Volumes / Journal / 34.2 / Semeraro et al.

A statue of Athena in the sanctuary of Apollo in Hierapolis (Phrygia): from the fragments to the 3D reconstruction

Grazia Semeraro, Katia Mannino, Vincenzo Ria

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2023, 34.2, 297-316; doi: 10.19282/ac.34.2.2023.16

Abstract

In 2005-2006 the excavations in the Sanctuary of Apollo conducted by the Italian Archaeological Mission in Hierapolis in Phrygia (MAIER) brought to light about sixty fragments of a larger-than-life marble statue of Athena. This paper presents the discovery, highlighting the role played in the research by digital technologies, especially 3D modelling and reconstruction techniques, the application of which mitigated the highly fragmentary nature of the evidence. The first section of the paper highlights the importance of the context of discovery of the fragments, which were found, together with other sculptural and architectural elements, in front of Temple B, in a deposit of discarded material related to the destruction in situ of part of the sanctuary’s decorations in the Byzantine period. The second section describes the plan drawn up by the MAIER to publish a comprehensive scientific description of the sculptures of the Sanctuary of Apollo. The project aims to reconstruct the sculptural decoration of the sacred area in the Imperial period, combining information on the types of statuary and the iconographic subjects and themes with excavation data and the epigraphical documentation from the sacred area. The project includes the study of the statue of Athena, for which this paper provides the description and the results of the historic and artistic analyses. The final section is centered on the process that led from the creation of the digital model to the virtual reconstruction of the statue of Athena and, lastly, to the 3D printing of the reconstructive hypothesis. Digital models were created for many of the sculpture fragments of the Sanctuary of Apollo. Saved in a database designed to store data on the sculptures, these models facilitate the study of the documentation and have proved to be extremely useful for the dissemination of the finds to the public, especially in problematic situations that limit or impede access to the evidence, as was the case during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Figures

Semeraro, Mannino, Ria 2023, fig. 1 — Fig. 1

Semeraro, Mannino, Ria 2023, fig. 2 — Fig. 2

Semeraro, Mannino, Ria 2023, fig. 3 — Fig. 3

Semeraro, Mannino, Ria 2023, fig. 4 — Fig. 4

Semeraro, Mannino, Ria 2023, fig. 5 — Fig. 5

Semeraro, Mannino, Ria 2023, fig. 6 — Fig. 6

Semeraro, Mannino, Ria 2023, fig. 7 — Fig. 7

Semeraro, Mannino, Ria 2023, fig. 8 — Fig. 8

Semeraro, Mannino, Ria 2023, fig. 9 — Fig. 9

3D Models

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