There have been some issues with loading and using the viewer and tools, but I believe most issues will be worked out. Also keep in mind the images on screen are only as good as your computer monitor and equipment. High resolution monitors and upgraded graphic cards will appear better than on an older computer.I did not have any problems on the site. I zoomed in on images and was actually able to see the brush strokes. Amazing!
Although still virtual, the site allows you a closer look at the artwork than you could get at the museum. You can zoom in and see the artist signature, or any detail segment of the piece. The number of items on the site is still relatively low, but it will be growing. Click HERE to view Mother and Children by Renoir.
Visit the Google Art Project at http://www.googleartproject.com/
The Washington Post reports on the site
Now available online, the Google Art reproduction makes it possible to see the faintest trace of white paint Whistler used to make his subject's eyes glisten, as well as the nubby, gridlike texture of the canvas underneath.
"On average there are 7 billion pixels" per image, said Amit Sood, leader of the Google Art Project. "This is a thousand times more than the average digital camera."
"The giga-pixel experience brings us very close to the essence of the artist through detail that simply can't be seen in the gallery itself," said Julian Raby, director of the Freer, in a statement. "Far from eliminating the necessity of seeing artworks in person, Art Project deepens our desire to go in search of the real thing."
Other art museum directors who have seen the technology are impressed by it, though not convinced it will substitute for a scholarly eye in direct contact with an actual painting. Brian Kennedy, director of the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio, said the gigapixel images can bring out details that might not be visible to ordinary museum-goers in a gallery. But scholars will still want a three-dimensional view of the art, which even a very high-resolution two-dimensional image can't provide.
Many important art museums have already produced extensive databases of their collections, and provide access to some of their collections online. The Google Art Project differs in its combination of a "walk-through" function, letting visitors see how paintings are hung and organized as they move virtually through the collection, with the ability in some cases to see high-resolution images of specific works. It also brings prominent galleries from around the world together through a single interface, with Google's extraordinary online reach.
Click HERE to read the Washington Post article.
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