A Última Ceia, de Leonardo da Vinci, ao pormenor

A pintura mural A Última Ceia, de Leonardo da Vinci, pode ser observada através de uma fotografia com 16 gigapixels que está disponível na internet no endereço http://www.haltadefinizione.com.

Uma obra de Andrea Pozzo e outra de Gaudenzio Ferrari, através de fotografias de cerca de 8 gigapixels, podem igualmente ser visualizadas no mesmo endereço.

From October 27, 2007 the Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci can be visited on-line, giving you the opportunity to closely observe and study every minimal detail captured in 1677 images then recomposed to form a world record size single image of more than 16 billion pixels by the HAL9000 team.

The image size is 16.118.035.591 pixels, 172181 pixels wide and 93611 pixels high.

To ensure absolute chromatic fidelity the image was generated with a color depth of 16 bit, twice that of conventional digital images. The image size on disk is greater than 96 Gbytes.

The image was shot using the panoramic photography technique, a sophisticated technology that allows the stitching, into a single image, of different photos shot using rigorous criteria. The final image has the characteristics of a single shot made with a camera which has much hìgher resolution than the initial images produced in this case by a 16000 Megapixel camera.

The shooting of a work of art of such inestimable value as the Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci,a UNESCO heritage listed work, raises complex technical problems in order to ensure the absolute protection of the painting.

Contrary to common belief, The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci was not created using a fresco technique, it was in fact dry painted; due to this painting method the materials used in the creation of this work of art are some of the most fragile materials known today, comparable only to the fragility of a watercolor. The permanent soft lighting of this work of Leonardo da Vinci safeguards it from further degradation and allows an optimal viewing of the Last Supper for the few visitors admitted in the climatically controlled Cenacle.

The color characteristics of this permanent lighting, designed for live viewing, are inadequate for chromatically correct photo shootings; so the usage of an alternative light source suddenly became a major issue.

Mais detalhes em http://www.haltadefinizione.com.