The restoration team at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, Netherlands is restoring The Night Watch, one of the most famous Rembrandt paintings virtually. They’re calling it Operation Night Watch and you can follow the progress here.
In order to restore the 1642 painting, the museum’s imaging team, spearheaded by data scientist Robert Erdman, captured and stitched together 528 exposures of The Night Watch, enabling them to study the painting at home. The 12 foot by 14 foot painting weights 743 lbs and the final photograph comes in 44,804,687,500 pixels.
“The Rijksmuseum is today publishing the largest and most detailed ever photograph of The Night Watch on its website, making it possible to zoom in on individual brushstrokes and even particles of pigment in the painting.”
They aren’t lying. Take a look at the original photo here. You can zoom in forever.
observed . . . 