Florence | interactive installation at the Uffizi

The scanning of the “Apollino” Roman sculpture

Uffizi Gallery in Florence | a new interactive installation

The Uffizi Gallery presented on 6 October 2014 an innovative project: an interactive installation aimed to allow visitors to virtually visit the Tribuna, a space not physically accessible to the public because of conservation issues and visible only through side openings.
The new multimedia installation not only allows people to virtually explore the octagonal space of the Tribuna but also provides details and information on its architecture as well as on the precious artworks it contains.

The octagonal room of the Tribuna

Built in 1584, the Tribuna was added to the Uffizi Palace by the Grand Duke Francesco I De’ Medici. Eclectic Architect Bernardo Buontalenti designed the space seconding his client’s taste, building up a visually stunning space octagonal space enriched by rare materials, the vault was encrusted with 6,000 seashells and finished with a gold foil and red lacquering coating.
Among the most notable masterpieces housed in the room, along with its impressive polychrome marble floor, are the famous gemstone-inlaid table by Jacopo Ligozzi and antique art masterpieces such as the “Apollino”, the “Knife-Grinder” and the “Venus de’ Medici” roman and Hellenistic sculptures.

 The 3-D interactive reconstruction of the Tribuna room.

Along with giving information on the room’s architecture and history, the virtual visit, available in Italian and English, provides details, images, and 3D models on the various artworks in the Tribuna, by selecting them on a touch-screen.

The project realization, which took six months to be completed, also included the structured-light 3D scanning of the 13 sculptures housed in the Tribuna as well as the geometrical survey of the room’s architecture through a laser scanner.

3D scanning and modeling support:  Design Campus – Università degli Studi di Firenze
Cronos 3D structured light scanners lent by Open Technologies.
Architectural survey made with  Stonex X300L laser scanners.
All images courtesy of Polo Museale Fiorentino

Galleria degli Uffizi – Firenze
www.uffizi.firenze.it/en/