3D painting documentation: evaluation of conservation conditions with 3D imaging and ranging techniques

Abstract

The monitoring of paintings, both on canvas and wooden support, is a crucial issue for the preservation and conservation of this kind of artworks. Many environmental factors (e.g. humidity, temperature, illumination, etc.), as well as bad conservation practices (e.g. wrong restorations, inappropriate locations, etc.), can compromise the material conditions over time and deteriorate an artwork. The article presents an on-going project realized by a multidisciplinary team composed by the ENEA UTICT 3D GraphLab, the 3D Optical Metrology Unit of the Bruno Kessler Foundation and the Soprintendenza per i Beni Storico Artistici ed Etnoantropologici of Bologna (Italy). The goal of the project is the multi-temporal 3D documentation and monitoring of paintings – at the moment in bad conservation’s situation - and the provision of some metrics to quantify the deformations and damages.