Users of Google Earth technology don’t think much of popping into virtual space high above a virtual earth, than zooming in closer and closer until houses, cars, and buildings can be viewed. But paintings? Believe it or not, the same technology applies.
Google has teamed up with Spain’s Prado Museum to access 14 of Spain’s most treasured works of art, including works by Francisco de Goya, Diego Velázquez and Hieronymus Bosch—all in stunningly high-resolution detail, using the Google Earth technology to zoom in close enough to see a painter’s brushstrokes or the craquelure (small cracks) on the varnish of a painting, at about 14 trillion pixels per painting.
“There is no better way to pay tribute to the great masters of the history of art than to universalize knowledge of their works using optimum conditions,” Prado Director Miguel Zugaza told the Associated Press.
Read more of this story at eWEEK: “Google Earth Offers High-Res View Inside Spain’s Prado”