Marc Levoy and his team came prepared. To make their detailed 3-D computer model of Michelangelo's David, they arrived in Florence's Galleria dell 'Accademia last fall with high-tech laser scanners and custom-built scaffolding to get a top-down view of the famous bigger-than-life statue.
Turned out it was even bigger than they thought. Almost every art text lists David's height as 20 feet (including the 6-foot pedestal). But Levoy, an associate professor of computer science and electrical engineering, soon discovered that David stood 23 feet. The Stanford researchers quickly ordered adjustments to the scaffolding so they could start scanning.
Since then, Levoy and his Stanford colleagues have worked 16-hour days creating a database of images of David and Michelangelo's other work. When theyreturn to campus this spring, they will use algorithms to turn the data into on-screen models, capturing each tiny chisel mark and every color nuance of the 16th-century master's statuary.
The digital images -- among the largest and most detailed computer models ever produced -- will allow art historians to change the lighting on the works of art and test Michelangelo's use of perspective. Eventually, animated
images could even dance on screen. The goals of the $1.5 million project, funded in part by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, are scholarly, but commercialization is possible in the future.
The Michelangelo project has practical applications, too. Says Levoy: "With this digital archive, museum curators might be able to do a planned restoration virtually first to see how it looks." And while they're at it, they can take accurate measurements.
