There are some works that must be looked at from a few meters away in order to appreciate the compositional scheme and the balance of colors, and others from which one is drawn like a magnet, to the point of discovering tiny details, such as the direction of a brushstroke.
The beauty of discovering these details in the works has led, with the development of digital technologies, to scan paintings and frescoes in high definition, with a resolution of up to 700 gigapixels. There are sites and studies that have collected real databases of works in gigapixels, which include more than five hundred works, one of them is Haltadefinizione Image Bank. From the Middle Ages to the modern age, browsing the site you can access the greatest works of art history, with the ability to zoom in to discover the smallest variation in tone or the state of conservation of the works, including cracks and signs of time.

The extraordinary nature of the Haltadefinizione archive lies in the fidelity with which the colors are reproduced, and in the discovery of unknown details of works that art lovers in many cases have well in mind. New works are thus discovered, including canvases and altarpieces. On what is the most important gigapixel art archive in the world you can rediscover “The Birth of Venus“ and “Spring“ by Botticelli, the incredible colors of Monet’s “Water Lilies“ or one of the most famous self-portraits by Vincent van Gogh. The delicacy of Hayez’s nuances and the brilliance of a woodcut such as Hokusai’s “The Great Wave of Kanagawa“ are other details to be enlarged.
Of Leonardo da Vinci’s “Last Supper“ you can perfectly grasp the state of preservation and the precarious beauty of a work that is a symbol of the Renaissance.