The church of Santa Coloma restores its Romanesque paintings through a mapping

Burzon & Comenge and Playmodes Studio have made a videomapping to recreate the twelfth century paintings of the church of Santa Coloma. For its execution, six projectors have been installed: one in the ship, that projects the images in the arc, and five inside the apse.

The church of Santa Coloma in Andorra has been able to restore virtually and digitally in its place of origin the Romanesque paintings made in the twelfth century thanks to the technique of videomapping. The joint venture formed by the creative studios Burzon & Comenge and Playmodes Studio have been in charge of the project.

In April of the 2017, the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Olga Gelabert, and the consul major of Andorra la Vella, Conxite Marsol, accompanied by the Director General of Culture, Montserrat Planelles, and the vicar general of the Bishopric of Urgell, mosén Josep M. Mauri, visited the church of San Clemente de Taüll, where they saw in situ the Romanesque paintings projected with the videomapping system, which was launched in 2014.

After seeing the project carried out, they decided to use the same technology in the Church of Santa Coloma to virtually recover the mural paintings that were painted on its apse and front in the twelfth century..

The alterations that these have undergone over the years make it impossible to return them to their original location and considered that videomapping was the best solution to see in situ how Romanesque paintings could look originally.

After the award of a public tender, the joint venture formed by Burzón & Comenge and Playmodes Studio was in charge of carrying out the project.

Through mapping and comparative interpretation with other contemporary pictorial ensembles in Santa Coloma, the paintings have been virtually reconstructed to recreate how they would be in their original state, including the gaps that have been left by the eight centuries that have elapsed. The result is projected on the walls of the original support: the apse and front of the church.

The original Romanesque paintings are exhibited in the Columba Space, the building located a few meters from the center of worship.

The winning study, creator of the taüll video projection and the digital recreation of Ullastret, has worked from a virtual 3D model based on photographs of space and Romanesque paintings.

The devices project an animation of the process of creating the paintings and their symbology. The flatter background colors appear, the borders and sketches to finish seeing the details. The images are projected following the iconographic importance.

In total, six projectors have been installed: one in the ship, that projects the images in the arc, and five inside the apse. The projection lasts ten minutes.

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