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717 Gigapixel Image of Rembrandt's Nightwatch

(hyper-resolution.org)
565 points gaws | 1 comments | 25 Jan 22 00:15 UTC | HN request time: 0.257s | source
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margalabargala ◴[25 Jan 22 00:59 UTC] No.30066474[source]▶
Very interesting to zoom all the way in and note that some of the pigments had a tendency to crack as they dried, and others did not.

I imagine the paints were selected intentionally with this in mind, as the cracking where it exists seems to enhance the painting more than take away (dark background, hats, etc) while lighter colors that should not be cracked, are indeed less so (skin, armor).

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1. zamadatix ◴[25 Jan 22 01:05 UTC] No.30066521[source]▶
Sounds a bit like reading too far into it without actual evidence this was the intent. Could just be the way the layers were done, could be accidental, could be an artifact of the way it has been handled over the years, could be an artifact of the capture. Could be intentional sure but to jump to "the pigments were designed to crack a certain way so the painting looks like it does nearly 500 years later" seems to be a product of being told it's a great painting by a great artist so everything about it therefore must be great than the cracking actually being great.