The British Museum today launched a major revamp of its online collection early for people to view while under lockdown.
The launch features 280,000 new object photographs and 85,000 new object records published for the first time.
They included acquisitions the museum has made in recent years, including 73 portraits by Damien Hirst, and a previously lost watercolour by Rossetti.
A new addition available for visitors is the ability to see images up close using powerful zoom technology so “viewers can see objects on a level of detail inaccessible to the naked eye.”
This will be available on a select number of key objects from today, including the Rapa Nui sculpture Hoa Hakananai’a and the Admonitions Scroll made in China over 1600 years ago.
The number will then grow to thousands over the coming weeks.
Hartwig Fischer, director of the British Museum, said: "We are delighted to be able to unveil this major revamp early, and hope that these important objects can provide inspiration, reflection or even just quiet moments of distraction during this difficult time."
