Giardino dei Tarocchi

The Giardino dei Tarocchi Project is a digitization project funded by the Getty Conservation Institute (GCI). The project includes the documentation and development of digital assets to record the current state of conservation of The Giardino dei Tarocchi, located in the Province of Grosseto, in Italy. The site was designed and created by Niki de Saint Phalle, a French sculptor and graphical artist. Saint Phalle worked on the Giardino dei Tarocchi throughout the 1970s until her death in 2002. The site includes 22 sculptures of the Major Arcana of the Tarot cards, 9 additional sculptures, a studio, and an entrance wall and café designed by Swiss architect Mario Botta. Four of the sculptures include kinetic artworks created by Swiss sculptor Jean Tinguely, who collaborated with Saint Phalle throughout the creation of the Giardino dei Tarocchi.

The digitization work by the Carleton Immersive Media Studio includes documentation of the site using state-of-the-art surveying methods: GNSS and Total Station surveying, laser scanning, aerial, terrestrial, and panoramic photography, and sound recording. The scope of the digitization work includes the production of measured line drawings and ortho-rectified images of the sculptures and buildings, a topographic map of the site, a panoramic tour, and a photographic record portfolio. The objective of the portfolio is to provide working documentation of the current state of conservation of the artwork throughout the site which will support the maintenance work carried out by the Giardino dei Tarocchi staff.