Press Release

The M ichelangelo M erisi da Digital Study and Research Centre and The Facsimile Reproduction of the Triptych in the of San Luigi dei Francesi,

A project by the M unicipality of Caravaggio in collaboration with the Giorgio Cini Foundation, Factum Arte and the Pious Establishments of in Rome and Loreto

Caravaggio, 25 March 2009. The M ichelangelo M erisi Digital Study and Research Centre has launched an ambitious project to promote a new comprehensive study of a masterpiece by Caravaggio ahead of the 400th anniversary of the artist’s death. The first initiative in the field by a major study centre for the celebrations, the project has been promoted by the M unicipality of Caravaggio in collaboration with the Giorgio Cini Foundation, Venice, and Factum Arte, Madrid.

The first three paintings to be reproduced for the Study Centre will be the three works in the triptych in the Church of San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome: St M atthew and the Angel, The Calling of St M atthew and The M artyrdom of St M atthew. The facsimiles will be made in the Factum Arte workshop courtesy of the invaluable collaboration of the Pious Establishments of France in Rome and Loreto, of which San Luigi dei Francesi is a part. The first facsimile, The Calling of St M atthew, will be unveiled in September 2009 to coincide with Io Caravaggio, an annual event organised by the Municipality of Caravaggio to commemorate the town’s most celebrated son, while the other two will be completed by the end of 2010.

The Digital Study and Research Centre will be housed in the former Church of San Giovanni Battista, situated in the centre of Caravaggio and currently being restored. It will gather all the available documentation on the artist’s life and the history of each of his paintings for use by scholars worldwide. In addition to a vast accessible digital archive, a dedicated web site and publications on every work, the Centre will also eventually have facsimile reproductions of all Caravaggio’s paintings as aids to studying and understanding the originals. The reproductions of the paintings will be made by using advanced technology, such as sophisticated 3D scanning, which also provides a new approach to studying the works themselves.

Commissioned by the Municipality of Caravaggio, the Digital Study and Research Centre project will be implemented in collaboration with the Giorgio Cini Foundation, which will contribute to the creation of an extensive in-depth archive of writings, drawings and photographic documentation of each painting. The Factum Arte workshop in Madrid, run by Adam Lowe, will work on the digital scanning and recording of the works, the production of the facsimiles, and the creation of a system of archiving and a visual interface for the Study Centre to make the archive easily accessible. One of the Study Centre’s objectives is to establish a procedure for recording and showing high resolution information to encourage museums and institutions to assess the importance of high-resolution documentation.

The 3D scanning of the paintings is a crucial part of the project, because it means the data gathered can be combined with a very high level of resolution and accuracy. As in the case of the W edding at Cana by Paolo Veronese, the works by Caravaggio will also be the subject of preliminary research into the history of restorations and materials in each painting to ensure that the facsimile is totally accurate. The project is based on the idea that various kinds of 1:1 scale high-resolution recordings of the surface of a painting, made possible by recent developments in digital technology, are indispensable for the conservation, monitoring and study of works of arts, and can thus provide greater knowledge about each work. The aim is to produce works virtually indistinguishable from the originals, proving that this approach is essential for the future of conservation and guaranteeing that the paintings are handed down to later generations without invasive work that might remove essential information.

Press information: Giorgio Cini Foundation tel. 041 2710280 - fax 041 5238540 email stampa@ cini.it www.cini.it