Bust of Abdiel

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Abdiel was meticulously scanned using 214 photographs at the renowned Art Institute of Chicago. He underwent meticulous processing using Reality Capture and meticulous cleanup in Sculptris. A brand-new base model was created in Blender and carefully merged. http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/819 According to the information card on display at the museum, Abdiel is attributed to Horatio Greenough, an American sculptor born in 1805 who passed away in 1852. The bust was created between 1838 and 1843 from marble. Horatio Greenough spent most of his adult life residing in Italy and holds the distinction of being the first American to pursue marble sculpting as a professional career. This bust is one of two sculptures he produced, depicting Abdiel, an angel from John Milton's Paradise Lost. With his finely chiseled features, prominent profile, and intricately carved Greek warrior's helmet, Abdiel bears a striking resemblance to the Classical statue Apollo Belvedere. Through his production of idealist works such as Abdiel and his writings on aesthetics, Greenough aimed to educate Americans about art and culture, and inspire them to create a national art that reflected democratic values. The sculpture was generously gifted by Elizabeth G. H. Bartol in 1894 and is cataloged as 1894.562.