Seeing the Saints—Up Close

If you’ve ever wanted to visit the many medieval churches in Spain, Liz Lastra’s website, RomanesqueSpain, lets you zoom in until you can see the toes of the carved saints. The digital images are Gigapans, created using photographs—sometimes hundreds—that are stitched together by computer into what are essentially very high-resolution pictures. She’s also created 3D digital models, so that you can look down into a 13th-century baptismal font. The website gives virtual access to 20 Romanesque churches in Northern Spain, and it has received the Delaware Valley Medieval Association's first Digital Project Prize.

Lastra, a doctoral candidate in history of art and Fulbright research fellowship recipient, created the images for the website while in the region conducting research for her dissertation on the urbanization of the Spanish pilgrimage city of Carrión de los Condes. She plans to eventually create a ‘”virtual pilgrimage” which will allow the viewer to virtually traverse the Camino de Santiago, the medieval pilgrimage to the tomb of Saint James.

One of Lastra’s goals has been to join technology and the humanities for the benefit of other academics, her future students, and any interested person. “I was able to teach myself to do everything on the site,” she says. “I want people in the humanities to realize that these technologies are within their reach and don't need advanced training or knowledge.”

Click here to visit the website.