Velázquez’s An Old Woman Cooking Eggs

On the 4th and 5th February 2020, a team from Factum Foundation carried out the high-resolution digitisation in 3D and colour of An Old Woman Cooking Eggs by Diego Velázquez at the National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh. Painted between 1618 and 1623 during Velázquez’s early life in Seville, Old Woman is considered one of the most emblematic of the works painted while he lived in his hometown.

The digitisation was carried out using two complementary techniques: the Lucida 3D Scanner to obtain relief data, and panoramic photography to capture colour.

Diego Velázquez, An Old Woman Cooking Eggs, National Galleries of Scotland. Purchased with the aid of the Art Fund and a Treasury Grant 1955 © National Galleries of Scotland, Edimburgh

© A film by Óscar Parasiego for Factum Foundation

Detail of Lucida 3D Scanner recording the surface of the painting © Gabriel Scarpa for Factum Foundation

Lucida 3D Scanner recording the surface of the painting © Gabriel Scarpa for Factum Foundation

The digital data was then processed and printed as a colour reference, in order to perfectly match the original during the printing phase. The colour was then printed over the 3D surface thanks to Factum Arte’s flatbed printer.