Compatibility between traditional ground layers and 3D printing materials

Starting point of this work was the restoration of a Panel Painting depicting the Adoration of the Shepherds with a Saint Bishop, by an unknown author, stored in the Galleria Regionale della Sicilia di Palazzo Abatellis, in Palermo. It was decided to integrate a missing angular decorative element of the painting’s frame in order to restore the integrity of the frame by reverse engineering and 3D printing. Reintegration was feasible as the frame has a modular decorative pattern and the remaining three corners were available. Reverse engineering and 3D printing techniques have been used in order to find a solution according to the principles of recognition, reversibility and compatibility. Mo…