The Ateneo de Santiago became last Monday the stage for a historical conference entitled “O coro do Mestre Mateo revelado: a recuperación dun monumento único,” given by Francisco Prado-Vilar, professor of Art History at the University of Santiago and Distinguished Researcher of CISPAC (Centro de Investigación Interuniversitario das Paisaxes Atlánticas Culturais). During this event, Prado-Vilar unveiled the most recent advances of the KosmoTech_1200 project, focused on the digital reconstruction of the missing stone choir of Mestre Mateo, one of the great jewels of the Romanesque of the Cathedral of Santiago.
The choir, whose creation is attributed to the famous Mestre Mateo in the 12th century, was destroyed in the 17th century and has remained an enigma throughout the centuries. Now, thanks to the work of this research project, it has been brought back to life in an immersive digital recreation, which allows attendees to visualize what this liturgical and musical space of great relevance was like.
At the conference, which was attended by a large audience, Prado-Vilar explained the digital reconstruction process using advanced techniques such as photogrammetry, polychromy analysis and anastylosis to recompose the original architecture of the choir and restore its coloring.
In fact, one of the highlights of the project is the recovery of the original choir stalls, which were recreated in 3D, thus offering a detailed representation of what was one of the most splendid works of the Cathedral of Santiago.
This digitization work also includes the analysis of medieval polyphony, which found in the choir a fundamental space for the development of religious music in the Middle Ages.
All these advances allow us to appreciate the artistic and architectural dimension of the monument, as well as its central role in the history of medieval music, fusing art, music and Galician cultural identity.
All in all, the project has not only made possible the recovery of an essential monument of the work of Mestre Mateo, also the author of the famous Pórtico de la Gloria, but has also opened the door to immersive experiences in which the public can virtually tour the choir, thus reliving an essential fragment of Compostela’s heritage.
