Full text: New perspectives to save cultural heritage

CI PA 2003 XIX th International Symposium, 30 September - 04 October, 2003, Antalya, Turkey 
1. MAXIMILIAN I’s CENOTAPH 
1.1 Historical background 
Between 1420 and 1665 Innsbruck was the residence of one of 
Europe’s most known imperial families, the “Habsburger”. The 
Hofkirche at Innsbruck with the tomb of Emperor Maximilian I 
probably is the most important art-historical monument, which 
is possessed by the country of Tyrol. It was built between 1555 
and 1565 under Emperor Ferdinand I (the brother of German 
Emperor Karl V). It contains the most important German empe 
ror grave of Maximilian I. The cenotaph (i.e. technical term for 
an empty tomb) with the statue of the kneeling Emperor is in the 
center of the church’s nave. The tomb was created by artists 
from various countries, who cooperated in the production. It is a 
unique certification of European court art, which was influenced 
by the personality of the Emperor and its successor as clients. 
The sarcophagus is surrounded by 28 more than life-sized 
bronze figures, embodying ancestors and relatives of Maximi 
lian, the so-called "Schwarze Mander" (i.e. black men). 
1.2 Description 
The cenotaph (fig. 1) comprises about 3 m x 5 m. The top of the 
Emperor’s statue is 4,5 m above the base. The cenotaph consists 
of a frame of black marble in which the 24 reliefs of white 
marble (each approx. 82 cm x 55 cm) are embedded in two 
horizontal rows. These reliefs show scenes from the life of the 
Emperor Maximilian I. They have a level of detail within the 
range of 0.1 mm and had to be documented in particular and 
with highest available precision. On the cover of the tomb the 
kneeling figure of the Emperor is central, surrounded by 
representations of the four basic virtues, which are arranged at 
the four corners. All mentioned figures consist of dark bronze. 
1.3 Restoration measures 2000/2003 
On the occasion of the preservation and restoration of the tomb 
a complete art-historical and geometrical documentation was 
initiated for the first time since the completion around the year 
1568. In order to make a continuous access for tourists possible, 
only in each case one half was concerned by the measures of 
restoration and covered in a boarding. The other part remained 
accessible for the public. However, the cenotaph was separated 
for centuries by a wrought-iron lattice from the visitors (fig. 2). 
Additionally the white reliefs were hidden by glass plates. In 
May 2002 the right half was completely restored and it became 
necessary to dismantle and transfer on the other side. Thus, for 
ten days for the first time since its establishment the cenotaph 
was accessible from all sides and unwrapped both from lattices 
and from windowpanes (fig. 1). This time slot was used for the 
complete documentation and the measurement work described 
here. 
2. DATA ACQUISITION 
2.1 General remarks 
The setting of tasks was not clearly defined - as is often the 
case in comparable projects, and had to be developed in co 
operation with the responsible authorities. It stood firmly that 
the rare chance of accessibility from all sides should be used for 
documentation by all means. Of course, neither detailed plans 
nor art-historical documentations of this tomb were available at 
this time. Because of the preciousness of the object - and the 
uniqueness of the opportunity for data collection - accordingly a 
combination of geodetic measuring methods was suggested and 
carried out in May 2002. 
Fig. 2: Total view of the cenotaph - behind lattices - 
before the restoration work 
On the one hand classical close range photogrammetry was used 
for the complete measurement of the cenotaph and on the other 
hand - due to the high detail of the reliefs - the 3D documen 
tation should be carried out by use of 3D scanning techniques. 
The geometrical survey of the object by the 3D scanners also 
would be combinable in the future with the radiometric infor 
mation from the photos when both methods were used in one 
operation. The measurements were accomplished by three inde 
pendent teams. In order to avoid interference during the short 
time available, all measurements had to be coordinated exactly 
and scheduled accurately in advance. 
Since the surveying methods for the geometric documentation 
of the cenotaph have been described in earlier publications 
(Marbs 2002, Hanke 2003), only a brief outline is given in the 
following sections. 
2.2 Geodetic survey and photogrammetric densification 
A general requirement for all surveys was a common coordinate 
reference. A precise network of eight observation points around 
the cenotaph was established and vertical and horizontal angles 
were observed to the reference targets for the scans and the 
photogrammetric images (spheres and self-adhesive flat tar 
gets). An accuracy of better than 0.5 mm (standard deviation of 
spatial location) could be achieved. Additional targets which 
were necessary for the detail scans of the reliefs were stuck onto 
transparent adhesive tape which was fixed in front of the reliefs 
without touching them. The coordinates for those targets were 
derived from photo triangulation using GOM’s widely automa 
tic TRITOP system (GOM, 2003). 
2.3 3D structural scanning with a MENSI S25 
A complete scan of the cenotaph was achieved with a MENSI 
S25 triangulation type laser scanner (MENSI, 2003). A point 
density of about 2 mm was chosen. This resulted in 20 
observation locations from where a total of about 10 million 
points were recorded in about 60 hours of scanning time. As 
long as a scanning range of 5 m is not exceeded, the MENSI 
S25 will achieve a point accuracy of better than 1 mm.
	        
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