Putting high-resolution images of famous paintings online is nothing new, although it’s a hotly debated topic amongst museum curators as to whether or not it hurts admissions. But even the highest end cameras can’t compare with what’s coming out of Italy’s ‘Haltadefinizione’ or HAL9000 project which puts up massive images equaling 1,500ppi.
Their more recent image of Botticelli’s La Primivera consists of 28 billion pixels, about 3,000 times the resolution of a consumer digital camera. The pixel density (pixels per inch, or ppi) has also increased, from 580 to 1,500ppi (magazine and book printing are typically 300ppi).
In contrast to the “gallery view” afforded by the online Monet exhibit (in which you can see individual brushstrokes wonderfully), these images are more like a “conservator’s view”, allowing you to zoom in to a level as if observed under a magnifying lens.
The interactive visualization tools are a bit sluggish to get started, afterall that’s some massive data to page in. After that tho, the detail you can see is simply amazing.
