«The Met is taking part in the Art Project, which Google launched today at a press conference in London. Seventeen museums from nine countries are currently participating in the Art Project, which can be accessed at www.googleartproject.com. This allows viewers both to explore the museums using Street Views technology and to view one iconic work from each museum's collection in a more in-depth way using state-of-the-art zooming technology.»
Met Director Thomas Campbell stated about this new collaboration: "The Google Art Project coincides with a variety of Met initiatives that demystify the Museum through digital means by sharing our collections and ongoing work with a broader online public around the world. Most important of all, these projects encourage people to visit museums and come face-to-face with great works of art."
Visitors to the Met portion of the Art Project can navigate the galleries extensively online, and can examine a number of highlighted works in-depth through zooming, descriptive information, and linking back to the Museum's website. The iconic work from the Met that is featured in super high resolution is Pieter Bruegel the Elder's The Harvesters.
The Metropolitan Museum is one of four U.S. museums participating in this launch, along with the Frick and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Freer Gallery of Art at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. The other participating museums are: Alte Nationalgalerie - Staatliche Museen zu Berlin; Gemaldegalerie - Staatliche Museen zu Berlin; Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid; Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid; Museum Kampa, Prague; National Gallery, London; Palace of Versailles; Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg; State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow; Tate Britain, London; Uffizi Gallery, Florence; and Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam.
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