Software Applications

The Archive Documentation system is equipped with innovative software applications designed and developed to meet the special challenges presented by the restoration and conservation of the Piero della Francesca fresco cycle in Arezzo.

The software design is based on a CAD system that permits the analysis of various kinds of information starting from a three dimensional photogrammetric model of the architectural structure of the Basilica of San Francesco. This digital design thus constitutes the basic structural framework for the integration of information derived from the multiple studies carried out in the various scientific sectors.

The CAD system is connected to an integrated with a relational database for alphanumerical data and other specific programs for handling visual images and the complex cartographic archive.

The data emerging from the various sectorial diagnostic analyses and from the subsequent restoration have been edited in the form of thematic maps which can be overlaid on the photogrammetric model. These maps, which can be called up from a special menu, can be viewed individually or overlaid on other maps in order to study the various relationships between them.

It is possible, for example, to read the sequence of the working days or the deterioration represented by saline efflorescence, or to study the relationship between the saline deposits and the presence of fixatives added during earlier restorations or, alternatively, to view the deposits in relation to the various painting techniques used by the artist.

 The diagnostic and documentary images have been catalogues so that they can be called up either according to category or in function of the portion of the fresco contained in the image.

Each framed image is identified by a rectangle that describes its borders and is positioned, with the exact dimensions and proportions, on the basic photogrammetric model. The catalogued images, like the thematic maps, can be called up individually from a special menu where they are arranged according to distinct categories.

In this way the system has achieved the total integration of information like the vectors of drawings and the raster data from photos which, from a data processing point of view, are normally seen in completely different terms.

This technology, as can be easily imagined, has been particularly effective both in creating the thematic maps and in the successive phases of correlation, control, and updating of the various studies that have been condcuted.

 The images can also be called up from a relational database which, connected to the CAD by special software commands, allows for the efficient consultation of alpha-numerical data arranged in a series of categorical directories.