21st Century Imagery: The Crisis of Interpretation versus Digital Cloning by 3D Scanner

Abstract

This article analyzes the impact between traditional artistic creation and the procedural implementation of new 3D scanning technologies and their digital reproduction in contemporary sacred imagery. We hypothesize that replacing the traditional creative process, which is based on subjective interpretation, with an exclusive focus on biometric data capture as an objective copy compromises the liturgical function of the image.

Through a comparative analysis across different historical periods, it demonstrates how the unction or veneration of a sacred image depends on its idealization and expressive deformation. These elements are nullified by the mechanical fidelity of the 3D scanner when recording any physical surface. This leads to hyperrealistic outcomes that provoke an emotional rejection due to an extreme realism—a phenomenon known as the "Uncanny Valley"—ultimately emptying the artwork of its theological content.

KEYWORDS: Sacred imagery, 3D scanning, uncanny valley, theology of the image, hyperrealism.