Amsterdam
High-tech photo shows details of Rembrandt’s “Night Watch”
A 4×6 millimeter section of Rembrandt’s “Night Watch” is displayed on a screen during a digitization process. Photo: Peter Dejong / AP / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Rembrandt’s epoch-making painting “The Night Watch” will soon be restored. Before that, a spectacular photo of the work of art was taken on the computer.
Thanks to a high-tech photo, scientists and art lovers can take a look at Rembrandt’s “The Night Watch” down to the smallest detail.
The Amsterdam Rijksmuseum published on Monday on its website the most detailed photo to date of the masterpiece by the Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn (1606 – 1669). “It is the largest and most detailed photo ever made of a work of art,” said the museum. The image has a size of 717 gigapixels.
“Operation Night Watch” starts
According to the museum, 8430 individual photos were taken of the painting using specially developed technology and software, each 5.5 centimeters by 4.1 centimeters in size. “These were put together into one large image with the help of artificial intelligence,” said the museum. The photo is part of the largest research and restoration program currently underway, “Operation Night Watch”. Rembrandt completed the picture of the Amsterdam Civil Guard in 1642. It is about 380 inches high and 453 inches wide.
The photo with the extremely high resolution is primarily intended to help art historians and restorers. “We can now see every pigment in all the small cracks,” said Katrien Keune, scientific director of the Rijksmuseum, the radio station NOS. It is also the basis for future restorations. “It’s a very nice, detailed snapshot that we can use over the long term to see how things are changing.”
The restoration is to begin in the exhibition hall in front of the public on January 19th. However, due to the lockdown, the museum with its world-famous collection of Dutch masterpieces from the 17th century is temporarily closed until January 15th.