Does the quality of the available light affect the precision of the laser scanning?
A. It does not affect the laser scanning, but it does affect the color scanning. The museums will be reducing their ambient lighting level during our project. Interestingly, turning off the electric lights in the Medici Chapel shows us (and a few lucky visitors) the space as Michelangelo intended us to see it, with light entering only from a few windows high in the walls and at the top of the the dome. This light, bouncing off the walls of gray Pietra Serena limestone as it filters down into the chapel, fills the space with a sombre blueish light that is in keeping with its funerary purpose. Amidst the general gloom, the highly polished figure of Night appears supernaturally white, as if bathed in moonlight – another part of Michelangelo’s design. It is a moving experience to stand alone in the Chapel when it is lit this way. Q.
