The Indiana University-Uffizi project: Metrologica! challenges and workflow for massive 3D digitization of sculptures

This paper gives a general overview of a large-scale 3D digitization project involving the ca. 1250 ancient sculptures owned by the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. The project is coordinated and sponsored by Indiana University with the technical support of Politecnico di Milano and the advice of a scientific committee of experts in the fields of art history and archaeology. In the framework of this project, high-resolution and textured 3D models of the target pieces are being produced along with the corresponding descriptive and technical metadata. The project started in 2016 and will be completed in five years. Thus far, a 3D database containing ample documentation of the sculptures has been created and populated with approximately 20% of the final content. The paper describes the general aim and a set of technical solutions used for solving various technical issues encountered until now.