3D Documentation of an ancient wooden lock of the Navigli canals in Milan, based on da Vinci's studies

This paper presents an example of multidisciplinary research for investigating a couple of old gates belong ing to the same canal lock, used for raising and lowering watercraft between stretches of water of different levels on one of the waterways of Milan, better known as Navigli. Those objects, conserved at the National Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo da Vinci (MUST) in Milan, have been assessed regarding their origin, their story, their structural integrity, the conservation status of their materials, and the explanation of their functional aspects. The study has been carried out together with three-dimensional documentation and modeling of the two gates. The resulting 3D models represented valuable support for analyzing the geometrical structure of the studied artifacts. Such model s have been used for communicating the research results through sections and drawings, useful for the comprehension of functional aspects. Finally, the same models could be used as a detailed 3D map for linking together the collected conservation data, including X-Ray images, radiocarbon dating, DNA analyses, and historical studies.