Re-construction and virtual fruition of a fourteenth-century religious architecture

Ancient religious buildings in many urban centres often conceal perceptive bewitchment and artistic treasures which would inspire a journey of comprehension and involvement by users if only the often precarious state and changes made to the architectural context did not hamper the extension of the material setting, thereby stopping them from being immersed in a scenographic and evocative space. When the many descriptive and communicative methods currently available are coupled with a discerning use of the latest state-of-the-art digital acquisition and elaboration technologies they produce a fertile field of research and experimentation, especially as regards cultural heritage. In fact they make it possible to generate images that are “talking architectural objects”, i.e., they visualise history and revive settings thanks to temporally dynamic tools that not only help to critically manipulate data, but also develop tourist-immersive proposals. Tools such as virtual and augmented reality, gestural interaction, the inclusion of multimedia devices and technologies, and the development of visitors’ routes merging real and virtual elements make it possible to turn the fruition of a monument and its decorative features into an active, captivating experience rather than a passive event. This is the methodological context used by this contribution to illustrate a study performed by the Surveying and Modelling Laboratory (ReM Lab) of the Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Edile e Ambientale (Università di Napoli). The study documented and virtually reconstructed the original spatial and artistic features of a unique fourteenth-century religious building with its precious frescoes by the School of Giotto: the Church of Santa Maria dell’Incoronata.