Belvedere, Wien](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/full_content_width_no_crop/public/2026-05/6.jpg.webp?itok=mfjhWsTo) From photography and image processing to working with 3D modeling software, creating a complete model took several weeks. ## When Four Gigabytes Are Too Much But even then, the work was not complete. The new 3D models also created new requirements for storage, data management, and technical infrastructure. High-resolution files created during the project reached sizes of up to four gigabytes – far too large for use on the web. Even models of around 150 megabytes, which were initially used for testing, proved problematic. Eventually, the files were reduced to an average of around 14 megabytes. To achieve this, the geometry was simplified, while textures preserved the impression of a highly detailed surface. The project also established the basis for a 3D archive, where both the high-resolution data and the versions optimized for display in the Belvedere’s Online Collection can be preserved long-term. Working on the models therefore also meant developing solutions for how to manage this entirely new type of media data in the future. ![3D model of Franz Xaver Messerschmidt, Character Head No. 6, 1777/1783; left without texture, right with texture. — Photo: Lagari/Stoll, Belvedere, Wien](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/full_content_width_no_crop/public/2026-10/5640.jpg.webp?itok=MzcUIfS5) ## From Artwork to Artist’s Estate ![Archive material on a table. — The Wotruba Archive — Photo: Lagari/Stoll, Belvedere, Wien](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/full_content_width_no_crop/public/2026-10/B21_im_Wotrubarchiv_20260424-01_klein.png.webp?itok=1MVYG5Wz) The second part of *Digital Cultural Heritage* shows just how varied digitization in a museum can be. While hundreds of photographs were used to create 3D models of works of art, part of Fritz Wotruba’s written estate was being processed at the same time. Letters and other documents were packaged, indexed, and scanned in accordance with archival standards. Metadata was also created according to scholarly archival standards, allowing the documents to be searched by associated people, places, dates, and content in the future. Before publication, rights and sensitive content had to be reviewed, and permission had to be obtained from the respective rights holders – either living authors or their descendants. Around seven percent of the entire written estate has now been digitally cataloged. This makes the material accessible to the interested public while also providing a basis for further research. ![Detail image of archive material — Photo: Lagari/Stoll, Belvedere, Wien](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/full_content_width_no_crop/public/2026-10/B21_Wotruba_Archiv-1_klein.jpg.webp?itok=5aQ6bFXI) ## More Than Just a Digital Reproduction The project also revealed a wide range of potential uses for the 3D models. The data can serve as the basis for 3D prints and tactile models, help track changes in the condition of a work of art over time, or provide source material for further research. Digital reconstructions open up further possibilities. Parts of a work of art that are now held in different collections could be digitally reunited, while historical settings could be virtually reconstructed without having to transport the originals. Whether a three-dimensional work of art or a digitally cataloged artist’s estate, digitization does more than simply create copies of what already exists. It can open up new forms of access and make material available for research, conservation, and education. *Digital Cultural Heritage* therefore produced more than new digital resources: it also allowed the team to gain experience and created the technical foundations for future work. ![3D model with and without texture: Franz Xaver Messerschmidt, Character Head No. 17, 1771/1781 — Photo: Lagari/Stoll, Collage: Maximilian Kaiser, Belvedere, Wien](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/full_content_width_no_crop/public/2026-05/3-1.jpg.webp?itok=FoniA98w)