Virtual Archaeology and Medieval Art History: Fundamentals and Applications

Virtual Archaeology is defined as ‘the scientific discipline that seeks to research and develop ways of using computer-based visualizations for the comprehensive management of archaeological heritage’. In essence, it involves the creation of virtual models of various types whose purpose is to represent elements of the past based on historical data obtained from research. It is a discipline that has experienced a boom in recent years, thanks to the democratization of both technology and training, and has become one of the most fruitful branches of what is known as Digital Humanities. However, despite its name, it has applications beyond the field of archaeology, notably in Art History. In this sense, it allows recovering the original likeness of lost or altered works, the formulation of research hypotheses, or the generation of resources with great didactic and dissemination potential. This study aims to offer an overview of the fundamentals of the discipline and explore the possibilities it offers to Medieval Art History. Furthermore, this study serves as a starting point for new projects.