Digitally Assisted Preservation and Restoration of a Fragmented Mural in a Tang Tomb

Abstract

Digital technology is being increasingly designed and employed to support the preservation and restoration of ancient murals. The contributions of digital technologies to this study were planned from the very beginning, as the complexity of this restoration necessitated the design of innovative procedures to manage the restoration and reconstruction processes and to record the details and deformation of the mural. This paper takes the digital restoration of the "maid holding a fan" mural in the Tang Zhaoling Duan Jianbi tomb as an example. In view of the large number and dislocation of mural fragments, the application of digital restoration technology and its achievements in the restoration of this ancient mural are preliminarily explored in combination with high-precision digital information collection and recording. Technical suggestions and details regarding the digital restoration of the mural are put forward to serve as guidance for the preservation and restoration of ancient murals.