See Vermeer’s daughter with a 3D pearl earring in a new scan of 108 gigapixels

by Finn Patraic

When you buy through links on our site, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. However, this does not influence our evaluations.

You can believe that you have had a vision close enough to that of Johannes Vermeer Girl with a pearl earring. You may have gone to The Hague and seen Painting in person in Mauritshuis. You may have zoomed on The scan of ten billion pixels We presented here on Open Culture in 2021. But if you have not spent time with The new scan of 108 billion pixelsCan you really pretend to have seen Girl with a pearl earring at all?

Skills for your future. Online courses from $14.99." target="_blank" rel="sponsored noopener nofollow"> Udemy – Top courses 80 % off

To this resolution of 108 gigapixels, Jason Kottke notes“Each pixel is 1.3 microns – 1000 microns is 1 millimeter.” You can find out more about technology behind the project in This manufacturing video produced by Hirox EuropeThe local branch of the Japanese digital microscope company responsible for both the digitization of ten billion pixels and this 108 billion pixels, which required 88 hours of non-stop scan this relatively small canvas by 17.5 inches, a process that led to 41,000 3D images.

Yes, 3D images: however Girl with a pearl earringKnown as “La Mona Lisa du Nord”, can be known from afar in flat representations on pages, screens, posters and t-shirts, it is, after all, a work of oil on canvas.

Skills for your future. Online courses from $14.99." target="_blank" rel="sponsored noopener nofollow"> Udemy – Top courses 80 % off

Vermeer has produced its ultra-realistic effects not only by putting the right colors in the right places, but by applying them to the right thicknesses and with the right textures-which have all been reproduced in a “mega-tail” 3D print, 100 times larger than the original work, commanded by the Mauritshuis for its Who is this girl? exposure.

You can carry out your own topographic examination of the paint sections – eyes, lips, a fold of the turban, the earring and even the reflection on the earring – by clicking on the “3D” button at the bottom of the bottom at the bottom The scan visualization interface. A look so close reveals a lot about how Vermeer has created this world -renowned image, as well as how it has resisted the last 360 years. This does not reveal, of course, the answers to mysteries as long as the identity of the subject or the motivations behind its striking presentation. That the girl with the pearl earring existed even, we can, at this stage, ensure one thing: she must feel seen. Enter The new digitization of 108 billion pixels here.

via Kottke

Related content:

Based in Seoul, Colin MArshall Written and broadcastTS on cities, language and culture. His projects include the substack newsletter Books on cities And the book The stateless city: a walk through Los Angeles from the 21st century. Follow it on the social network formerly known as Twitter in @ColinmArshall.

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.