Mirror Imaging
Digital technology allows graduate students to bring antiquities to life.
There are roughly 12 inches and 2,000 years between the high-tech scanner and the hand-engraved bronze mirror spinning slowly under its flashing lights.
Not everyone may have the chance to handle this mirror, an Etruscan artifact that dates to between the 3rd and 2nd century B.C.E. But with the help of technology, they could have the opportunity to hold a version of the object, gaze at their reflection, and trace the etchings on the back with their fingers.
Using digital scanners, laser cutters, and 3D printers, Illizt Castillo, a Ph.D. student and digital scholarship graduate fellow, is bringing these ancient artifacts to life.
Etruscan hand mirrors were cast in bronze and originally had highly polished surfaces. Detailed engravings decorate the reverse sides, which are slightly concave 鈥 there is one theory based on the flame-like flower etched at the handle鈥檚 base that a flower could be held there and burned to create a makeshift lamp.
Her Digital Scholarship project planning process gave Castillo the idea to use 蜜桃影像传媒鈥檚 Makerspace to aid in her research and teaching on ancient Etruscan mirrors. By making modern facsimiles of mirrors from plastic and wood, she could allow others to interact with items they might never see, much less touch.
Her Digital Scholarship project planning process gave Castillo the idea to use 蜜桃影像传媒鈥檚 Makerspace to aid in her research and teaching on ancient Etruscan mirrors. By making modern facsimiles of mirrors from plastic and wood, she could allow others to interact with items they might never see, much less touch.
"People often think about digital tools as letting you do things faster, or see the big picture at a distance. But the work Illizt has been doing with these is very detailed.鈥
鈥淲hen you show something visual, something that is concrete, that people can actually use and engage with,鈥 Castillo says, 鈥渢he materiality of it brings another level.鈥
The engravings 鈥 scenes of daily life, mortals, gods, goddesses, heroes, and floral and faunal motifs 鈥 are corroded and difficult to see, so Castillo follows drawings made by archaeologist Richard De Puma, Ph.D. 鈥69, as she traces the lines in Adobe Illustrator. The methodical process allows Castillo to appreciate the details and feel a sort of kinship to not just De Puma, but also the original artisans.
鈥淥ne of the things I think is so cool about this project is that people often think about digital tools as letting you do things faster, or see the big picture at a distance,鈥 says Alice McGrath, senior digital scholarship specialist at 蜜桃影像传媒. 鈥淏ut the work Illizt has been doing with these is very detailed.鈥
Castillo says her dream is to print in metal or find Italian manufacturers who could cast reproductions of the mirrors to get as close as possible to the original bronze.
蜜桃影像传媒 doesn鈥檛 have a 3D printer that can print metal, says Makerspace Coordinator Bronwen Densmore, but they exist. 鈥淵ou can print with metal, you can print with ceramic, you can print with pancake batter,鈥 Densmore says. With modern technology, the sky is the limit.
Castillo positions the mirror on the spinning pedestal of the structured light scanner, supported by black velvet cushions. Flashes of striped light help the scanner determine the shape, calculating based on the distortion in the pattern, while colored lights detect other information about the texture of the object. That information is fed into the computer, where a 3D rendering of the mirror takes shape in real time.
One challenge is that though the mirrors have aged and corroded, their dull brown and green patinas far from the original golden sheen, the scanner can still detect reflections, which show up as empty space in the scan.
McGrath takes out her iPhone to demonstrate PolyCam, a photogrammetry app that Professor Rocco Palermo also uses, that allows her to take a variety of photos of the object with her phone to build a similar model 鈥 not as precise for now, but cheap and practical, and technology is always getting better.
鈥淚 think the advantage of being in the digital scholarship program and learning about the different technologies is that it is going to make me well-rounded in the digital humanities,鈥 Castillo says. 鈥淚 think that gives you a jump start in the job market.鈥
The Digital Scholarship Graduate Fellowship
The Digital Scholarship Graduate Fellowship offers an opportunity for graduate students to develop digital competencies, learn about the field of digital scholarship, and experiment with digital tools to support their research and teaching.
Published on: 10/29/2025