Hi, this blog is initiated in the context of Etruscanning, a European project in the Culture 2007 framework, that focuses on using innovative 3D and multimedia technologies to support three exhibitions on the Etruscan culture. As 3D scanning will be one of the technologies used, the project name is a blend between the words Etruscan and scanning, hence Etruscanning.
The partners in this project are the Allard Pierson Museum (archaeological museum part of the University of Amsterdam) in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, the National Museum for Antiquities in Leiden, the Netherlands, the Gallo-Roman Museum in Tongeren, Belgium, CNR-ITABC in Rome, Italy and Visual Dimension in Ename, Belgium, Associated partners are the Vatican Museum and the Villa Giulia, the famous museum on Etruscan culture in Rome.
The innovative 3D visualisation technologies include also 3D virtual reconstruction, which means that we try to visualise a certain man-made structure or landscape of the past. Virtual reconstruction does not reconstruct the past but visualises what we know about the past. In other words, it synthesises a consistent visualisation of a man-made structure or landscape based upon all available sources, such as archaeology, antropology, history, physics, … In other words, it is a multidisciplinary activity, and always susceptible to change.
This blog is about the multidisciplinary process of virtual reconstruction, applied to the Etruscan Regolini Galassi tomb, that was excavated in 1836 by Regolini and Galassi and has its magnificant and enigmatic objects on display in the Vatican museum. The process of virtual reconstruction will try to visualise this tomb at the moment it was closed, and the results will be visualised along with the objects in several exhibitions. The first two exhibitions (in Amsterdam and Leiden, opening planned on October 13, 2011) will use a 1:1 scale large screen projection of the Regolini-Galassi tomb, that can be explored by the visitors by their body movement.
This blog is part of the Etruscanning project, that is been funded with support from the European Commission. This blog reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Virtual reconstruction of Regolini-Galassi tomb 
The face disc shows some Egyptian influence, but with a twist. The head of Hathor has the specific form which is derived from representations of the goddess Bat, one of her appearances. The position of the sun disc is the same, but the cow’s horns have changed into stylized water ripples. Hathor is a goddess with many functions, but specifically not with a mortuary or funerary aspect. Her presence here as such remains unclear.
I’m not sure why but this blog is loading very slow for me. Is anyone else having this issue or is it a problem on my end? I’ll check back later and see if the problem still exists.
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