Measurement and restitution of the Annunciation by Fra Angelico in San Giovanni Valdarno

The Annunciation by the Dominican friar Giovanni da Fiesole, known as Fra Angelico, is currently housed in the Museum of the Basilica of Santa Maria delle Grazie in San Giovanni Valdarno; it was painted during the period when the arts were transitioning from the Late Gothic to the Renaissance. The painting combines the Renaissance principles of perspective construction with the old medieval values of the didactic function of art and light. This contribution presents a solution developed to acquire the painting in such a way so that it can be used through a digital surrogate, perceptually indistinguishable from the original, thus making it possible to visualise and illustrate the work as if it were in our hands, digitally re-illuminating the model in order to emphasise the characteristics that can help us understand and preserve the graphic artefact.