The challenge: Digitally restoring a Gothic masterpiece preserved thousands of kilometres away
Generalitat Valenciana
A self-governing public institution of the Valencian Community, committed to the protection, research and promotion of Valencian cultural heritage.
Gemma Contreras
Director of the Valencian Institute of Conservation, Restoration and Research (IVCR+i)
This project further democratises access to culture for everyone, whether or not they are able to visit a museum. It symbolises the return of the iconic altarpiece to all Valencians.
The solution: 3D photogrammetric reconstruction and an immersive journey to 15th-century Valencia
Innoarea developed an immersive virtual reality experience combining high-resolution photogrammetry and infrared inspection in collaboration with experts from IVCR+i. After capturing hundreds of visible and infrared images at the London museum, a full-scale 3D model of the altarpiece was created, incorporating both the visible paintwork and the hidden traces and sketches left by the medieval masters.
The solution also incorporated an interactive digital reconstruction of 15th-century Valencia based on historical cartography. Designed for use on devices such as the Oculus Rift and Meta Quest, the application allows users to fly over the medieval city and enter the historic chapel to freely examine the artwork from angles that would be impossible in a physical museum, switching between the pictorial view and the infrared layer.
- Real-time switching between visible light and infrared images to examine the preparatory drawings beneath the painting
- Millimetre-precise reproduction that preserves the textures, volume, cracks and relief of the original gold leaf
- A three-dimensional reconstruction of 15th-century Valencia, to situate the piece within the architectural space for which it was designed
- Interactive movement on a real-scale model that allows the user to move up or down to examine details that are not visible to the naked eye
Key findings
The project succeeded in symbolically repatriating a cornerstone of Valencia’s heritage, making it more widely accessible to students, researchers and an international audience. The tool has been presented at museums, innovation conferences and the ESRARC 2019 European Congress, where the concept of ‘relocated heritage’ was coined as a model of success in digital cultural outreach.
Beyond public outreach, the solution provided conservators with a digital twin of the highest quality, enabling them to carry out technical analyses without posing any risk to the original artwork. This convergence of technology and research led to scientific publications and the publication of a monograph by the Valencian Regional Government in 2025, cementing Innoarea’s position as a leader in heritage innovation.
