Documentare e rappresentare bassorilievi e decorazioni per conoscere e valorizzare il patrimonio

The paper aims to deal with the digital transposition, made possible by drawing, of the decorative complexity of bas-reliefs and monumental decorative apparatuses, focusing on the experience of Donatello’s pulpit in Prato. Through processes of digital decomposition and reconstruction, the applied methodologies and technologies make it possible to define narrative modalities for the detailed restitution of complex decorative apparatuses, with the ambition of disseminating and enhancing the heritage constituted by the pulpit’s bas-reliefs. Donatello’s pulpit is a sophisticated architectural work that represents an important historical and religious symbol for the city of Prato, as the stage for the Ostension of the Sacred Girdle. The original parapet is in the Museo dell’ Opera del Duomo, while a copy is located on the main façade of Santo Stefano cathedral. On the occasion of the exhibition Donatello, the Renaissance, two of the original panels of the pulpit were removed for display in other museums. Documentation and three-dimensional survey actions were planned to digitally reproduce the artwork and create virtual and 3D printed products to replace the temporarily missing panels.