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Emil
Krén, KFKI Computer Systems Corp.
D.
Marx, Lektura Publishing Company
In 1996, a multi-stage project was started aiming to establish a free-access
public Web site which serves as a virtual museum of fine arts in Hungary.
The objectives were 1) to work out the prob-lems connected with the
creation of large image collections and their transformation into a
vir-tual museum; 2) to set up a collection of large size digital reproductions
of Hungarian artworks (suitable for viewing on a screen of 800 x 600
or higher resolution); and 3) to create a virtual museum from the collection.
The collection shall include all significant artists (not only Hungarians)
who worked within the borders of the country and exerted an influence
on the development of art. The technical details of creating and maintaining
a virtual museum were elaborated by experimenting with a model entitled
"Web Gallery
of Art" which presently contains 3000 reproductions of European
artworks and is operating since October 1996.
The aim of this contribution is to report the results of the first
(completed in May, 1997) and second (to be completed in December,
1997) stages of the project. As a result of the first stage, the Web
site entitled "Painting
in Hungary from the Beginning to the Mid 20th Century" was established.
The collection contains 1300 large-size reproductions of artworks
by 200 artists, it covers painting, mural paintings, winged altarpieces,
miniatures, stained glass windows and tapestries. The large amount
of interlinked textual information as well as additional services
provided for the visitors make the collection a virtual museum. The
biographies of all artists, the essential data of all artworks, and
comments on the most important artworks are given in two identical,
Hungarian and English language versions. The "navigation" in the museum
is easy, the presentation is organized, pleasing and user-friendly.
A powerful search engine makes it possible to search the collection
for specific picture or information. At the end of the second stage
the number of reproductions exceeds 2000, the collection extends to
sculpture (including medieval stone and wooden carvings), virtual
"guided tours" are offered to view different cross-sections of the
collection. The technical aspects of creating and maintaining the
collection, the operating experiences of a one year period (including
a summary of visitors' response), and plans for the third stage will
also be reported.
This file can be found below http://www.archimuse.com/mw98/
Send questions and comments to info@archimuse.com
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