3D low-cost acquisition for the knowledge of cultural heritage: the case study of the bust of San Nicola da Tolentino

The creation of three-dimensional models for the cataloguing and documentation of cultural heritage is today an emerging need in the cultural sphere and, above all, for museums. The cultural heritage is still catalogued and documented based on descriptive files assorted of photographic images which, however, fail to outline its spatial richness, possible only through the use of 3D artefacts. The essay aims to propose a methodology of digitalization by low-cost and easy-to-use systems, to be employed even by non-expert survey and photogrammetry’s operators. The case study of the statue of San Nicola da Tolentino, preserved at the Sant’Agostino complex in Bergamo, offered the possibility of a comparison between 3D models acquired with different digitalization tools (professional/action/amateur cameras and smartphone) and processed by several image-based 3D Reconstruction software and methods.