Google has just developed the Google art project, an astounding new opportunity to experience seventeen of the world’s great art museums up close and personal. You can use drop-down menus to choose a museum, choose a particular art work and zoom in to see a single brushstroke. The guards would be on you like fleas on a dog to get this close in person at the museum. You can even create your own art collection to return to for further study and enjoyment. I recommend Van Gogh’s The Starry Night for this. You can stroll through the galleries of L’Hermitage by clicking on the little white arrows in the center of the screen. I warn you, there is such detail and possibility, it takes awhile to load. Be patient. It’s worth it. On the other hand, the project has its critics.
I say, for those of us who will never be granted the opportunity to stroll through the vast galleries of these museums in the flesh, let’s appreciate this virtual opportunity for what it is, and not what it is not.
Google Looks at Art Online