Re-Narrating Cultural Heritage Identity. The church of the nativity in Trattato delle piante et imagini de i sacri edificii di terrasanta of Bernardino Amico and Digital History-making Representation

The study presented here is part of a broader research aimed at defining content for museum spaces by analysing and comparing systems of representation (past and present) of the city of Bethlehem. The paper intends to compare the drawings of the Basilica of the Nativity pub- lished in 1610 (authorised in 1609) and 1620 within Bernardino Amico’s ‘Treatise’ and cur- rent forms of digital representation. These representations allow for an imaginary journey (already undertaken by the recent bibliography) into the complexity of Franciscan architec- ture. Furthermore, Amico’s drawings invite a comparison with modern languages of graphic description of space and a reflection on the current need to re-signify ideological-religious representations (the Treatise encouraged new crusades to ensure access to the Holy Land for Christian pilgrims). Historical reflection, drawing analysis and digital survey, with virtual reconstruction and printed prototyping, become functional to the attempt of an innovative interpretation for the re-narration of identity, both of intangible and architectural Cultural Heritage.