10 billion pixel scan of Vermeer’s “ pearl girl ”

Visit the Mauritshuis Museum in The Hague, the Netherlands, and you will have the chance to see Johannes Vermeer’s painting, “Girl with a Pearl Earring”, maybe a few yards away, depending on the crowds around the famous room . Where you can explore this site which gives access to a huge 10 billion pixel scan painting in more detail than the human eye could ever see in person.

The scan was created last year by Hirox Europe (a company that makes digital microscopes) at a resolution of 93,205 x 108,565 pixels, which is equivalent to 10,118,800,825 microscopic snapshots of the paint each covering an area of only 4.4 microns. As with most gigapixel images, the digital print of “ Girl with a Pearl Earring ” was created by putting together a collection of shots all focusing on different areas of the painting, which in this case amounted to 91,000 photographs. individual taken throughout a single night. Using custom software developed by Hirox, assembling all of these photos into one image was an automated process.

The scan provides an unprecedented look at painting in more detail than any art lover would care. But more importantly, it gives art historians and curators a better insight into the condition of the painting’s surface as well as the condition of previous restorations, which will help inform and guide future attempts at restoration and conservation.

However, the Hirox digital microscope has not been pushed to its maximum capabilities. In addition to scanning the entire painting, the team created even higher resolution scans of 10 specific areas where each pixel was just a 1.1 micron grain of the entire piece. Not only were high-resolution snippets of the painting created during this additional scanning process, but also a 3D representation of its surface revealing how the small paint chips have warped and curled around the edges over time.

It may sound obsessive, but understanding what happens to famous works of art like “ Girl with a Pearl Earrings ” over time (the painting is now 355 years old at this point) on an almost microscopic level. is a crucial part of ensuring that in another 355 years, future generations will also be able to enjoy the original. But if they can’t, at least there is now a perfect digital copy.