What is Spherical Photography

In the present contribution, the author presents research on the Winter Room of Palazzo Brignole-Sale (Palazzo Rosso) in Genoa, Italy, which is part of the decorative cycle of the Seasons. The cycle displays the peculiar characteristics of the seventeenth-century Genoese decorative style, where architecture, painting, furniture and stuccos are highly interconnected. The research was carried out using the data collected with nodal-photography techniques. Thanks to these techniques, it was to possible to obtain an interactive panoramic spherical photo and high-resolution scaled photos of planar projections of the architectural perspective, in order to identify the real and illusory space. The analysis proceeded with a series of reverse-perspective constructions and the consequent reconstruction (using three-dimensional models) of the possible virtual space represented in the paintings. Thanks to this information, the author was able to carry out the necessary study to understand the peculiar characteristics of the decorations, the optical illusions of which are extremely impressive.