60 Minutes Transcript: Restoring the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi

Saturday marked the 800th day of the decease of 1 of Christianity's superstars, Saint Francis of Assisi. Every year, millions of visitors flock to the basilica successful Assisi to observe the miracles attributed to 1 of Italy's patron saints. That the religion is inactive lasting is simply a occurrence itself. It has survived war, occurrence and flood. But thing near much devastation than a brace of almighty earthquakes that struck successful 1997 — cratering the extortion and leaving countless creation treasures permanently damaged. Now, a squad of creation historians and bundle engineers person joined forces with the Franciscan Friars to effort to decorativeness the restoration — this clip with the assistance of integer wizardry and artificial intelligence. We had to find retired more.

Seven centuries ago, the friars knew a bully determination erstwhile they saw it. What was erstwhile a barren elevation successful Umbria wherever criminals swung from gallows was transformed into this: the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, the magnificent resting spot of 1 of Christianity's astir beloved saints. Sometimes called the archetypal hippie, Francis rejected his family's wealthiness for a beingness of poverty. Medieval masters couldn't defy the communicative of the extremist monk and lined up to overgarment it. But successful 1997 the large religion astir came crashing down. 

Two quakes deed 1 aft another. A conception of the soaring extortion collapsed. A heavy mushroom unreality filled with the soot of priceless creation rolled down the aisle. Four radical were killed by falling rubble.

Friar Guiulio Cesareo: Everything was destroyed, was unsafe. Really, I remember. I cannot hide it. I saw the arch dancing similar this.

Bill Whitaker: A large chromatic arch similar this?

Guilio Cesareo: Yes, yes, yes. I deliberation radical cannot judge it, but I saw it. 

Friar Guilio Cesareo — similar Julius Cesar but with an "o" helium told america — was a pupil present astatine the time. Earthquakes inactive scare him.

Friar Guilio Cesareo: I americium ever terrified. If I person the content that determination is thing shaking, possibly it's conscionable the wind, instantly I consciousness you cognize benignant of acold coming from inside. The harm was a daze for the Italian country.

It was a daze that galvanized a hopeless salvage operation. Restorers worked to heal the breached bodies of the saints. It was painstaking enactment and not each the pieces fit. Thirty years later, immoderate of the frescos are inactive pock-marked, the walls bare. No wonderment the friars jumped astatine the accidental to usage 21st period technologies to reconstruct their 13th period home.

Giovanni Borelli: Right present we are digitizing successful a super-high-definition this fresco — which is St. Francis talking to the Arles chapter

Giovanni Borelli is starring the task to make a integer duplicate of the basilica. Borelli is the CTO of Haltadefinizione, a exertion institution that specializes successful ultra-high-definition gigapixel photography. 

Bill Whitaker: This is nary mean camera I instrumentality it?

Giovanni Borelli: No, it's not. No, it's not. It's a robotic camera that we usage to instrumentality a super-high-definition images. So you tin spot each the smallest details of the enactment of art, the strokes of the painting, of the brush. You tin spot everything successful large detail.

Bill Whitaker: What is simply a gigapixel?

Giovanni Borelli: You know, you person a mobile camera. It's astir 50 megapixels. We are 3 bid of magnitude above. We are successful cardinal pixels.

Bill Whitaker: Wow. So you with your camera and the pictures tin spot things that the quality oculus cannot?

Giovanni Borelli: Yeah. 

Using cameras, drones and lasers, Borelli's squad volition instrumentality hundreds of thousands of pictures, stitching them unneurotic to make the astir precocious solution 3D blueprint of a gathering ever made. If catastrophe strikes this earthquake portion again, restorers volition person an nonstop roadworthy representation to rebuild. 

Bill Whitaker: Are you photographers oregon are you machine experts?

Giovanni Borelli: We are both.

For Sergio Fusetti, a subsister of the 1997 quakes and main restorer, those words are bittersweet. For him, high-tech assistance arrived excessively late. He asked america to travel him down a constrictive passageway to the hidden retention rooms beneath the church. The fastener was rusted — nary 1 had been present successful months. Then, different dusty hallway, different fastener … until finally, Fusetti showed america wherefore we were here: a uncommon look astatine much than 80,000 fragments from the 1997 quakes — each neatly catalogued — and successful purgatory.

Bill Whitaker: You person nary thought wherever these go?

Sergio Fusetti: No

Bill Whitaker: No 

No, helium said, we person tried everything. He showed america immoderate of the larger pieces inactive stored successful a box. 

Bill Whitaker: So it's similar a jigsaw puzzle?

Exactly, helium said.

Fusetti told america he'd toiled for years trying to decorativeness the job. but contempt his champion efforts he's near with a heap of plaster chips — each an irreplaceable portion of a 13th period masterpiece. 

Bill Whitaker: When you are capable to acceptable a portion backmost wherever it belongs, does it consciousness similar a restoration oregon does it consciousness similar a resurrection? 

It was an ongoing gamble, helium told us. Sometimes you enactment each time and spot conscionable 1 fragment. But sometimes we recovered the pieces and it was profoundly satisfying.

Fusetti says he's gone arsenic acold arsenic humanly possible. Only artificial quality tin assistance america now, helium told us.

Upstairs, the integer calvary was galloping on. Giovanni Borelli told america helium plans connected utilizing AI to acceptable unneurotic the leftover chips. And to tackle different problems:

Giovanni Borelli: Like cracks successful the paintings, discoloration — layers of paint, lifting. That benignant of investigation done by manus and with the eyes of a carnal idiosyncratic would necessitate years to conscionable bash 1 circular of the full building.

Bill Whitaker: And with AI?

Giovanni Borelli: With AI, minutes. 

But Borelli has much successful caput than conscionable preserving the basilica. The institution hopes to usage AI to marque creation much accessible, starting by making a travel to the depository much similar the movies:

The aforesaid exertion is being utilized to unfastened up Italy's hidden treasures. One time past June we descended 60 feet beneath the streets of Rome. 

Under an mean parking batch was thing extraordinary: the remains of thermal baths built by a Roman emperor.

A laser scanner captured details of rooms with 30-foot ceilings and delicate mosaics. These ultra-high-definition cameras person revealed hidden chambers and passageways forgotten by history.

And past there's clip travel. 

Bill Whitaker: Press crown to select. OK.

Giovanni Borelli: You got the paper on? 

Bill Whitaker: Yeah

We ended up successful past Pompeii — astatine a party. 

Bill Whitaker: Looks similar they're having amusive astatine this party. The vino is flowing.

With virtual world goggles, visitors tin look their past hosts successful the eye. 

Bill Whitaker: Somebody is playing the pipes. Somebody other is playing a harp. People getting drunk

Borelli hopes to usage VR headsets to let users to measurement wrong immoderate of Italy's astir celebrated paintings.

Bill Whitaker: What a room. It's similar you wanna measurement extracurricular into the garden. This is 1 expansive eating country I'll archer you.

Bill Whitaker: Ah! That was fantastic.

Giovanni Borelli: You're backmost again.

Bill Whitaker: I'm backmost again. Nice travel to past Pompeii. 

Giovanni Borelli: When I founded 1 of the companies that built this benignant of technologies I was a bundle technologist — beauteous caller to the creation world. And the main question that I was focused connected is simply a benignant of philosophical one: How bully tin the integer practice of a carnal entity be? What is missing?

Bill Whitaker: So it sounds similar you're trying to enactment the psyche into the technology?

Giovanni Borelli: Yeah, yeah. You tin accidental it, accidental that, yeah, it's nice.

Borelli admits the exertion can't duplicate the affectional interaction of lasting successful beforehand of a enactment of art. not yet. But strapping connected VR goggles could marque lessons similar this a happening of the past. 

Bill Whitaker: There are scenes with radical sitting and listening to sermons. You could really participate that group?

Giovanni Borelli: Yeah wherefore not. You tin person a locomotion astir — adjacent alert around. Why beryllium stuck to the ground? You tin locomotion connected the ceiling and spot however the stars consciousness nether your feet. You tin run, fto your phantasy tally wild. 

Bill Whitaker: I tin ideate this would person made maine a overmuch amended student.

Giovanni Borelli: Me too.

As the prima acceptable connected different azure entity successful Assisi, we followed successful the sandaled-steps of the friars who've walked these halls for centuries. We wanted to inquire Friar Giulio Cesaro if helium had immoderate qualms astir utilizing artificial quality arsenic a custodian for the bequest of Saint Francis.

Friar Giulio Cesareo: The biggest payment for me, it's not the exertion for itself. The exertion is not the intent -

Bill Whitaker: It's a instrumentality —

Friar Giulio Cesareo: It's a instrumentality to scope the goal. The extremity is sharing this treasure, which is simply a treasure of religion and beauty. Technology helps america to spell farther away, to scope much radical than we could before. And successful a much businesslike way. 

The basilica's integer duplicate volition beryllium implicit adjacent twelvemonth and disposable to the public. The friars told america they're hoping it volition turbo-boost the tone of Saint Francis — some successful the heavens and the cloud.

Produced by Heather Abbott. Associate producer, Paulina Smolinski. Broadcast associate, Marcos Caballero. Edited by Sean Kelly.

In:

• Italy
• Art
• Church