Tech Shout!

Now, all those art aficionados who have long been waiting to see Leonardo Da Vinci’s masterpiece “The Last Supper” in Milan, will have to wait no more. As of October 27, 2007, “The Last Supper” piece of art has been uploaded online and that too in high resolution. Thus, all people will really need is an Internet connection, and voila you have a close-up view of the 15th century wall painting.

Officials have put an image of “The Last Supper” on the Internet for everyone to see. The image can be viewed in a resolution as high as 16 billion pixels, which makes it ten times stronger than images which have been clicked with a typical 10 million pixel digital camera.

Since “The Last Supper” image is available at such a high resolution, experts will be able to actually examine the picture more closely, something which they otherwise could not do. Moreover, the high resolution format allows viewers to look at details as though they were inches from the piece of art, in contrast to regular photographs which become grainy as one zooms in.

According to art curator Alberto Artioli, “You can see how Leonardo made the cups transparent something you can’t ordinarily see.”

But besides allowing artists and art lovers to study the masterpiece at their own pace from home, Artiolu also said that the project provides a historical document of how the painting appears in 2007. This will without doubt be valuable to future generations of art historians.

It is common knowledge that Leonardo Da Vinci had painted “The Last Supper” in Milan’s Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie. This work of art was restored in a painstaking effort that finally concluded in 1999. The restoration removed 500 years of dirt and also removed previous restoration works that masked Leonardo’s actual work.

“Over the years it has been subjected to bombardments; it was used as a stall by Napoleon,” explained Artioli.

“The Last Supper” picture which has been available for viewing in Milan, is sometimes difficult to get to. Those who go all the way to Milan sometimes have a hard time gaining admission to see the piece of art.

In fact, 25 visitors are admitted every 15 minutes to see the painting. Visitors must pass through a filteration system to help reduce the work’s exposure to dust and pollutants.

“The demand is three our four times higher, but we can’t accommodate it because of efforts to preserve the painting,” added Artioli.

But now that the painting is available in high resolution format on the Internet, millions around the world will get to see it up, close and personal for free and without the actual trip halfway around the world to Milan.