MADRID.- Mythological Passions becomes the first exhibition at the Museo del Prado to have its own virtual tour. Virtual visitors can now move around the galleries of the exhibition with the optimum level of image quality currently available for visits of this type thanks to Second Canvas’s Gigapixel technology, complemented by commentaries on the most significant details of some of the works.

This virtual tour is available in Spanish or English for 2.50 Euros from the Museo del Prado’s website Alejandro Vergara, one of the exhibition’s curators, leads a short Welcome Tour of the galleries, presenting the exhibition and providing virtual visitors with the necessary context before they start the Free Exploration, a space in which users can enjoy the exhibition in a non-guided manner with the audio guide, the room text and the leaflet; extremely comprehensive content which is as close as possible to an actual, physical visit to the exhibition.

Seven paintings in the exhibition can be viewed at the maximum level of zoom, offering millimetric detail that exceeds what can be seen with the human eye. These works are: Venus and a Musician and Danaë and the Shower of Gold by Titian; The Garden of Love, Diana and Callisto and The Three Graces by Rubens; Venus and Adonis by Veronese; and The Spinners by Velázquez, which are in addition complemented by brief commentaries specially prepared by experts at the museum for this virtual tour explaining their symbolism, technique, the characters depicted, etc.

What is a gigapixel?

A gigapixel image is made up of 1 million pixels: more than 100 times the size of the image that can be obtained with a smartphone.

The image of a work of art in gigapixel allows us to appreciate it with the maximum image quality available at the present time and to explore its tiniest details to the point of almost “feeling” the work.

Madpixel and Second Canvas digitalisation technology

Madpixel is a Spanish company that offers state of the art digitalisation of works of art in super-high (gigapixel) resolution as well as the creation of digital experiences in the cultural sector, including the new Gigapixel Virtual Visits.

Second Canvas is a Madpixel platform that allows museums and cultural institutions to create digital experiences both online and inside and outside the museum. This platform is used by more than 75 museums in 16 countries, including the Museo del Prado, the Biblioteca Nacional de España, the Reúnion des Musées Nationaux in Paris, the SMK-National Gallery of Denmark and the Mauritshuis. The recognition it has received includes the support of the European Commission as an H2020 business innovation project.