Press releases

New App Reveals Secrets of Girl with a Pearl Earring. The Mauritshuis and Madpixel show Seventeenth Century Masterpieces as Never Before

10 Nov 2016

Mh0670 Vermeer Meisje Met De Parel

As of today a brand new app, Second Canvas Mauritshuis, renders Vermeers Girl with a Pearl Earring and ‘The Garden of Eden’ by Rubens and Brueghel to zoom in on the brushstrokes of the paintings in Gigapixel. This is the first app in the world to offer Gigapixel integrated infrared images, which take users below the surface a painting revealing to layers and millimeter-sized details that are not normally visible to the naked eye. The Mauritshuis has joined forces with an innovative digitisation company, Madpixel, to bring part of the collection to a broader audience in an entirely new way.

‘Second Canvas Mauritshuis’ takes users on a voyage of digital discovery through a selection of the museum's masterpieces and introduces the artworks in an interactive way. It harnesses high resolution technology to zoom in on the brushstrokes, thereby revealing a level of detail in famous paintings that are otherwise invisible. It features an audio tour, which directs the eye to important aspects of the work, and can also be used to share the details directly via social media. Next to the Girl with a Pearl Earring by Vermeer and ‘The Garden of Eden’ by Rubens and Brueghel, the app presents eight other works of the Mauritshuis collection by Rembrandt, Rubens, Brueghel, Avercamp, Steen and others in high-resolution.

Secondcanvas Los NL

Practical Information

The ‘Second Canvas Mauritshuis’ app is downloadable from the App store and Google Play at a cost of €1.99.
It is available in English and Dutch, for iPad, iPhone, Android and AppleTV.

Preview

SECOND CANVAS MAURITSHUIS

Madpixel

The Mad Pixel Factory is a Spanish company specialized in digital solutions for museums and institutions managing artistic and cultural heritage. Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Madrid, it has taken part in scores of innovative projects with other leading national and international companies providing creativity, design and technology as part of its work. More information: www.madpixel.es

Mauritshuis

The Mauritshuis is home to the Best of Dutch painting from the Golden Age. The compact, yet world-renowned collection, is situated in the heart of The Hague, right next to the government centre. Masterpieces such as Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring, The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp by Rembrandt, The Goldfinch by Fabritius and The Bull by Potter are on permanent display in the intimate rooms of this seventeenth-century monument. More than two hundred top works from Dutch and Flemish masters are on display in the historic yet intimate interior, with its silken wall covering, sparkling chandeliers and monumental painted ceilings. Genre paintings by Jan Steen, landscapes by Jacob van Ruisdael, still lifes by Adriaen Coorte and portraits by Rubens offer a rich and varied representation of the best of seventeenth-century Dutch and Flemish painting.