September 2010

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Google at the Prado
The technology underpinning the internet facility Google Earth has been used in a joint project by the Prado, Madrid, and the internet search company to enable in-depth online viewing of the museum's masterpieces (pictured above).

A spokesperson for the museum said, 'It allows people to see the main masterworks in the museum as they never have done before. You can see details tha tthe human eye is unable to see.' The images have a resolution of 14,000 megapixels, around 1,400 times greater than a picture taken on a standard 10 megapixel camera.

14 of the museum's masterpieces, including works by Goya, Velazquez and Bosch, can be seen online in microscopic detail. Google has no plans to to extend the programme to other museums.

French museums to be free for under-25s
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has pledged that the country's national museums and monuments will stop charging admissions to visitors under 25. The measure is due to come into effect on 4 April 2009.

In the president's New Year's address, given on Tuesday, Sarkozy also announced the creation of a new museum devoted to the history of France. The site of the future Museum of French History is to be located in a 'site emblematic of our history', said the president, but the location remains to be announced.

Kimbell Museum announces new director
The Kimbell Museum of Art, Texas, has appointed Eric McCauley Lee, former director of the Taft Museum of Art in Cincinnati, as the museum's latest director.

Dr Lee will become only the fourth director in the museum's history and will succeed Timothy Potts, who left in 2007 to become director of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. Dr Lee will assume his post at the Kimbell in early spring, 2009.

Antiquities dealer arrested over Egypt thefts
A Lebanese antiquities dealer has been arrested in Bulgaria over accusations of theft of ancient Egyptian artefacts and allegedly smuggling them out of the country.

Ali Abu Taam was arrested on Wednesday with help from Interpol on charges of smuggling 280 artefacts out of Egypt by mislabelling the items and disguising them in boxes of toys and electronics. Abu Taam was convicted in 2004 in absentia by an Egyptian criminal court and convicted with a sentence of 15 years inprisonment and a fine of 50,000 Eygptian pounds.

Zahi Hawass, Egypt's chief archaeologist, said in a statement that Abu Taam's arrest was a 'concrete step toward stopping the illegal antiquities trade around the world.'

Australia to stamp out 'carpetbagging'
Australia has launched a draft code regulating the sale of Aboriginal art. It aims to outlaw dealers who exploit Aboriginal artists by offering to buy their work for alcohol or drugs – a practice known as 'carpet'bagging'.

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