Laser Scanning and Modelling of Barely Visible Features: The Survey of the Grotto of the Animals at the Villa of Castello (Florence)

Abstract

ABSTRACT:The deep fusion of natural and artificial elements typical of Italian Renaissance gardens is particularly evident in the park of Villa di Castello and in the Grotto of the Animals, also called Grotto of the Flood. The soil slope is the essential element of a huge underlying hydraulic machine and it is the result of extensive earthworks which led to the construction of the big retaining wall limiting the grotto and the adjacent fountains. Hence, this grotto represents only the visible part of a mechanism running all around it. It is formed by a single chamber vaulted and covered with sponge-like stones, as well as decorations made of pebbles and shells. The space is divided into three wings, with big marble basins at their end. Over them there are reliefs of animals made of different stones and marbles. Animals recur also in the compositions of fish and shellfish decorating the side basins and in the bronze birds currently kept in the Museo del Bargello. The name "Grotto of the Flood" comes from the water feature that characterised this place: visitors were surprised by tens of jets hidden among the stones in the vault and in the floor. To obtain this effect, the whole grotto is surrounded by multi-storey tunnels, hiding the hydraulic system and people activating the mechanisms. Research agreements were drawn up between the Special Superintendence for the Historical, Artistic and Ethnoanthropological Heritage, the Florence museums group and the GeCO Lab, for the realization of the survey presented in this paper. The task of the GeCO Lab was thus identifying the best solutions to check the spatial relations between the grotto and the area above, as well as the geometric and functional connections between the building and the ancient hydraulic system, composed by pipes and nozzles concealed between the stones. Besides, the overall survey was intended as a documentation of the on-going restoration work.

3D IMAGE-BASED SURVEYING OF THE SAFE OF THE OBELLIO FIRMO DOMUS IN POMPEII

“…Both the 3D surveying methodologies, in fact, are non-invasive and contactless, and the whole acquisition process is rapid and objective. The need for a documentation of the CH is especially felt on the Italian national territory (Cardaci et al, 2019;Tesi et al, 2017;Palestini and Basso, 2017), which owns an enormous and valuable patrimony that need to be preserved. Among the numerous sites of historical and archaeological interest, Pompeii is undoubtedly one of the most important, in Italy and in the world.…”

3d Documentation of Cultural Heritage: The Case Study of Banteay Srei Temple in Angkor, Siem Reap

“…Using terrestrial laser scanners, the survey and 3D model of Porta Savonarola were obtained, and 3D solid model was generated from the global point cloud (Guarnieri et al 2017). Many works published so far have demonstrated 3D survey techniques have great advantage in documentation, preservation and restoration of cultural heritage (Galeazzi 2016;Dhonju et al 2017;Bruno, Coï sson, and Cotti 2017;Tesi et al 2017;Pieraccini, Guidi, and Atzeni 2001;Guidi et al 2009). Laser scanning, which is completeness, accuracy and fastness rapidly has a wide range of application in the cultural heritage documentation and conservation.…”

The Giardino Delle Camelie in the Boboli Monumental Garden: Integrated Survey, Structural Reinforcement and Restoration Project of the Architecture, the Decorations and the Hydraulic System

“…Even if the current survey tools allow a more faithful representation of the organic geometries, it must be admitted that the present methods of acquisition and rendering are more optimized for the documentation of built elements than for natural and vegetal ones. The present technologies that produce a high-density sampling of surfaces are aimed at accurately and rigorously describe complex geometries, such as those of the architecture of the Mannerist gardens (Tesi et al 2017), but only if they are motionless and not particularly thin, because in this case the signal-noise ratio is unfavourable. It is therefore possible to measure the overall size of a tree or a vegetation mass with greater accuracy than with traditional techniques (Tucci et al 2014) but the realistic description of the more minute vegetal elements (such as leaves and twigs) may require an unreasonable amount of work considering that they are intrinsically ephemeral and periodically regenerated elements (Kumazaki et al2016, Boulanger et al 2008).…”