Virtual relighting of a Roman statue head from Herculaneum: a case study

Abstract

High-fidelity computer graphics offer the possibility for archaeologists to put excavated cultural heritage artefacts virtually back into their original setting and illumination conditions. This enables hypotheses about the perception of objects and their environments to be investigated in a safe and controlled manner. This paper presents a case study of the pipeline for the acquisition, modelling, rapid prototyping and virtual relighting of a Roman statue head preserved at Herculaneum in Italy. The statue head was excavated in 2006, after having been buried during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD79.