Geoff Arnott (Heritage Technology, UK) and Kate Giles (University of York, UK)

In 1804 a series of 15th century wall paintings were discovered during building work in the chancel of the Guild Chapel of the Holy Cross, Stratford upon Avon. The paintings had been defaced, painted over and hidden from sight since 1563. These paintings were subsequently destroyed during the building work. In 1955 further fragmentary remains of wall paintings in the nave of the chapel were discovered and recorded by Wilfred Puddephat including a depiction of The Dance of Death and a large scene of Doom or Judgment Day above the chancel arch. The faint outlines of only 4 of the wall paintings survive in the Chapel today. This paper presents the results of a project carried out by Geoff Arnott in 2007/8, which sought to digitally recreate the interior of the Guild Chapel complete with its wall paintings as it would have appeared in the 16th century- before the wall paintings were removed. The project uses the latest in 3d visualisation and survey techniques backed by sound academic research to offer a historically accurate reconstruction of the Guild Chapel and its lost wall paintings. The interactive images and panoramas allow the wall paintings to be seen en-masse in their original context the first time in nearly 500 years. The paper examines the process of reconstruction, particularly issues of verisimilitude and experiments with surface and colour rendering. It also examines the ways in which the process of reconstruction itself raised important questions about existing assumptions and interpretations of the paintings, and has opened up new avenues of research into the design and meaning of the original scheme.