"La grandiosa imitazione". Il grande plastico di Pompei. Dal modello materico al modello digitale

To this date, the imposing scale model of the ruins of Pompeii, preserved at the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, has not received the adequate consideration of its intrinsic value as a historical and archaeological document. At the origin of the creation of the model there were not only well defined cultural reasons, but also the strong desire to promote a more immediate understanding of the entire site of Pompeii and to document, with meticulousness and skill, the state of conservation closely following the phases of rediscovery. The "Great Imitation of Pompeii", as a precious and extraordinary document, continues to show us even today the original decoration and planivolumetric articulation of the monumental remains. The complete digitalization of the Great Scale Model not only provides a 3D copy of the original, but also an indispensable research and communication tool: it preserves and amplifies the documentary value of the original. In an uninterrupted game of reflections, cross-references, correspondences between archaeological reality, physical model and its digital replica, the Atlas returns to the Great Scale Model of Pompei the place it deserves in the history of archaeological research.