Keats-Shelley House and V21 Artspace Present a Unique 3D Virtual Exhibition ‘Pretensions to permanency’: Lord Byron’s portrait busts

“Lord Byron (1788-1824) was one of the first British celebrities, a status fueled by his poetry and lifestyle, but also his image. Fascination with Byron's portraiture was in part cultivated by his literary publisher, John Murray, who as early as 1812 sought to include Byron's face in the frontispiece to his hugely successful poem, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage. From this point onwards, Byron and his image were inseparable.” - The Keats-Shelley House. In recognition of the bicentenary of the death of Lord Byron, The Keats-Shelley House commissioned V21 Artspace to produce a digital, online 3D Virtual Exhibition, bringing together 5 busts of Lord Byron by renowned sculptors: Lorenzo Bartolini (1777-1850), Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770-1844) and Ottaviano Giovannozzi (1767-1853). The process took Joe Clark and Claire Cutts (V21 Artspace co-founders) to various institutions and museums including John Murray Collection at 50 Albemarle Street (London), The National Portrait Gallery stores (London), Gallerie dell'Accademia (Florence) and The Keats-Shelley House (Rome) to photographically capture data for each bust using 3D scanning technologies to produce digital renditions.