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Article
Virtual Anastylosis of Greek Sculpture as Museum Policy for Public Outreach and Cognitive Accessibility
Journal of Electronic Imaging
  • Filippo Stanco, University of Catania
  • Davide Tanasi, University of South Florida
  • Dario Allegra, University of Catania
  • Filippo L.M. Milotta, University of Catania
  • Gioconda Lamagna, Museo Archeologico Regionale “Paolo Orsi” di Siracusa
  • Giuseppina Monterosso, Museo Archeologico Regionale “Paolo Orsi” di Siracusa
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2017
Keywords
  • cultural heritage,
  • haptic technology,
  • printing,
  • sensors,
  • scanning,
  • scanners,
  • software
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JEI.26.1.011025
Abstract

This paper deals with a virtual anastylosis of a Greek Archaic statue from ancient Sicily and the development of a public outreach protocol for those with visual impairment or cognitive disabilities through the application of three-dimensional (3-D) printing and haptic technology. The case study consists of the marble head from Leontinoi in southeastern Sicily, acquired in the 18th century and later kept in the collection of the Museum of Castello Ursino in Catania, and a marble torso, retrieved in 1904 and since then displayed in the Archaeological Museum of Siracusa. Due to similar stylistic features, the two pieces can be dated to the end of the sixth century BC. Their association has been an open problem, largely debated by scholars, who have based their hypotheses on comparisons between pictures, but the reassembly of the two artifacts was never attempted. As a result the importance of such an artifact, which could be the only intact Archaic statue of a kouros ever found in Greek Sicily, has not fully been grasped by the public. Consequently, the curatorial dissemination of the knowledge related with such artifacts is purely based on photographic material. As a response to this scenario, the two objects have been 3-D scanned and virtually reassembled. The result has been shared digitally with the public via a web platform and, in order to include increased accessibility for the public with physical or cognitive disabilities, copies of the reassembled statue have been 3-D printed and an interactive test with the 3-D model has been carried out with a haptic device.

Citation / Publisher Attribution

Journal of Electronic Imaging, v. 26, issue 1, art. 011025

Citation Information
Filippo Stanco, Davide Tanasi, Dario Allegra, Filippo L.M. Milotta, et al.. "Virtual Anastylosis of Greek Sculpture as Museum Policy for Public Outreach and Cognitive Accessibility" Journal of Electronic Imaging Vol. 26 Iss. 1 (2017)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/davide-tanasi/63/