Tactile and Digital Narratives for a Sensitive Fruition of Bas-Relief Artworks

The research project aimed at documenting and digitally representing the sculptural apparatus of Donatello’s pulpit in Prato. The activities undertaken are part of a renewal of the narrative and exhibition itinerary of the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo of Prato, in which the original pulpit is preserved. In particular, a team of researchers worked to digitize the marble surfaces of the panels that make up the pulpit, using image-based and range-based technological instruments and reverse modeling procedures. The objective was to obtain integrated 3D databases with a high level of morphometric accuracy to digitally represent the artwork. The research was then aimed at understanding how, from the digital products obtained, a narrative path of Donatello’s sculptural work could be started. The 3D models of the tiles, suitably optimized, were processed for 3D prototyping and reproduced in different scales up to 1:1 for the tactile fruition of the artifact. Finally, using augmented reality applications, the visitors, with their mobile device, will be able to digitally enjoy the pulpit, both on-site and remotely, for an understanding of the artwork and to raise awareness of the theme of digitization for the knowledge of the artifact. The research, that involved also Ph.D. and undergraduates students, has been developed by DAda-LAB—Drawing Architecture Document Action Laboratory of the Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture (DICAr) of the University of Pavia, including a research group of the DIDA (Department of Architecture) of the University of Florence.