A Petrified Petrifying Eyesight: A Story for the MEDUSA’S HEADS from Istanbul, Turkey

The Basilica Cistern, Yerebatan Sarnici in Turkish, is the largest of all the hundreds of ancient cisterns that rise below the city of Istanbul. In the North-West corner of the cistern, the bases of two columns reuse the carved blocks with the face of Medusa. The origin of the two heads is unknown; it is possible to say the same for a third (double) head located in the Archaeological Museum of Istanbul. These three/four heads of Medusa are masterpieces from the late Roman art. The research presented here starts from a digital photogrammetric study of this set of Medusa’s heads, this allowed to obtain a 3D digital model to study its morphology and shapes, then the model has been collocated inside the 3D virtual reconstruction of the cistern to have an overall view. The assumption formulated here, with the cross referencing obtained during the research phase and digital photogrammetry, lead us to the idea that the heads may come from a Doric temple dedicated to Athena, in this specific case used as a metope, or from the triumphal arch dedicated to Constantine in Constantinople. The aim is therefore to bring back to life, using a process of virtual reconstruction, with contemporary technology, such as virtual reality, an architectural element from the past, through a virtual journey that traces the history of these stone giants, placing them in their hypothetical original context with augmented reality.