Preserving Assisi is a comprehensive digital documentation project for the Papal Basilica and Sacred Convent of Saint Francis in Assisi. Launched as part of the celebrations marking the eighth centenary of the death of Saint Francis, it brings together expertise and technologies applied to the preservation, study and enhancement of one of the most significant sites of medieval art and Franciscan spirituality.
The digital enhancement of the Basilica has been part of the work of the companies now united within Gruppo Panini Cultura for more than thirty years.
A first major milestone dates back to the 1990s, when the publisher Franco Cosimo Panini promoted an extensive photographic documentation campaign of the complex as part of the Mirabilia Italiae series. Created to systematically document its architecture, decorations and painted cycles, this material proved invaluable after the 1997 earthquake, becoming a reference for reconstructing the pre-earthquake condition of the complex and supporting restoration work.
In 2009, Haltadefinizione opened a new chapter with the gigapixel digitization of Giotto’s Stories of Saint Francis cycle in the Upper Church, making it possible to explore even the smallest details of this extraordinary masterpiece.
Today, Preserving Assisi builds on this experience through a new comprehensive digitization campaign of the Basilica. The acquisitions carried out by Haltadefinizione combine gigapixel photography and three-dimensional surveys to capture the material qualities of the painted surfaces and the architectural complexity of the spaces.
The new data, together with the digital documentation created in previous years, are published on the Preserving Assisi platform, where gigapixel images, 3D models and navigable virtual environments make it possible to explore the different parts of the complex. Coosmo, Haltadefinizione’s Digital Asset Management software, supports their management and publication.
The resulting documentation provides a resource for research, monitoring the state of conservation, restoration and enhancement, accessible to scholars, restorers and the public.
Preserving Assisi reflects the continuity of a journey spanning almost three decades: from the photographic documentation created for Mirabilia Italiae to gigapixel digitization and today’s digital infrastructure.
Publishing expertise, scientific imaging and data management converge in a project designed to study, protect and pass on to future generations one of the world’s most important artistic heritage sites.
