Immersive projection in the Temple of Brunello, a magical place in the heart of Montalcino

To promote the treasures of Montalcino, the museum space L'Oro di Montalcino was created by Opera Laboratori.

From an emotional point of view, the culmination of the visit is the immersive projection that takes place in the Sala Calix, one of the underground rooms of the Temple of Brunello. Here, the visitor is immersed in the depths of the land of Montalcino, surrounded by walls with exposed stones, barrel vaults and pointed arches (reminiscent of a chalice, hence the name of the room) and can admire the masterpieces of art produced in the territory of Montalcino and Siena, projected in mapping directly on the stones and accompanied by evocative music.

"The motto of Opera Laboratori – says Maddalena Sanfilippo – is 'we work artfully for art'. In our portfolio there are, to give just a few examples, the Uffizi, the cathedral of Siena, the museums of Pienza, the cathedral of Arezzo. Our work combines professionalism with love for a unique territory, and it is with this spirit that we have dedicated ourselves to L'Oro di Montalcino and the Temple of Brunello. Without a doubt, we wanted a high-level result, in line with our work philosophy."

In summary, the visit begins by entering the former convent complex of Sant'Agostino, the millennial heart of the city of Montalcino, crosses two cloisters, the church of Sant'Agostino, reopened, after a very long restoration, a museum of sacred art and the archaeological museum, which is located in an underground space, right next to the Temple of Brunello. The latter, inaugurated in July 2021 and housed in the hypogean spaces of the complex, includes 'our' Calix, an underground gallery divided into three sections by exposed stone walls, each of which has a pointed ogival arch in the center, similar to an inverted chalice - hence the name of the room, Calix - On each of these walls the visitor observes the immersive projection in videomapping of the masterpieces of ancient art of the territory of Montalcino and of Siena. 

"The challenge that Opera Laboratori proposed to us - says Matteo Ventrell, CEO of ETT Spa - was not simple: first of all, working in a space protected by the Superintendence of Fine Arts, the impact of the installation had to be minimized; moreover, since visitors have to move within narrow spaces, it was unthinkable to place the projectors on the ground, to prevent them from creating an obstacle; we add that the ceiling consists of barrel vaults, to which it was not possible to attach. A first response to these critical issues, we say it immediately, was to think about the creation of a light structure that would allow us to anchor the projectors to the ceiling».

But the main problem, explains Matteo Ventrella, was strictly geometric in nature: the walls that divide the space into three niches, are eight meters wide but just over two meters deep.

"We chose to use six Panasonic PT-RZ690 projectors, with ET-DLE035 ultra short throw lenses with mirror rear projection. We used two of them for each section of the hall, placing them on the ceiling, on the sides of the arch leading to the next section. In this way it was not necessary to hide them, since they are located in a dark spot and placed behind the visitor, whose attention is attracted by the images projected on the wall. The mapping is perfect and the DLP technology reaches the highest levels in situations like this: the images are sharp and the colours are vivid, despite the fact that the surface on which it is projected is made up of exposed stones. Indeed, the effect is in this way even more suggestive. The show is activated, thanks to a sensor, as soon as the visitor enters the room».