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).

Source: Digital Heritage International Congress, pp. 239–246, Granada, 28/09/2015-02/10/2015

Publisher: IEEE, New York, USA

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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, New York, USA},
	doi = {10.1109/digitalheritage.2015.7413877},
	booktitle = {Digital Heritage International Congress, pp. 239–246, Granada, 28/09/2015-02/10/2015},
	year = {2015}
}