Document - Digital Study and Web-based Documentation of the Colour and Gilding on Ancient Marble Artworks

2015

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Digital Study and Web-based Documentation of the Colour and Gilding on Ancient Marble Artworks

Siotto E, Palma G, Potenziani M, Scopigno R

Polychrome and gilded marble artworks Scientific analyses Annona sarcophagus Digital analytical process

Greek and Roman marble artworks have been deeply studied from a typological and stylistic point of view, while there is still a limited knowledge on the pigments, dyes, binders and technical expedients used by Roman artists. In a renewed scientific interest towards the ancient polychromy (colour and gilding), a digital methodological and multidisciplinary approach can provide valuable information to better investigate and understand this fundamental aspect and to get a complete sense on Greek and Roman marble artworks. Following this research direction, the paper proposes a systematic methodological process defined to detect, document and visualize the preserved (and in some cases the digital reconstructed) original colour and gilding on Roman marble sarcophagi (II-IV century AD). The process defines a working pipeline that, starting from the selection of the artefact to study, proposes a set of investigation steps to improve our knowledge of its original painting. These steps include the direct virtual inspection, the archaeological and historical research, the on-site scientific investigation by multispectral imaging, spectroscopic and elemental analysis (eventually supported by micro-invasive techniques performed in laboratory), the accurate polychrome surface acquisition by colour calibrated 2D images. All the data produced are integrated with a high-resolution 3D model to support enhanced analysis and comparison and to create a digital 3D polychrome reconstruction by virtual painting. Finally, all those data are also made accessible on the web by using a cutting edge platform for visual media publication and interactive 3D visualization. This systematic and multidisciplinary process was tested on the so-called 'Annona sarcophagus' (Museo Nazionale Romano - Palazzo Massimo, inv. no. 40799).

Publisher: IEEE

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@inproceedings{oai:it.cnr:prodotti:346051,
	title = {Digital Study and Web-based Documentation of the Colour and Gilding on Ancient Marble Artworks},
	author = {Siotto E and Palma G and Potenziani M and Scopigno R},
	publisher = {IEEE},
	doi = {10.1109/digitalheritage.2015.7413877},
	year = {2015}
}