Reverse modelling process to support of a flemish wooden altarpiece physical restoration

Abstract

This study focuses on digital Computer Aided Restoration procedures to guide the complex physical restoration of an artwork, innovating and implementing traditional survey methods. As a case study some results are presented of a complex and articulated conservative restoration project on a sculpted and painted wing altar, preserved in the Regional Gallery of Sicily in Palazzo Abatellis, Palermo. The application of non-invasive and high information density 3D survey methodologies allowed to record and integrate into a unique digital platform (designed within the UnReal Engine) a wide quantity of heterogeneous data which document the work's state (diagnostic analyses, graphical annotation, historical information). The multidisciplinary investigation process is aimed to guide the disassembly of the various components, to tell the long process of activity in the laboratory and to experiment the realization and integration of missing parts. The innovative application of 3D digital technologies shows how the integrated use of the new technology can be a useful tool for improving the conservation of a work of art. The data processed have permitted a better interpretative reading, implementing the knowledge of the scholars, and a more effective communication and fruition to the audience.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.27.2021.11