Besides its historical importance (part of UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Rome), the Trajan’s Column represents a very significant on-site monument in order to optimize this novel DIM approach, to achieve realistic and measurable objectives, and to guarantee the operational feasibility in the timeline of the project. In the following, I list the main reasons why I selected the Trajan’s Column as ideal case study.
1)The Trajan’s Column counts with many historical plaster casts/replicas: - plaster casts realized in the years 1666-1670 located in the Académie de France in Villa Medici (Rome) and in the Little Stable of Versailles (Louvre, Paris); - full sets, produced in 1861-1862, conserved in the Museum of Roman Civilization, (Rome) and in the Victoria and Albert Museum of London; - complete friezes reproduced in concrete during 1940s and conserved in the National History Museum in Bucharest (Romania). Moreover, there are, available at the Archeological Park of the Colosseum (Rome), hundreds of photographic documentations of the restoration interventions operated in 1980-1990.
2) The environmental parameters of the city of Rome are largely known. Complete annual climate historical series are available (meteorological observatory Collegio Romano, 41°53′54.73″N 12°28′50.29″E) since1862 (Regione Lazio archive). Furthermore, many studies provide useful information on climate historical reconstruction, current climate conditions, rain water variability composition and wind circulation of the city.
3) The bas-reliefs of the Trajan’s Column are characterized by a complex decoration and a large number of details, hence its meaningfulness in defining standards for a morphometrical/geometrical analysis in relation with the deterioration process. 4) The bas-reliefs are made with Carrara marble, a primary choice for historical monuments in Mediterranean basin and modern buildings all over the world.
