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The team works on Rembrandt van Rijn’s (1606-1669) The Night Watch, 1642
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DUTCH COURAGE Rembrandt’s most famous painting, The Night Watch can now be viewed online in the most incredible detail thanks to the latest cutting-edge technology.
The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam has added it to its website as a 44.8-gigapixel image, allowing visitors to zoom in on individual brushstrokes and even particles of pigment in the 1642 painting.
Rijksmuseum’s director, Taco Dibbits, said: “The research team has used the very latest technologies and continually push the boundaries of what was thought possible. The photograph is a crucial source of information for the researchers, and online visitors can use it to admire Rembrandt’s masterpiece in minute detail.”
The Rijksmuseum’s imaging team used 528 exposures of the work to create a photograph of The Night Watch. 24 rows of 22 pictures were then stitched together digitally with the aid of neural networks.
The final image is made up of 44.8 gigapixels (44,804,687,500 pixels), with the distance between each pixel measuring 20 micrometres (0.02 mm).
This enables the scientists to study the painting in detail remotely. The image will also be used to accurately track any future ageing processes taking place in the painting.
Bored room Fed up of using your bedroom wall as a backdrop for video conferencing? Now you can impress colleagues with the splendour of a French-style 19th-century mansion.
Waddesdon Manor in Aylesbury, built by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild, is offering free downloads of lavish interiors, amazing artwork and spectacular gardens.
The Buckinghamshire château is offering views of its smoking room and the red drawing room as well as its parterre and aviary. To download a backdrop go to waddesdon.org.uk/blog/beautifulbackdrops-for-your-virtual-meetings
Above The dining room at Waddesdon Manor is one of the views available to download
6 ANTIQUE COLLECTING
Plague on your house Ever thought your lockdown slippers could be museum pieces? The Museum of London is after objects that reflect Londoners’ lives during Covid-19.
Senior curator, Beatrice Behlen, said: “We want to collect a range of objects, from clothing to hairclippers, from diaries to memes that reflect the physical and emotional response of Londoners to the disease.“
The museum has collections relating to previous epidemics such as the 1918 flu pandemic. Email enquiry@museumoflondon. org.uk with your ideas.
Above A line of patients in Wood Green wait for a smallpox vaccination, 1959 © Henry Grant Collection/ Museum of London
Below A 17th-century pomander in the shape of a watch. Herbs and infusions were thought to ward off infection and carried in times of plague © Museum of London