From the Archive documentation to standardized web database and 3D models: the case study of the Camaldolese Abbey in Volterra (Italy)

Eliana SIOTTO¹ / Marco CALLIERI¹ / Paolo PINGI¹ / Roberto SCOPIGNO¹ / Laura BENASSI² / Alice PARRI² / Denise LA MONICA²
(¹CNR – ISTI Visual Computing Lab, Pisa, Italy / ²Scuola Normale Superiore – LARTTE, Pisa, Italy)

Keywords: Archive documentation, Web database, Panorama images, 3D scanning

Abstract:
Easy of communication and fast and free interchange of data characterize our age. The use of standards and of a common approach to recollect, organize and present the documentation gives a great advantage for the knowledge and dissemination of the archaeological, historical – artistic and conservation information of Cultural Heritage. Establishing a “correct” documentation policy is the main topic that guided our researches for the documentation, preservation and valorization of the monumental complex of the Camaldolese Abbey, built above Etruscan tombs in Volterra, a medieval city in Tuscany. In this project we first retrieved the paper documentation in the Historical Archives of the Tuscany Region, to study the historical and conservation data of the monumental complex. Digital technologies have been used to support storing and access to this important information and the documentation and monitoring of the current state of its preservation. The documentation has been digitized and will be accessible through a web database based on the Italian National standards of the ICCD (Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo e la Documentazione). The current state of conservation of some part of the buildings is documented by the creation of panorama images (360 degrees images) and by the acquisitions of geometrics 3D models for selected portions of the monument. In particular, panoramas are used to document the state of preservation of frescoed rooms, while geometric 3D models are produced for the degraded areas of the church that need a constant monitoring. Both panoramas and 3D models, presented in the website of the ArTeSalVa project (http://artesalva.isti.cnr.it/en/virtual-visits), follow the international standards. The goals of this work are to provide a good-practice example on how to document and disseminate on the web the knowledge available on an endangered monument, following national and international standards, in order to make the knowledge widely accessible. In this way it is possible to modify and improve the old results with new analyses and interpretations of the documents that can be easily shared with other researches from different fields.