A 10-Billion-Pixel Scan of ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ Captures More Detail Than Your Eyes Ever Could

Visit the Mauritshuis museum in The Hague , The Netherlands , and you ’ll have a hazard to see Johannes Vermeer ’s painting , ‘ young woman with a Pearl Earring , ’ from maybe a few feet away — depend on the crowds around the famous bit . Or you canexplore this websitethat provides access to a massive10 - billion - pixel scanof the house painting with more detail than the human center could ever see in someone .

The scan was create last year by Hirox Europe ( a company that makes digital microscopes ) at a resolution of 93,205 x 108,565 pixels , which amounts to 10,118,800,825 microscopic snap of the painting each covering an orbit of just 4.4 micron in size . As with most gigapixel image , the digital copy of ‘ Girl with a Pearl Earring ’ was create by assembling a ingathering of shots all focusing on different areas of the house painting , which in this case amounted to 91,000 individual photo snapped throughout a individual night . Using custom software package developed by Hirox , set up all those shot into one figure was an automated process .

The scan provides an unprecedented looking at at the house painting in more detail than any graphics fan would wish about . But more significantly , it gives art historian and preservationist a better aspect at the term of the painting ’s aerofoil as well as the state of premature restorations , which will help inform and direct future restoration and preservation attempts .

Gif:YouTube - Hirox 3D Digital Microscopy

Hirox ’s digital microscope was n’t pushed to its maximum potentiality , however . In add-on to skim the entire painting , the team created even mellow answer scans of 10 specific areas where every pixel represented just a 1.1 micron speck of the full piece . Not only were high-pitched - ray snippets of the house painting created during this extra scanning mental process , but also a 3D representation of its airfoil revealing how humble rouge chips have heave and curl at the bound over metre .

It might fathom obsessive , but understanding what happens to famous artworks like ‘ young woman with a Pearl Earring ’ over clock time ( the painting is now 355 old age one-time at this breaker point ) at a cheeseparing - microscopic spirit level is a crucial part of check that in another 355 age , future generations will be able-bodied to savor the original as well . But if they ca n’t , at least there ’s now a flawless digital copy .

Digital imagingPixelVisual arts

The specular highlight on the girl’s eye at full resolution.