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If you love art but have often felt frustrated looking at inadequate or inferior representations of great works online then you will be thrilled to hear the latest news from the National Gallery. With the introduction of high definition zoomable scans created using scanning technology developed in the National Gallery's Scientific and Photographic departments, visitors to the site will now be able to marvel at the beauty and skill with which some of the world's greatest masterpieces were rendered.
This facility, developed by the Gallery in partnership with Cassini Division Ltd, will initially allow visitors to explore in detail, 30 of the greatest works of art in the National Gallery's collection, from a diverse selection including Jan van Eyck's 'Arnolfini Potrait', Constable's 'Hay Wain', Botticelli's 'Venus and Mars' and Seurat's 'Bathers at Asnières'. Using a 'picture navigator' visitors to the website will be able to scroll around these magnified images at their leisure and zoom in to discover exciting and often surprising details not evident in the smaller images. Over time this special feature will be made available on every painting in the permanent collection for which it would prove beneficial. To deter copyright infringement, all the zoomable images carry a discreet logo embedded within the image. The Gallery hopes the zoom facility will prove to be an invaluable asset to those wishing to explore its paintings in greater detail online then ever before.
This exciting enhancement is intended to build on the success of the immensely popular Collection Online facility, launched in the summer of 2000, which allows visitors to the website to view every painting in the Gallery's permanent collection. The Gallery has constantly sought to improve access to and understanding of its magnificent collection, which will be greatly enhanced by this new facility.
'The Zoomable Picture facility enables you to discover fabulous details in the paintings - sometimes even features which you can't easily notice while in front of the original. We hope this will greatly enhance the enjoyment of and access to the National Gallery's magnificent collection.' Charles Saumarez Smith, Director of the National Gallery.
For further press information please contact the press office Tel: 020 7747 2865
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