Tag Archives: realitycapture

Scan Survey: Greenwich Stone Heads

  • January 2023
  • Photogrammetry scan / Panasonic DC-FZ82
  • Multiple scans / 2 Days / 500 photos
  • Processed with RealityCapture; rendered with 3DS Max/V-Ray
  • About the Heads exhibition

A scan of 23 stone heads stored at the Old Royal Navel college in Greenwich. 

Carved around 300 years ago by sculptor Robert Jones, around 50 of these heads were commissioned as decorative features for the courtyard of the Painted Hall – originally intended to be built in stone. A financial decision to swap to brick instead meant the stone heads were never used. 

The best preserved (and repaired) heads are now on display in the ORNC visitor centre – with two more set into a fireplace in the Queen Mary undercroft. The rest that survive reside in the vaulted undercroft of Queen Anne and make up this scan survey.

Made from Ketton limestone the heads represent mythical characters of the sea (with the addition of British Lion heads). They are stacked up, chipped – some of them quite badly – and staring into the darkness; a haunting sight – and great material for scanning and digital manipulations. 

The image below is a laser scan of the vaulted undercroft where the heads are situated – a remnant of the old Tudor Palace of Placentia.