Medardo Rosso: Analysing Differences in Wax Castings

Renders from the 3D model of *Bambino Ebreo* © Factum Foundation

Analysis of the recordings of the different versions of *Bambino Ebreo* © Factum Foundation

The cast and the facsimile of Medardo Rosso’s *La Portinaia* © Oak Taylor-Smith Factum Foundation

Juan Carlos Arias working on the facsimile of the beeswax maquette © Oak Taylor-Smith Factum Foundation

2023 – Ongoing

ARCHiVe is collaborating with Dr Sharon Hecker on a project aimed at contributing to the conservation, study, and dissemination of the work of Medardo Rosso (1858-1928).

Reference

Factum Foundation

ÉQUIPE

Juan Carlos Andrés Arias | Factum Arte
Carlos Bayod Lucini | Factum Foundation
Carolina Gris | Factum Foundation
Imran Khan | Factum Foundation
Pedro Mirò | Factum Foundation
Marina Luchetti | Factum Foundation
Gabriel Scarpa | Factum Foundation
Oak Taylor Smith | Factum Foundation
Sharon Hecker | Art Historian and Curator

THE PROJECT

The project involves the application of non-contact digital technology to obtaining high-resolution 3D data of a series of bronzes and wax sculptures by Rosso.

One line of work has involved recording a selection of the busts, comprising both wax and bronze casts, from Rosso’s Bambino Ebreo series using close-range photogrammetry, and in specific cases, complementing it with structured-light scanning as an additional technique. Factum Foundation has recorded five Bambino Ebreo busts in different museums and private collections, around Venice and other locations in Italy.

Based on the captured information, 3D models have been prepared and made accessible as online viewers, enabling Dr Hecker and other experts to inspect the data from any computer or device. In addition to the items recorded by Factum Foundation, another 9 models previously recorded have been added to the viewing platform, making a total of 16 items. Thanks to the viewer, it is possible to compare side by side any pair of models (zooming in on specific details, rotating the viewpoint, etc.) facilitating a close inspection of the busts in an intuitive, easy way.

A second line of work has focused on La Portinaia, another relevant work by Rosso of which various versions exist. Factum Foundation has recorded the sculpture at Tortona’s Museo Il Divisionismo and Venice’s Museo Ca’ Pesaro.

By request of the Pinacoteca Il Divisionismo, Factum also produced two physical reproductions of the artwork: a white 3D print and a facsimile made in natural beeswax and plaster. The reproductions will remain in the museum’s collection to facilitate the conservation, study and dissemination of Rosso’s working process.

OBJECTIVES

Apart from creating an archive of highly detailed models of the shape, texture, and colour of the different artworks, the main goal is to establish an objective comparison (in terms of form, dimensions, etc.) among the existing versions of famous serial sculptures – such as Bambino Ebreo or La Portinaia.

Technologies

Photogrammetry

Photogrammetry is a 3D recording technique that uses 2D images to create a digital 3D model of an object or surface. It involves taking hundreds of overlapping photographs and processing them using sp[...]

Recent Lucida 3D Scanner projects

Detail of the 3D render of *La Madonna dell'Umiltà* by Sassetta, recorded with Lucida 3D Scanner at Palazzo Cini.

Detail of *The Entry into Palestine of the Army of Vespasian*, colour and 3D renders of the tapestry in the Cini collections.

Colour recording of a detail of the *Ritratto di gentiluomo* by Francesco Prata da Caravaggio at Palazzo Cini.

3D and colour recording applied to the same detail. The canvas has been recorded with Lucida 3D Scanner and Panoramic Composite Photography.

2022 – 2023

The subtle surface relief of paintings and other low-relief objects represents a growing area of interest in heritage preservation.

Reference

Factum Foundation

ÉQUIPE

Carlos Bayod | Factum Foundation
Carolina Gris | Factum Foundation
Marina Luchetti | Factum Foundation

THE PROJECT

Recently, in the context of ARCHiVe activities the Lucida 3D scanner has been used to record the entire paintings collection of Palazzo Cini Gallery in Venice (49 paintings by Lorenzo Tiepolo, Botticelli, Ercole de’ Roberti, Dosso Dossi and others) and the following artworks:

The large tapestry The Entry into Palestine of the Army of Vespasian from the Cini collection that was recorded in ARCHiVe (March 2022);
The Portrait of Andrea Doria by Tintoretto and the Portrait of Maria Rosa Spinola by Rubens, in a private collection in Genoa (October 2022);
The Portrait of Federico II, Ist Duke of Mantua by Titian at the Museo del Prado, and The Ecstasy of St Gregory the Great by Rubens at the Musée de Grenoble (March 24 – June 25, 2023);
Rogier van der Weyden’s Beaune Altarpiece at the Hôtel-Dieu Museum (January 2023);
The St Peter Polyptych by Nicolò da Voltri at the Castello di Gabiano for a private collector (March 2023);
The Creation of Animals by Jacopo Tintoretto at the Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice (March 2023).

The Lucida 3D Scanner is a close-range, non-contact laser recording system that captures high-resolution surface texture data for low-relief surfaces such as paintings or bas-reliefs. The scanner is a versatile system that produces high-resolution data with close correspondence to the original surface. It is also easy to operate, a factor that has encouraged to use it in training programmes for cultural heritage digitisation (see, for example, the 1st ARCHiVe workshop in 2023).

Lucida is the result of a collaboration between artist Manuel Franquelo and the team from Factum Foundation. The in-house development of the Lucida, which began in 2011, was a response to the growing needs of both Factum Arte and Factum Foundation for high-resolution surface data of paintings, as well as for ongoing recording and facsimile projects in the tombs of the Valley of the Kings, Luxor. Commercial 3D scanning technologies, which find dark colours and glossy surfaces problematic, were no longer a viable option to capture the quality needed for both facsimile production and research.

High-resolution relief data is essential to facsimile production. When used in conjunction with colour data from panoramic photography, it allows us to ‘rematerialise’ an object as a replica of the original. Colour information ‘mapped’ very precisely onto 3D data can also be visualised in diverse ways – from projections to layered browsers.

OBJECTIVES

Lucida data enables researchers to ‘remove’ the colour from the surface of an object in order to study, for instance, a painter’s brush strokes or the pounce marks on a cartoon that was once used to weave a tapestry. Changes to the surface of a painting, for example as a result of restoration processes, can also be monitored by comparing Lucida scans taken at different times.

Lucida 3D Scanner © Oak Taylor Smith for Factum Foundation

Marina Luchetti and Carolina Gris operating the Lucida 3D Scanner to record the 3D surface of the Rogier van der Weyden’s Beaune Altarpiece © Gabriel Scarpa for Factum Foundation

Since 2011, the Lucida has been used to record paintings and other objects at institutions such as the National Gallery (London), the Prado Museum (Madrid), the Louvre (Paris), the Victoria & Albert Museum (London), the Pinacoteca di Brera (Milan), Casa Pilatos (Seville), the National Gallery of Art (Washington), the Vatican Museum (Rome), the Mauritshuis (The Hague), and the Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow). Projects realised with the Lucida 3D Laser Scanner have been shown at Palazzo Te (Mantua), Fondazione Giorgio Cini (Venice), Strawberry Hill House (London), Waddesdon Manor, and the Antikenmuseum Basel, amongst many others.

Technologies

Lucida 3D Scanner

The Lucida 3D Scanner is a non-contact laser recording system that captures high-resolution surface texture data for low-relief surfaces. It records 3D data in 48 cm x 48 cm ’tiles’ by projecting [...]

Panoramic Composite Photography

Panoramic Composite Photography is a 2D non-contact method for capturing the color surface of objects such as works of art. A specialist version of the technique can capture accurate and high-resoluti[...]

MEFA: The Middle East Falconry Archive

Page from *The Book on Falconry* of Adham and al-Ghiṭrīf, Ms. Or 8187 (1787) © London, British Library

*Chand Bíbí with hawk on horse*, Or 2787 (1762-1790) © London, British Museum

Page from the *Book on Chivalry*, Ms. orient A 2091 (IX-XV C.) © Gotha, Forschungs- und Landesbibliothek

*De scientia venandi per aves*, MS 446, fol. 1r (1450 –1475) © Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University

2020 – Ongoing

MEFA is the digital home and a vital repository for the heritage of Arabic falconry literature, with the goal to safeguard and explore the deep roots of the heritage of Arab falconry.

Reference

ÉQUIPE

Anna Akasoy | The City University of New York
Teresa Casado | Factum Foundation
Carolina Gris | Factum Foundation
Anne-Lise Tropato | New York University Abu Dhabi

THE PROJECT

In June 2020, Factum Foundation has been appointed by the International Fund for Houbara Conservation (IFHC) to digitise 56 medieval and early modern manuscripts, all in Arabic and all relating to falconry, in libraries mainly across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, and make them available under one digital roof.

After this first phase, a team was built to create a virtual collection of manuscripts dedicated to texts concerned with the training and care of birds of prey.

The Factum Foundation team working on MEFA from Venice, Madrid, and London have been collaborating closely with Dr Anna Akasoy (professor of Islamic intellectual history at CUNY – a specialist in medieval Arabic and an expert on falconry) and Dr Anne-Lise Tropato (NYU, Abu Dhabi).

By assembling digital records on a dedicated database and by researching the manuscripts in their historical contexts, the MEFA team have been working to safeguard the intangible traditions, stories, and knowledge of falconry. MEFA collaborated with the libraries that preserve these precious manuscripts to digitise or obtain digital copies of them, allowing them to be brought together into a single digital collection for the heritage of Arabic falconry literature. The digital records of each manuscript – currently online – are supported by both technical information for academics and engaging educational information for all falconry heritage enthusiasts.

To date, MEFA has identified approximately 70 manuscripts in Arabic alone, containing texts on falconry written between the eighth and sixteenth centuries across the Middle East. These texts range from falconry literature to technical treatises. Some of the famous passages, such as the book of Adham and al-Ghiṭrīf (one of the earliest Arabic texts on falconry) were copied 20 times, while others are stored in a single copy.

OBJECTIVES

As part of its mission to study and popularise the history of falconry, MEFA assembled digital copies of Arabic manuscripts which preserve handbooks written centuries ago.

*Book about Predatory Animals, their Natural and Contingent States*, dedicated to the Abbasid caliph al-Mutawakkil, L.O. 24 © Lund, University Library

Note about the provenance of the manuscript, acquired in Tunis in September 1691 by the Swedisch diplomat and linguist Johan Gabriel Sparwenfeld.

This is the only known nearly-complete copy of the Arabic version of the manuscript dedicated to al-Mutawakkil, L.O. 24 © Lund, University Library

a ground-breaking discovery

Some of the books collected have survived in several copies, and others appear to have been lost despite being reportedly influential in the field.

One such text was written for al-Mutawakkil, the Abbasid caliph who reigned from 847 to 861 in Iraq. This handbook about falconry and hunting circulated in the multi-lingual Mediterranean world of the 13th century. Kings Frederick II and Alfonso X of Castile both had translated versions of the Arabic text, and a Latin adaptation was also widely disseminated.

For several decades, scholars have looked for a complete copy of the Arabic version, which has now been identified inside the University of Lund Libraries in Sweden by Dr Akasoy (Graduate Center of the City University of New York). This near-complete copy was added (in its digital form) to the Middle East Falconry Archive database and will help document and analyse the history of its transmission as one of the world’s most important falconry manuals.

Dr. Anna Akasoy says, about the discovery:

“So far, no manuscripts have been identified which would allow us to document the presence of al-Mutawakkil’s falconry book in the Middle East independent of quotations in ‘The Book of the Hunt’ and an entry in a library catalogue from thirteenth-century Damascus. One may speculate that the near-simultaneous presence of the manual in several places around the Mediterranean was not a coincidence, but rather reflected the common exchanges of gifts among rulers of different cultures and faiths. The discovery of the Lund manuscript allows us to understand the process of translation from Arabic into Latin and medieval Spanish much better.”

Recording Banksy’s Migrant Child and monitoring Venice Lagoon

Gabriel Scarpa recording the *Migrant Child* from a boat © Factum Foundation

A test of the facsimile © Factum Foundation

2019 – 2022

ARCHiVe decided to record The Migrant Child in high-resolution to demonstrate the urgent need to preserve and document cultural heritage before it is lost or damaged.

Reference

Factum Foundation

équipe

Carlos Alonso | Factum Arte
Silvia Álvarez | Factum Arte
Nicolas Béliard | Factum Foundation
Florencio Martínez Tortosa | Factum Arte
Pedro Miró | Factum Foundation
Rafa Rachewsky | Factum Arte
Pedro Vicente Salafranca Hernández | Factum Arte
Gabriel Scarpa | Factum Foundation
Oak Taylor Smith | Factum Foundation

project

ARCHiVe is devoted to preserving Venice’s culture; its contemporary life as well as its historic past.

During the 2019 Venice Biennale, the pink flare of Banksy’s The Migrant Child first appeared just above the waterline on a palace facing the Canal of Dorsoduro in Venice. In the same year, amid flooding and rumours that the mural was scheduled for removal, ARCHiVe decided to record The Migrant Child in high-resolution to demonstrate the urgent need to preserve and document cultural heritage before it is lost or damaged.

From 2022 this year the Factum team finalized the processing of the data and rematerialised the painting and a section of the wall around it.

The high-resolution photogrammetry was recorded by Gabriel Scarpa, operating from a distance in a boat in the canal, which was a significant challenge. However, the results have encouraged a study into the condition of the wall and will enable a detailed condition monitoring of the work. The work to monitor the condition of the impact of the water on the fabric of the city is a core part of ARCHiVe’s mission. The Divirod sensors, installed on the island, are monitoring the level of the water, the wind direction, the wave frequency and the wave intensity 24/7 using ambient signals from passing satellites.

viewer

Technologies

Photogrammetry

Digitisation of the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore

2020 – ongoing

ARCHiVe started the large-scale digital recording of the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore. Intended as the starting point for research, educational, and preservation projects, this ambitious challenge has already proven valuable for the development of accessibility tools and academic research.

Tonal map image of the Island © Factum Foundation for ARCHiVe

Point-cloud render of the Island © Factum Foundation for ARCHiVe

3D render of the façade of San Giorgio Maggiore Church © Factum Foundation for ARCHiVe

Point-cloud render of the Longhena staircase © Factum Foundation for ARCHiVe

Render of the Longhena staircase © Factum Foundation for ARCHiVe

3D render of the Longhena staircase © Factum Foundation for ARCHiVe

Point-cloud of the cloister of San Giorgio Maggiore © Factum Foundation for ARCHiVe

Reference

Institute of Art History | Fondazione Giorgio Cini
Technical Office | Fondazione Giorgio Cini
Factum Foundation for Digital technology in Preservation
EPFL DHLAB | Digital Humanities Laboratory of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

the project

ARCHiVe has collaborated since the beginning with Cini’s Research Institutes and Centres, providing working tools and know-how for proper digital acquisition and documents management.

From July 2020, a team from Factum Foundation spent twelve days in Venice recording the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore, focusing especially on the monumental areas, and documenting the conservation state of the buildings. After the acqua alta of November 2019 reached the highest recorded level in fifty years, ARCHiVe’s aim of efficiently and effectively aiding the preservation of Venice’s fragile cultural heritage acquired a new note of urgency.

This ARCHiVe project, linked with EPFL’s Venice Time Machine, involved the collaboration of the three partners.

During January 2022 the team from Factum Foundation continued with the large-scale digitisation of the Island recording the Teatro Verde and the Vatican Chapels in the woods of Fondazione Giorgio Cini.

objectives

The aim of the project is to demonstrate that technologies such as aerial and ground-based photogrammetry and LiDAR recording could eventually be employed to digitally acquire the whole of Venice or other cities, both for preservation and enhancement purposes.

Methodologies

1. Recording the monumental area of San Giorgio Maggiore in 2020

The first day saw the recording of the interior of the Palladian church, the apse and the inside of the bell tower, while the following days were dedicated to the exterior of the church and the crypt.

The island was then recorded from more than 600 different recording spots, from which a massive 60,000 million-point cloud was generated.

2. LiDAR recording in 2020

Buildings and spaces recorded with LiDAR 3D scanning in 2020:

Main docks, Basilica of San Giorgio Maggiore (interior and crypt), Conclave, Campanile, Chiostro Palladiano, Scala di Longhena, Presidenza of the Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Cenacolo Palladiano, Sala delle Fotografie, Chiostro Cipressi, Sala Carnelutti, Manica Lunga, Sale Convitto (exterior), Sala Arazzi, Padiglione Capriate, Piscina, ARCHiVe (first floor), Auditorium Lo Squero.

3. Photogrammetry recording in 2020

Architecture, sculptures and art pieces recorded with photogrammetry in 2020:

Basilica di San Giorgio Maggiore (facade elements as niche sculptures, shield, text, and interiors elements as altar, choir seating, lectern), Chiostro Palladiano (North and West wall), Scalone Monumentale del Longhena (including the niche sculptures and the ground floor ling), the Well of the Chiostro dei Cipressi, Majolica vases in the Secretary General’s offices, sculptures in the gardens (including Ezra Pound’s head sculpted by Henri Gaudier-Brzeska), Il sogno di Giacobbe by Valentin Lefèvre, Manica Lunga, Sala del Soffitto.

4. Recording the Vatican Chapels and Teatro Verde in 2022

The team spent two days recording the Vatican Chapels, inside, outside and from above.
After the first 3D recording carried out in January 2022 (using LiDAR and aerial drone-based photogrammetry), a second 3D recording of the Teatro Verde was carried out in June 2022 to fill in missing data and to enable a better integration of the LiDAR and photogrammetry, but with the main intent of including the Vatican Chapels into the recording of the entire island of San Giorgio Maggiore. Factum Foundation team digitised not only the entire area of the open-air amphitheatre (1,400 square metres with a seating capacity of 1,500 people), but also part of the understage area (12 individual dressing rooms, 8 rooms for minor actors or choirs, deposits and storerooms for equipment).

5. Post-processing and results

The majority of the post processing is completed and a 3D model of the whole Island of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice is being prepared.

The creation of virtual tours or interactive viewers based on this data will improve remote accessibility and prove valuable for didactic purposes.

Technologies

The technologies used were: LiDAR scanning (using a Leica RTC360), Ground-based photogrammetry (using a Sony A7Riv camera), Drone DJI Air 2S.

LiDAR 3D Scanning

LiDAR is a 3D recording method that uses laser pulses to measure distance. It produces a 'point cloud' of xyz coordinates, which can be turned into a 3D model. LiDAR complements other recording method[...]

Photogrammetry

Replica Project: building ARCHiVe

Replica aluminium structure © Francesca Occhi

ARCHiVe team using Replica © Joan Porcel

2015 – 2018

This project gave rise to ARCHiVe, marking the first collaborative effort among the three partner organizations (Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Factum Foundation, and EPFL DHLAB). It tested the synergy of these entities for the first time, setting an ambitious goal achievable only through the collective effort of all involved.

Reference

The Project

The Fondazione Giorgio Cini preserves an extremely rich iconographic photo library, encompassing local and international art history, architecture, urbanism, and culture. It comprises approximately 730,000 photographic positives stored in the photo libraries of the Institute of Art History.

The Replica project addresses two crucial issues:

How to rapidly digitise this vast number of documents while preserving the original heritage and ensuring optimal technological accuracy.
How to make the resulting database quickly searchable without the necessity of relying solely on textual search methods.

To meet the first of these needs, Factum has specifically designed a circular scanner (Replica 360 recto/verso) for digitising the Historic Photo Library in the most efficient way possible. Additionally, Factum has equipped Replica with software that allows for the storage of data and metadata (such as the file and its archival position, ID number, and other essential details) during the digitisation process. In this manner, Fondazione Giorgio Cini has initiated the creation of an extensive database of images and information. This substantial volume of data is being stored and analysed by the Digital Humanities Lab at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne.

In order to develop a geometrically-based search engine for this database, DHLAB team conducted their research focusing on recognising patterns of similarities in the pictures of the Historic Photo Library. DHLAB incorporated one of the most advanced technologies in artificial intelligence, known as ‘deep learning,’ into the process. By leveraging a vast network of artificial neurons, a capability only recently achievable in image processing, various forms of visual entities can be simultaneously analysed in a unified approach.

In the realm of machine learning experimentation, DHLAB also devised an automatic segmentation process that separates text and images, subsequently annotating them.

In fact, the Historic Photo Library comprises thousands of photographic positives dating from the beginning of the 20th century until the 90s, affixed to cardboards, with each displaying additional information such as the subject, location, date, and the artist of the depicted artwork.

objectives

The aim of the project is the digitisation and enhancement of Fondazione Giorgio Cini Photo Libraries through innovative mass recording and analysis techniques.

The overarching objective is to enable the online availability of exceptionally large archives. The enhanced computational capacity, tailored to handle specific data, facilitates user searches at various, increasingly refined levels.

Methodologies

1. PRELIMINARY PHASE

The Fondazione Cini conducted a comprehensive check and reordering of the documents stored in the photo libraries. The team subsequently created inventories and tools for metadata collection (thanks to an XML file system associated with the documents), and ID numbers were applied to the back of the positives or their supports.

2. DEVELOPMENT OF THE RECORDING SYSTEM

The team at Factum developed the Scanner Replica 360 Recto/Verso, a unique recording system specifically designed for this project. The prototype of the system was conceived and constructed in Madrid, encompassing both hardware and software components, before being transported to and installed in Venice.

3. RECORDING PHASE

Fondazione Giorgio Cini formulated a dedicated digitisation workflow for the mass recording and storage project.

Within two years from the project’s initiation, the Cini team successfully accomplished the digital acquisition of the Historic Photo Library (671,564 images), the Bruno Alfieri Photo Library (2,073 images), and the Bernard Berenson Photo Library (30,275 images).

4. POST-PROCESSING AND DATA ANALYSIS

EPFL’s research led to the post-processing of the documents, which encompassed segmentation (utilising dhSegment, a segmentation library for complex documents developed at the DHLAB) and the storage of information present on each piece. Simultaneously, the team developed a geometrically based search engine for the established database.

Results

The aim of Fondazione Giorgio Cini is to proceed with the project by digitising the additional photo libraries stored in the Biblioteca Manica Lunga and to make this heritage accessible online.

Technologies

Replica

The Replica 360 Recto/Verso is a cutting edge recording system designed and realised by Factum Foundation. Its first prototype was conceived for Fondazione Cini back in 2015 for the Replica Project wh[...]

Digitisation of Palazzo Cini Gallery

The Lucida 3D Scanner recording the surface of one of the Polittico Griffoni panels © Joan Porcel

Palazzo Cini during the digitisation process © Joan Porcel

Gabriel Scarpa recording the colour with composite photography © Joan Porcel

Unframing one of the Polittico Griffoni panels before recording © Joan Porcel

The Lucida 3D Scanner recording Pontormo's Portrait of Two Friends © Joan Porcel

Unframing paintings before recording © Joan Porcel

Unframing panels before recording © Joan Porcel

2023 – Ongoing

Thanks to the collaboration between the Fondazione Giorgio Cini’s Istituto di Storia dell’Arte and Factum Foundation, this unique group of artworks that formed the core of Vittorio Cini’s art collection are being digitised in high-resolution.

Reference

ÉQUIPE

Luca Massimo Barbero | Fondazione Giorgio Cini
Carlos Bayod Lucini | Factum Foundation
Costanza Blaskovic | Factum Foundation
Chiara Casarin | Fondazione Giorgio Cini
Carolina Gris | Factum Foundation
Marina Luchetti | Factum Foundation
Gabriel Scarpa | Factum Foundation

THE PROJECT

This project is part of the three- and two-dimensional recording plan of the collections of Fondazione Giorgio Cini in high resolution for preservation, dissemination and study purposes, increasing at the same time the knowledge of the heritage. Moreover, the outputs are intended to improve the accessibility of the heritage both for schools’ students and scholars and for a greater public.

In February 2023 Factum Foundation completed the recording of the paintings collection of Palazzo Cini Gallery (47 paintings), coordinating with the staff of the Technical Department of Fondazione Cini and the Institute of Art History, and based on the information provided by the director of the Institute, responsible for the Cini art collection. All used systems are non-contact, high resolution methods especially developed or adapted for the field of art documentation, completely safe for the original artworks. The recording systems include the following: Lucida 3D Scanner (for capturing the surface texture of paintings and other low-relief objects); panoramic composite photography (for capturing the colour).

When possible, paintings have been recorded unframed, placing the canvas or panels on an easel with the surface plane perpendicular to the floor (as both the Lucida 3D scanning and the panoramic photography processes require to operate). When it was not possible to remove the frames or to unhang a painting from the wall, the team recorded the painting and frame in their usual location, adapting as much as possible the system to the requirements of each piece. In all cases, it was necessary to remove any protective glass for high resolution recording.

In June 2023, factum experts completed the post-processing of the data, giving as first result a multilayer viewer to inspect in depth both the colour surface and the 3D for each painting. The work provides an accurate database that will help monitor the conservation state of the paintings, study the works in detail both as images and physical objects and disseminate their artistic and historic value.

This will then lead to the creation of online virtual tours and didactic contents for people who are unable to come to Venice and for all scholars with disabilities. A ministerial grant application has been submitted to receive fundings to cover part of the costs of this project and to allow for further documentation.

Detail of *Madonna con il Bambino*, Lorenzo Costa, 1505 circa

Detail of *La zuffa*, Dosso Dossi, 1521-1522 circa

Colour, 3D rendering and colour+3D of *Santa Caterina d’Alessandria*, Ercole de' Roberti, 1470-1473

Colour, 3D rendering and colour+3D of *San Girolamo*, Ercole de' Roberti, 1470-1473

OBJECTIVES

The 3D and colour recording of the paintings in the collection of Palazzo Cini Gallery (47 paintings), the post-processing and creation of dissemination tools for preservation and study purposes.

DEVELOPMENTS

1. Preparation

Start of the project, handling of the works for the removal of frames and protective glass from the paintings, inspection and installation of photographic equipment.

2. Recording

Recording of the surface of paintings with Lucida scanner 3D e recording the colour of the painting with panoramic composite photography.

3. Collecting data

Saving, optimization and post-processing of data for the creation of the multilayered viewer.

viewer

Technologies

Lucida 3D Scanner

Panoramic Composite Photography

Water tide monitoring

One of the location where Divirod Sensors are installed © Francesca Occhi for Fondazione Giorgio Cini

One of the Divirod Sensors installed on the San Giorgio Maggiore Island © Francesca Occhi for Fondazione Giorgio Cini

Monitoring the tides with Divirod from Fondazione Giorgio Cini

2021 – ongoing

In the context of the monitoring of San Giorgio Island and its nearby waters, considering how relevant water and tides are for this environment, ARCHiVe started to collaborate with Divirod installing the first DiviSense.

Reference

équipe

Massimo Altieri | Fondazione Giorgio Cini
Nicolas Béliard | Factum Foundation
Adam Lowe | Factum Foundation
Javier Marti | Divirod Inc.

the project

Following a radio programme on the ARCHiVe project, discussing the digitisation of the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice (The World, September 2020), Factum Foundation was contacted by Divirod, a tech start-up from Boulder, Colorado, dedicated to water infrastructures and water analytics.

Divirod has developed a passive radar sensor that uses satellites and locally recorded data to generate accurate hydrological models. The software transforms harmonic resonances into dynamic representations of tide, wave activity and wind speed to predict erosion and flooding.

In the context of documenting and monitoring San Giorgio Island and its adjacent waters, ARCHiVe initiated a collaboration with Divirod and installed the first Divirod sensor (DiviSense) to monitor water levels and natural changes on and around the island.

The advanced sensor installed in Venice detects the unique signature of satellite signals bouncing off the water of the Lagoon. This provides a local, accurate and dynamic image of the relationship between a fixed point on the land and the water. The data is uploaded to the cloud in real-time, where machine learning software developed by Divirod compiles and processes it. The accurate hydrological models generated from the harmonic recordings are used to create constantly updating representations of the tide, wave activity and wind speed, to predict erosion and flooding and the data could be accessible in real-time on desktop and mobile devices.

As more sensors are installed, the greater our understanding of the relationship between the land and the water: a slow-moving but still dynamic body, versus a very dynamic fluid that is animated by many forces, from gravity and wind to speedboats. Therefore, a second sensor was installed in February 2022 on the north-eastern point of the island.

Dockyard of San Giorgio Maggiore Island © Francesca Occhi for Fondazione Giorgio Cini

Methodology

DiviSense is a radar sensor that, through GPS technology, collects data in order to create accurate hydrological models. The sensor takes advantage of the hundreds of satellites that are already up in the sky. Each satellite emits a signal that bounces on Earth and resonates differently from surface to surface, including water. Divirod uses a machine learning algorithm to decode this signal in order to obtain precise information about the percentage of water found by the signal. In this way the radars on San Giorgio Island are creating a model of tides and water movements around the Fondazione, forecasting live data accessible from desktop and mobile.

objectives

The aim is to further investigate the interplay between land and water, so characteristic of the cultural heritage of Venice.

Large Scale Digitisation Recording the Cini Collection: Tapestries

Detail of the Lucida 3D Scanner recording © Oscar Parasiego for Factum Foundation

Detail of the tapestry © Oscar Parasiego for Factum Foundation

The ARCHiVe team unrolling the tapestry © Oscar Parasiego for Factum Foundation

The Lucida 3D Scanner recording the surface of the tapestry © Oscar Parasiego for Factum Foundation

Detail of the Lucida 3D Scanner custom software creating a shaded render of the 3D data © Oscar Parasiego for Factum Foundation

2022

ARCHiVe has successfully concluded the first high-resolution digital recording of a significant tapestry from the Fondazione Giorgio Cini collection: The Entry into Palestine of the Army of Vespasian.

Reference

Current équipe

Luca Massimo Barbero | Fondazione Giorgio Cini
Carlos Bayod Lucini | Factum Foundation
Costanza Blaskovic | Factum Foundation
Teresa Casado | Factum Foundation
Chiara Casarin | Fondazione Giorgio Cini
Osama Dawod | Factum Foundation
Carolina Gris | Factum Foundation
Eduardo Lopez | Factum Foundation
Ilenia Maschietto | Fondazione Giorgio Cini

the project

Dated between 1470 and 1480, this Franco-Flemish tapestry, crafted from cartoons by the Master of Coëtivy, stands as one of the earliest and most pivotal pieces in the entire collection. It is part of a series depicting the destruction of Jerusalem.

Recently recognized as the right half of another textile work housed in the collection of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Lyon, the tapestry’s recording, preservation, and restoration have become top priorities for the Fondazione Giorgio Cini. The digital documentation of the tapestry’s surface marks a crucial stride in comprehending its material structure. ARCHiVe undertook a comprehensive documentation process, capturing the tapestry’s shape, texture, and color through a blend of 3D and 2D non-contact scanning technology.

objectives

The project’s objective is to facilitate the preservation, study, and dissemination of the collection’s tapestries through the utilization of digital technologies.

Developments

1. PRELIMINARY PHASE

Following a preliminary assessment and careful selection of the tapestries based on their preservation status, the chosen piece has been relocated to ARCHiVe in anticipation of the recording process. A training session was conducted for the team to adeptly handle the manipulation and unrolling of the tapestry. The tapestry was strategically positioned in a horizontal orientation on the floor, placed atop a protective cloth.

The scanner structure was then configured horizontally, facing downward to capture the surface of the tapestry consistently from a fixed distance of approximately 10 cm. This scanning apparatus was securely mounted on a bridge-like structure spanning about 4 m.

2. recording

The Factum Foundation team conducted a high-resolution 3D and colour recording of the tapestry using advanced non-contact digital technology, specifically tailored for the preservation of art and heritage. Lucida is designed to digitise the surface of low-relief objects with high precision. Composite photography produces a single colour image through the integration of multiple photographs in high resolution. The combination of these individual photographs ensures accuracy up to an average error of less than 1 pixel. It’s noteworthy that the colour recording took place separately from the 3D scanning, encompassing both the front and back of the tapestry. The camera was securely affixed to the bridge-like frame at a distance of approximately 50-70 cm.

3. image processing

The final phase involves image processing and the development of a visualisation browser to explore the tapestry (both its color and texture) at a high resolution.

The digital acquisition of the object is crucial for accurately documenting its current state of preservation, monitoring changes over time and assessing possible restoration processes. But it is also fundamental for art historical research, as browser-based visualisation allows analysis in a completely new and enhanced way compared to the past.

Results

The recording of the tapestries constitutes a component of ARCHiVe’s initiative to digitise the entire island of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice. This comprehensive effort spans from the architectural level to the precise sub-millimetre scanning of particular artworks and documents within the Fondazione Giorgio Cini collections.

The result is available for online viewing through a multi-layered browser developed by Factum.

2023 – Ongoing

Reference

ÉQUIPE

THE PROJECT

OBJECTIVES

Technologies

Photogrammetry

2022 – 2023

Reference

ÉQUIPE

THE PROJECT

OBJECTIVES

Technologies

Lucida 3D Scanner

Panoramic Composite Photography

Discover related projects

Digitisation of Palazzo Cini Gallery

Large Scale Digitisation Recording the Cini Collection: Tapestries

2020 – Ongoing

Reference

ÉQUIPE

THE PROJECT

OBJECTIVES

a ground-breaking discovery

Discover related projects

Aesop’s Fables: restoration and digitisation of a unique copy

Dante 1491

2019 – 2022

Reference

équipe

project

viewer

Technologies

Photogrammetry

Discover related projects

Digitisation of the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore

Water tide monitoring

Digitisation of Palazzo Cini Gallery

Large Scale Digitisation Recording the Cini Collection: Tapestries

2020 – ongoing

Reference

the project

objectives

Methodologies

1. Recording the monumental area of San Giorgio Maggiore in 2020

2. LiDAR recording in 2020

3. Photogrammetry recording in 2020

4. Recording the Vatican Chapels and Teatro Verde in 2022

5. Post-processing and results

Technologies

LiDAR 3D Scanning

Photogrammetry

2015 – 2018

Reference

The Project

objectives

Methodologies

1. PRELIMINARY PHASE

2. DEVELOPMENT OF THE RECORDING SYSTEM

3. RECORDING PHASE

4. POST-PROCESSING AND DATA ANALYSIS

Results

Technologies

Replica

2023 – Ongoing

Reference

ÉQUIPE

THE PROJECT

OBJECTIVES

DEVELOPMENTS

1. Preparation

2. Recording

3. Collecting data

viewer

Technologies

Lucida 3D Scanner

Panoramic Composite Photography

Discover related projects

Large Scale Digitisation Recording the Cini Collection: Tapestries

2021 – ongoing