The rare paintings from the store will be possible to see be on the Internet

The desire to draw attention to art and to make visiting of the museum accessible to anyone in Russia, is supporting by high technologies. With the latest techniques of image scanning with no analogues in the world, the leadership of A.S. Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (GMII), with the support of JTI and ZAO EPOS Group has decided to digitize stored in the vaults of the museum masterpieces of world art, and thus provide an opportunity for lovers of paintings and drawings read the rare masterpieces, many of whom had not previously exhibited.

“The need to digitize the maximum fine art is long overdue, because many of them can not be displayed in the exhibition halls of museums, - said the deputy director of the Pushkin Museum Mikhail Gurvich. - The fact that you can see in showrooms, is just over 1% of what is stored in our vaults. All other work, for objective reasons - whether it be a special temperature, light regimes or the lack of exhibition space - can not be presented to visitors of museums. With the same new image digitization project authors will be able to introduce everyone to require special treatment and storage conditions, works of art, without endangering the masterpieces.

The sponsors can demonstrate the first results of the digitization of works of art. Among the 700 works, the first were Japanese chart of XVI-XX centuries, the British engraving XVIII-XIX centuries and Russia engraving XVIII - early XIX century. Some images have already laid out in the Network and is publicly available in electronic catalogs and britishprints.ru russianprints.ru. Soon will digitize a collection of Impressionists, who, according to experts, will have their own sites within the next two years.

Each of the digitized masterpieces accompanied by a brief description of the paintings and additional information from the history of painting and related reference materials. So the visitor can not only see the picture, but also to obtain additional information.

“Together, we managed to create a digital collection of unique works of graphic art, - said representative of the company JTI Takushi Seki. - We are particularly pleased that, along with the outstanding work of Russian and British artists are present in it and works of Japanese artists who are particularly in need of creating virtual copies. The fact that the Japanese schedule always includes a wooden base, through which the image becomes unique. However, the tree is very whimsical material, so any deviation from required storage conditions can harm the image. In turn, the demonstration of Masterpieces of the Japanese charts in digital format solves this problem by eliminating the need to risk the originals”

Paradoxically, with the help of digital masterpieces of Japanese graphics from the store GMII not only Russians will learn the art of the East, but the people of the rising sun too, which for the first time they see some of the works of Japanese artists.

New technology of digitization in addition to improved access will also create a special digital passport for each individual works of art, which will greatly facilitate the study, recording, storage and restoration of the exhibit. “The quality of the electronic copy, colors and other parameters so full and deep that we can accurately record and monitor the status of the exhibit, the location and depth of the microcracks. This will significantly expand our capabilities in case of restoration, will enhance the safety of art, including in the display in other museums, “- noted the director of the Pushkin Museum Irina Antonova.

For more information about the technology of digitization will tell General Deputy Director of JSC “Group” EPOS “Vladimir Opredelenov. The unique technology developed and used by specialists of the company, able to scan the original large-format with high color accuracy and a phenomenal resolution. According to Mr. Opredelenov, the information capacity of digital images obtained using a new imaging technology, reaches 200 million dots per inch, while even the most professional photographic equipment can take a maximum resolution of 50 million pixels per inch.

Such a high resolving power is achieved through the use of digital cameras with proprietary electronic module, which provides a lens for motion picture and CCD camera. Thus, realized the possibility of dividing the pictures on the specified number of fragments, each of which sequentially removed, and then the software automatically connects fragments of images into a coherent whole. For the exact same color reproduction used an original method for computer color management enhances color accuracy to two units.

It is important that the moving parts of the shooting range is not in contact with the digitizing objects, and lighting equipment operates within 300 lux, which eliminates the mechanical and light damage of the painting.

The equipment allows you to shoot directly at the display without removing the painting. At the same time depending on how the number recorded by image capture range from 50 to 150 sites per day, which reduces the time to digitize dozens of times.

“Due to the high technological parameters, we can observe not only the objective, quantitative parameters are expressed in high resolution and wide color range, but also the expertise characteristics that distinguish high-quality copy of amateur photography, - said Vladimir Opredelenov.