Digital model of St Peter’s is ‘unparalleled’ project

Microsoft’s vice-chair and president Brad Smith said it was “literally one of the most technologically advanced and sophisticated projects of its kind that has ever been pursued”.

Vatican cooperation with major IT corporations inspired the creation of a “digital twin” of St Peter’s for the 2025 Jubilee, described as one of the most sophisticated models of its kind ever produced.

The Holy See has worked closely with operators including Microsoft over the past year to develop ethical standards for the use of the artificial intelligence (AI) that would contribute to the common good, leading to the proposal for the project 

Iconem, a French company known for scanning, digitising and thus preserving architectural heritage, applied its techniques to create a digital model of the Vatican basilica which 

“The digitisation of the basilica, employing AI tools as well, is unparalleled in terms of volume and accuracy of the data,” said Rokas Kilčiauskas, a architect from the Lithuanian studio Processoffice which has worked with a team of designers from the DADADA studio for the creation of the exhibition Pétros ení (“Peter is here”) presenting the project.

“At this point we step into the picture with an aim to showcase the results of this digitisation – to translate the scanned material into the video-narratives.”

“The exhibition is set in those spaces inside the basilica, that were hitherto inaccessible to the public,” said designer Martynas Birškys. “One is on the roof that covers one of the naves of the basilica – it is fan-shaped, therefore, in Italian it’s called ventaglio…”            

The other space exhibited is deeper within the basilica, about 50 metres from the floor, next to the great dome of Michelangelo. “This space is inside the walls, and invisible both from below or above the basilica,” Birškys said. 

The exhibition travels through the so-called stations of the Apostle Peter’s life, his encounter with Jesus and subsequent martyrdom. From there, the narrative carries on with the history of the basilica, from the time of Emperor Constantine up to today.

“The last stop is a video-film that was made especially for this exhibition, which helps to understand the size and scale of the artwork, by zooming in closely on the masterpieces, the mosaics that are so high up that one cannot see them even with the help of binoculars, like the small dome right at the top of the central dome, the culmination of this film, when the close-up of the camera shows that there is a huge and very detailed mosaic up there,” Birškys told.

The whole project was supervised by Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of the basilica, who saw the “digital twin” of the basilica as a way to explore its hidden depths and to offer a temporary substitute for those unable to make a physical pilgrimage to it. 

“Our exhibitions also follow the same gesture of opening the basilica, as the Holy Doors open, and so do other church spaces. The Church reaches out and goes to people, opens to them and embraces them”, Kilčiauskas said.

At the launch last month, Microsoft’s vice-chair and president Brad Smith said it was “literally one of the most technologically advanced and sophisticated projects of its kind that has ever been pursued”.

The model is accessible at virtual.basilicasanpietro.va, with further digital projects scheduled for the Jubilee Year.

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