Raphael's St. Sebastian in gigapixels to appreciate the smallest details

On the occasion of the end of the year that celebrated the 500th anniversary of Raphael’s death, Haltadefinizione, in collaboration with theCarrara Academy makes available in gigapixel the San Sebastiano, an early masterpiece by the Urbino artist preserved at the museum’s Bergamo location.

Thanks to a very high-resolution photographic technique, the image has been captured so that every single detail can be magnified through the multimedia viewer: details invisible to the naked eye will thus be visible to all.

The gigapixel acquisition, which testifies to the link between art and technology, has a twofold purpose: on the one hand, it makes it possible to monitor the state of conservation of the works through acquisition campaigns at specific time intervals, and on the other hand, it allows the community to access the masterpieces in a novel way, with ultra-high-definition images and innovative tools for distance education and virtual visit activities.

Saint Sebastian is one of the Carrara Academy’s most significant masterpieces. Raphael depicted the saint with anunusual iconography: he is here portrayed half-length wrapped in elegant decorated robes, with a face that expresses immense sweetness.

There were no traces of the painting until the early 19th century, when the Saint Sebastian began to circulate in several private collections in Lombardy; it arrived at the Carrara Academy in 1866. The work belongs to Raphael’s youthful period: indeed, the influences of Perugino are clearly evident, as is the reference to Pinturicchio in the depiction of the precious ornaments of the robes, represented with minute detail. Critics date the work around 1503, just after the Pala Baronci (1500-1501), the first work commissioned from Raphael when he was only seventeen years old, and the 1504 Wedding of the Virgin, the masterpiece that definitively marks the Urbino artist’s maturity, available in the Haltadefinizione virtual gallery. The work is characterized by extraordinary finesse in execution and great skill in the gradation of light. It was made for the private devotion of a refined patron: this is why the saint is depicted in an aristocratic interpretation of iconography.

“We are excited to make one of the most important works in the collection of the Carrara Academy usable on the Haltadefinizione portal at this time of extended closure due to Covid. Ultra-high definition is currently the only mode of digital viewing that allows us to appreciate the work in all its details, and makes up for the impossibility of visitors to enjoy the original live,” says Luca Ponzio, founder of Haltadefinizione, “Nowadays, digital archives in ultra-high definition are an extraordinary resource for our museums, thanks to which they open up endless possibilities for the enhancement and enjoyment of artistic heritage.”

“A museum has to be curious and look for different opportunities to make its heritage available to a wide audience,” adds Gianpietro Bonaldi, chief operating officer Accademia Carrara Bergamo. “Technology is an opportunity, a vehicle with which to venture on ever new journeys. In this case, the journey will make it possible to enter the most hidden details of a masterpiece of art like the Saint Sebastian, getting closer to the magic and genius of Raphael.”

Pictured is Haltadefinizione’s St. Sebastian.

Raphael's St. Sebastian in gigapixels to appreciate the smallest details

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