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Pyrgi's reliefs speak with artificial intelligence

2023-04-26T08:24:57.468Z


The reliefs of the temple of Pyrgi come back to life (and speak) in a project by Duke University. (HANDLE)


The reliefs of the temple of Pyrgi come back to life (and speak) in a project by Duke University.

Not too dissimilar from the super-heroes of a video game, the protagonists of the myth of the Seven against Thebes virtually cross arms in the experiment that Maurizio Forte, professor of Classical Studies, Art, History of Art and Visual Studies at Duke University, will present tomorrow at the Field Museum in Chicago.


    The project, created by the Dig@Lab of the University of North Carolina by combining the technologies of Virtual Reality and Generative Artificial Intelligence in collaboration with FolloFox.AI, takes its cue from the pediment physically preserved in the National Etruscan Museum of Villa Giulia.

Dated to 470-460 BC, the high relief presents the myth at the center of Aeschylus' tragedy represented for the first time in Athens in 467 BC: Eteocles and Polynices, the twin sons of Oedipus are contending for the throne of Thebes.

They were to rule each in turn for a year, but Eteocles refused to 'return the kingdom to his brother who attacked' Thebes in response, flanked by seven other heroes.


    The experiment allows you to explore the reliefs in virtual form using an open-source Stable Diffusion technology that inserts photorealistic versions of each character while remaining faithful to the Etruscan roots of those who created them 2500 years ago.

Thus the elements of a masterpiece of ancient art are resurrected, but the transformative potential of AI in the reconstruction of the past is also demonstrated, Forte explains to ANSA.


    Wearing virtual helmets, the public will be able to witness the killing of Capaneo, an ally of Polynices, electrocuted by Zeus for having challenged Olympus: once he had successfully scaled the walls of Thebes, he claimed that not even the gods could have prevented him from wearing after the assault.

Then there is Athena, disgusted because another of Polynices' allies, Tydeus, bites the head of the dying Melanippo, one of Eteocles' seven warriors, receiving the sentence to remain mortal forever.

The reliefs thus come to life in a theatrical experience through animations created with artificial intelligence neural networks.

The texts were translated into English from the ancient Greek text: "A way to take classical studies out of the niche," Forte explained, according to which the project "

opens up enormous prospects in the cultural heritage sector.

Just a few months ago, it would have taken long manual sessions of computer graphics to make it."


    Meanwhile, thanks to Duke's experiment, the high relief of the pediment (in the 3D printed version) is about to return home.


    It will be installed in the Santa Severa museum as proof of the many uses that the application of photogrammetry and scanning offers to the remains of the classical world.

(HANDLE).


Source: ansa

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