Balmer Madonna

Together with WESCAN and STINGRAY I was working on this digital model of a sculpture from the 14th century. The goal was to create a 3d printed replica of the original. I polished and cleaned the 3d scanned model and created the printable model which is hollowed out and separated in to parts. Stingray then did the assembly and final brush up on the 3d print.

The Original Balmer Madonna in Oberdorf SO

The final Result back in the Church in Balm.

There is a bit of story behind. Here is the short Version:

According to today’s knowledge, the church in Balm was built in late Roman-early Christian style at the beginning of the 6th century. The church building goes back to an older Celtic Roman sanctuary. A goddess or nymph was probably worshiped, which was said to have healing powers.
Shortly before the Reformation, which reached Balm in 1530, the Marienkirche in Balm reconsecrated into a Church of the Holy Trinity in 1522, although the Trinity was never worshiped at this place. Shortly before the Reformation, the Balmer Madonna also disappeared. One can say it was either rescued or stolen and resurfaced at its current location in Oberdorf SO.
After the excavation and restoration work, in the 1960s, the Church in Balm tried to get back their Madonna. The return never came about. Instead, Balm received from Oberdorf a plaster copy of the Balmer Madonna (without crown) as a gift.
Since the Balmers’ longing for their Madonna remained unbroken into the 2020s and the plaster cast slowly but surely began to crumble, the parish decided to bring the Balmer Madonna home as a true (3d scanned and printed) copy. This time with the crown.