On 5 December at the Spazju Kreattiv‎ Malta Café Scientifique presented a talk titled 'Night at the Virtual Museum'. The talk was delivered by Dr Sebastiano D’Amico (Department of Geosciences, University of Malta) who described the use of 3D models and virtual reconstructions applied to the exploration and study of Cultural Heritage sites. It has been shown how these techniques can be of a great benefit especially in case where it may be challenging to gain access to, or are sites are too sensitive to physically study in the first place. It has been discussed also how state-of-the-art technology can become a critical tool to study cultural heritage in an ever-growing society.

During the talk Dr D’Amico discussed the results of his research presenting results obtained at different archeological and historical sites. In particular, the finding obtained at the Scifi’ Archeological site and SS. Pietro and Paolo abbey (Sicily) were illustrated. The study was conducted in the framework of the National Training School “Science and Cultural Heritage: From Non-Invasive Analysis to 3D Reconstruction” jointly organized by the University of Messina and the Department of Geosciences of the University of Malta.

 

A small part of the talk was dedicated to present some preliminary results related to the recent project which aims to digitally reconstruct the geometry and characteristic of the subsurface within the St’ John’s Co-Cathedral. In particular, results from the Chapel of Aragon have been presented. The ongoing project is led by the St. John’s Co-Cathedral Foundation under the coordination of Ms. Cynthia De Giorgio (CEO/Curator) and Ms. Adriana Alescio (Conservator) and in collaboration with Dr. Raffaele Persico (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Italy)

Further readings:

D'Amico S., Crupi V., Majolino D., Paladini G., Venuti V., Spagnolo G., Persico R., Saccone M., 2017. Multidisciplinary Investigations and 3D virtual model at the Archeological Site of Scifì (Messina, Italy), Proceedings of the 9th International Workshop on Advanced Ground Penetrating Radar - IWAGPR 2017

D’Amico S., Saccone M., Persico R., Venuti V., Spagnolo G.V., Crupi V. Majolino D., 2018. 3D survey and GPR for cultural heritage: the case study of SS. Pietro and Paolo Church in Casalvecchio Siculo, Kermes (in press)

Persico R. D’Amico S., De Giorgio C., Alescio A., Colica E. Galea P. Sammut C., 2018. GPR prospecting in the chapel of Aragon within the Co-Cathedral of St. John (Valletta, Malta). 17th International Conference on Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), pp. 94-97, ISBN:978-1-5386-5777-5