Recording Michelangelo's David: ultra-high resolution 3D scanning and modeling for digital and physical reproduction

In the twentieth century, the physical reproduction of a work of art was considered only a business activity and a replica would rarely be on display in a museum. In recent decades, however, as high-resolution digital sampling and fabrication techniques have become popular in all fields, the various ways in which they can be applied to cultural heritage are leading to a more articulated approach to their use. They are no longer considered fakes or imitations, but as artefacts specially designed and built to facilitate the dissemination of heritage or perform simulations without damaging the originals. This case study describes the process of creating the replica of Michelangelo's David that has been displayed in the Italian Pavilion at EXPO 2020 in Dubai. Starting with the planning of the survey, the instruments and facilities used, and the fieldwork process are described. The resulting data have been then processed to produce a model optimised for replication on a large format additive manufacturing printer. Finally, the challenges of processing and managing ultra-high-resolution data are outlined.