3D Imaging, Modeling and Visualization

Backgrounder on the reveiling of the research results in 2006

In the fall of 2004, as part of ongoing research collaboration, the Centre de recherche et de restauration des musées de France (C2RMF) (available in French only) invited a team of Canadian 3D scientists from the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) to participate in a detailed scientific examination of the Mona Lisa. Three-dimensional imaging is increasingly recognized as a valuable new tool in the documentation and analysis of works of art.

The NRC team had access to scan the painting for only a few hours over two evenings in October 2004. For the project, a 3D color laser scanner designed and built by NRC was brought to Paris to scan the complete painting - obverse and reverse. The triangulation-based system scanned a low power white laser spot over the painting in order to produce a high-resolution archival quality 3D digital model of the shape and color of the painting's surface.

The 3D model was used to document and precisely measure the shape of the wooden panel on which the Mona Lisa is painted, to examine features of the composition and the craquelure in the paint layer, and to help the study of both the painting's state of conservation and da Vinci's technique, in particular his sfumato. The results, presented in Chapter 4 of Au coeur de La Joconde published by Éditions Gallimard, provide a number of unique new types of image information to assist curators and conservators in their studies. An English version of the book, Mona Lisa: Inside the Painting, published by Harry N. Abrams Inc. is also available, as is a German edition titled Mona Lisa: Das große Buch zum berühmtesten Gemälde der Welt published by Schirmer/Mosel.

During the past 20 years, the NRC has collaborated with Canadian and international museums on the development of 3D technology for a wide range of museum and heritage recording applications. The technology includes 3D laser scanner systems for high-resolution digitization of works of art in color, as well as software and multi-resolution display systems for professional level examination of the 3D model data of objects. The Canadian museums include the Canadian Museum of Civilization, the National Gallery of Canada, the Canadian Museum of Nature and the Bill Reid Foundation. In addition to the C2RMF, NRC has also collaborated on international projects with the British Museum, the Peabody Museum, the Israel Antiquities Authority, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage in China and with the Universities of Lecce, Florence, Padova, Trento and Milan in Italy as well as with Stanford University in the USA. In the process NRC's 3D technology as well as its staff expertise has been used to scan sculptures such as Michelangelo's David and Bill Reid's Mythic Messengers, paintings by Renoir, Corot, Thomson and Rembrandt, archaeological sites in China and Italy as well as ethnographic, archaeological and natural history collections in Canadian museums.

NRC's 3D technology also has a range of other applications in the industrial, medical, space, forensic and entertainment sectors and is licensed to nine Canadian companies.

For the Discovery Shuttle mission in 2005, NASA used a Laser Camera System built by Neptec Inc. - an NRC licensee - to inspect the condition of the shuttle's heat shield tiles. The research prototype for this camera was developed at NRC.

NRC's high resolution 3D scanner system has also been used in the production of major motion pictures - through XYZ RGB - such as the Lord of the Rings: Return of the King and The Matrix sequels, and King Kong. 3D technology is becoming recognized within the film industry as a revolutionary tool capable of reproducing objects and actors with unparalleled realism.

NRC licensee Innovmetric has become a world-leader in the field of 3D modeling for use in the automotive sector through its partnerships with car companies such as Honda, Toyota, Ford, GM, and Rolls Royce.

For more information about our research, visit the Visual Information Technology page.

View televised broadcasts about this project:

• "What's behind Mona Lisa's smile?" from the Daily Planet
• "Au coeur de la Joconde" from Découverte (Available in French only)

For more information about the Mona Lisa project contact:

Vincent Lemay
Communications Officer
Communications Office, NCR
NRC Institute for Information Technology
1200 Montreal Road
Building M-50, Room 208A
Ottawa, ON K1A 0R6
Telephone: 613-990-7117
Fax: 613-952-7998
E-mail: Vincent.Lemay@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca

Research Contact

François Blais
Group Leader
Visual Information Technology
NRC Institute for Information Technology
1200 Montreal Road
Building M-50, Room 341
Ottawa, ON K1A 0R6
Telephone: 613-993-3285
Fax: 613-952-0215
E-mail: Francois.Blais@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca

Business Contact

Charles-Antoine Gauthier (Charles)
Director (Acting)
Research Programs, NCR
NRC Institute for Information Technology
1200 Montreal Road
Building M-50, Room 206
Ottawa, ON K1A 0R6
Telephone: 613-993-8551
Fax: 613-952-0074
E-mail: Charles-Antoine Gauthier