High density digital form for cultural heritage: syntetic modelling and reverse engineering of the four horses of the Basilica of San Marco in Venice

ABSTRACT: This research would like to illustrate an experimental work carried out in the filed of Cultural Heritage, finalized to determine a complete object shape at very high resolution. The aim was to go beyond initial dichotomy present between two main necessities: on one hand side a definition of a most accurate model of the study item, and on the other a granted possibility to control, over the time, the form and shape variations that surfaces could undertake for various reasons. In the field of Cultural Heritage, it has been seen how a digital model, created from a precise data obtained with terrestrial laser scanner techniques, allow a continuous and accurate definition on an architectural scale. However, if a scale factor increases and a geometrical definition is required, for little objects or sculptures, application possibilities decrease considerably. A literature known case is David of Michelangelo, carried out by a Stanford University as a project of Digital Michelangelo (Levoy, 2000), as well as other projects done with purely experimental technologies, suitable for prototypes and with a pretty defined limits of use. This research combines various experiences developed in different fields and modified for a domain of Cultural Heritage, in order to obtain, from a fusion of specific skills, a right methodology to approach study cases of a complex form. The aim of experimental applications has been a validation of affirmations previously expressed: during a test phase a 3D digital survey was made of a portion of a sculpture of four horses situated inside of a Museum of St. Marks Basilica.