High definition dinner

 

16 billion pixel image of The Last Supper goes online.

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The world’s highest definition photograph, a 16 billion pixel picture of Leonardo Da Vinci’s The Last Supper, has been posted online.
 
The digital image – which was produced by new, special techniques to help preserve the fragile picture from light exposure – now allows art-lovers’ unprecedented insight into the master painters’ technique.
 
Pietro Marani, an acknowledged expert on Da Vinci’s work, particularly recommends examining in detail the bell tower and shrubs outside the window.
 
The image was created by HAL9000, an art photography specialist company. The commission raised many challenges as this – one of the world’s most iconic images – is incredibly fragile.

Conservation method

Da Vinci used an experimental technique – oil and tempura on dry plaster – for the masterpiece, and as a result The Last Supper is now incredibly faded and cracked and cannot withstand exposure to bright light. As such, HAL9000, working with restoration specialists at Rome's Istituto Centrale per il Restauro, had to develop a new lighting system which did not emit ultraviolet or high thermal output. Consequently, even though the whole process took nine hours, the amount of exposure used was equivalent to just a few minutes of the normal lighting that shines on the painting.
 
Speaking to Wired magazine, Vincenzo Mirarchi, HAL9000's general manager commented: "It's exciting to see just how technology can show what you wouldn't normally be able to see. But it's not meant to substitute for the real thing. Seeing it on a computer screen will never be the same as standing in front of Leonardo's work."
 
Fine out more at http://www.haltadefinizione.com/en/

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