Throughout the 13th century, a series of Serbian churches in the Western Balkans were adorned with what may be described as “fictive” mosaics. The backgrounds of the wall paintings gracing the interiors of these buildings were covered with gold leaf and patterned to mimic mosaic cubes—an expensive and fragile form of decoration of which only traces now survive. Of these churches, the church of the Holy Trinity (c. 1265) of Sopoćani is the best preserved and resultantly, the focus of this research project.

Under the guidance and mentorship of Dr. Ivan Drpić, the objective of our project was to recreate the interior of the church through techniques of digital visualisation to provide the modern viewer with the visual experience once enjoyed by the medieval visitor to the church. The process was built upon four main steps, restoration and gilding of preserved wall paintings, converting the 3D point cloud scan into a mesh, cleaning, texturing and lighting the mesh, and lastly, creating a virtual interactive visualization. 

Through this summer research project, I've developed a strong appreciation for the Serbian church, especially for its many beautiful wall paintings, and also had the opportunity to improve my skills in digital art, photo editing, 3D modelling, texturing and scripting. I look forward to continuing the project through my independent study this fall semester under Dr. Drpić.