Pictorical reintegration of mural paintings to the irregular surface of the vault of the church of Santos Juanes in Valencia (Spain) through 3D digital techniques

Abstract

This study describes one part of the restoration project for the Antonio Palomino pictorial group, which is painted on the vault of the central nave in the church of Santos Juanes, in the city of Valencia (Spain). These fresco paintings were partially destroyed by a fire in 1936, and after several failed attempts for a correct restorative intervention, the greatest aesthetic merit of this church was lost and with it an important heritage element.

Now, after many years of the painting being in ruin, this integral restoration project has placed it in an aspect closer to how it was before its destruction. In this phase of the restoration, the areas of the damaged painting will be rectified using the two available black and white photographs and a 3D model of the vault. In addition, it will also describe how the paintings have been placed in their original locations. As follows, it is intended to restore the balance of the figures and allegorical characters on the vault of the temple and return this sample of Spanish Baroque to the new generations.

The solution presented in this study describes a novel methodology supported by geomatic techniques to carry out all the geometric control of the restoration. This have allowed the extensive pictorial program to fit three-dimensionally and relocate the paintings on the irregular surface of the vault, in the same place that the Spanish artist painted them.