Dubbed Polonia, the 17th-century instrument is the only Stradivarius owned by Poland.
The project is led by Wojciech Depczyński, head of the university’s radiography and CT laboratory, who said Polonia is among the few surviving Stradivarius instruments that does not yet have a digital replica.
Of about 650 Stradivarius violins still in existence, most have already been scanned.
The Polish instrument, played for the past seven years by acclaimed violinist Janusz Wawrowski, has been brought to Kielce for testing.
Wawrowski said it remains in excellent condition and credited its unique sound to the unusually thick wood used by its famous maker, Antonio Stradivari of Cremona, Italy.
The procedure involves rotating the violin 360 degrees while taking thousands of X-ray images, which are then combined into a 3D model through computed tomography.
The project, expected to take two weeks, was spearheaded by Mateusz Majkowski, a student at the Music Academy in the western Polish city of Poznań who plans to build a replica of the violin.
He said the Kielce lab is one of only two facilities in the world with CT equipment advanced enough for such work, the other being in the United States.
Mateusz Majkowski and Janusz Wawrowski. Photo owned by Mateusz Majkowski
Majkowski told public broadcaster Polish Radio in a statement that he is leading a months-long project to create complete technical documentation of the rare instrument using computed tomography and other modern technologies.
"Based on the collected data, I will prepare the necessary templates and moulds, and then build a contemporary version of the Polonia violin,” he said.
He added that the project is expected to conclude with "a concert for two violins—the original Stradivari instrument and a new one built by me from the documentation."
(mk/gs)