Italy’s art history experience in Deep Space 8K

3D Journey to Venice and the Table of the Last Supper

• Dates and Information about the Deep Space Special Vergängliche Schönheit – Italiens fragile Schätze (engl. Fleeting beauty – Italy’s fragile treasures)
• Images via Flickr
• Ars Electronica Center in autumn 2023
• Press release as PDF

(Linz, October 26, 2023) The Ars Electronica Center is making Italian cultural assets a fixture in its Deep Space program: Visitors can explore historic buildings in Venice and Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper – virtually and in 3D. Under the title Vergängliche Schönheit – Italiens fragile Schätze (engl. Fleeting beauty – Italy’s fragile treasures) the corresponding applications Venice Revealed and LAST SUPPER INTERACTIVE (LSI) can now be viewed on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.

Venice Revealed …

… is a co-production of the Grand Palais Immersif, Iconem and the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia. Adapted to the conditions of the Deep Space –  16 x 9 meters projection surface and played floor area – culture enthusiasts immerse themselves in the Venetian ambience, walk through the Doge’s Palace and recognize subtleties of the extraordinary architecture. With Venice Revealed, a comprehensive 3D reconstruction of the city has been established, which is somewhat ahead of the journey to the real city: With ease, one flies through the walls and fences of magnificent buildings of the lagoon city and gets a bit closer to its secrets. At the latest then, visitors are reminded of Venice’s conflict: Infinite wealth and cultural treasures on the one hand, inevitable destruction by environmental influences on the other.

The Last Supper …

… by Leonardo da Vinci from the 15th century is regarded as an incomparable masterpiece –  and it’s becoming digitally accessible at the Ars Electronica Center. Renowned media artist Franz Fischnaller is making the scene surrounding Christ and his apostles virtually accessible based on an ultrahigh definition gigapixel image (supplied by Haltadefinizione). Digital processing in LAST SUPPER INTERACTIVE (LSI) transforms the formerly static image into an experience: A zoom function makes it possible to enlarge sections of the material down to one square millimeter, to see the fragility of the brushstrokes and the structure of the ground. The completely new 360-degree perspective gives viewers the chance to immerse themselves in the fresco, to stand in front of, behind or next to the long panel and to become part of the story themselves.

The Deep Space Special Vergängliche Schönheit – Italiens fragile Schätze (engl. Fleeting beauty – Italy’s fragile treasures) brings both applications together in one half-hour program. All dates can be found hier.