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What?! 108-Gigapixel Scan of Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring.

full view of the Girl with a Pearl Earring painting

closeup of the Girl with a Pearl Earring painting

extreme closeup of the Girl with a Pearl Earring painting

Several years ago, digital microscope technology company Hirox collaborated with The Mauritshuis museum to create a 10-gigapixel scan of Johannes Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring. Recently, Hirox upped the game with the creation of a 108-gigapixel scan of the painting. 108 billion pixels! And each pixel is 1.3 microns in size โ€” 1000 microns is 1 millimeter. Incredible.

You can explore the scan of the painting courtesy of Hirox. Be sure to check out the 3D view (button at the bottom of the page); here’s a topographical view of the pearl:

3D view of the pearl in the Girl with a Pearl Earring painting

For a look at how they captured this image, check out this behind-the-scenes video.

Comments  2

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Dunstan Orchard

Steve Mould recently looked at this microscope https://youtu.be/o-dZKBwbsis?si=dggtbM4aUeKUeKkk

Wayne Bremser

if you do 3D mode and choose the mouth detail, there's a fairly obvious blue fiber on top of the painting (not there in the 2D view)

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