Virtual gallery zooms in on masterpieces with INCREDIBLE detail helped by Google Earth

clipped from www.dailymail.co.uk Virtual gallery zooms in on masterpieces with startling detail helped by Google Earth Some of Europe's greatest paintings can be viewed in minuscule detail thanks to a partnership between a famous museum and Google Earth. Works by artists including Rubens, Rembrandt and Gosch are on display in a virtual gallery. Users of Google Earth can click on Spain before zooming on to the Prado Museum and visiting the 14 works. 'There is no better way to pay tribute to the great masters of the history of art than to universalize knowledge of their works using optimum conditions,' Prado director Miguel Zugaza said. 'With Google Earth technology it is possible to enjoy these magnificent works in a way never previously possible, obtaining details impossible to appreciate through firsthand observation,' he said. 'Normally you have to stand a good distance away from these works, but this offers you the chance to see details that you could only see from a big ladder placed right beside them.'