Raphael Thys
Holo: Art selling as an incredibly high-resolution hologram is the next iteration of digital art.
In a world-first, One of Leonardo Da Vinci works is being sold as a 670-million-pixel hologram. It will be auctioned on April 21, 2022, at 3:30pm PT.
Named a “Holo,” it comes with a smart contract that verifies ownership and its authenticity. The creators say that a tablet or phone screen isn’t enough.
La Bella Principessa will have a starting bid of $100,000. The Old Master artwork can now be viewed without having to know the owner of the artwork, who holds it in their private collection.
The Holoverse is the first company to tokenize historical masterpieces with rights.
Holo – what is it?
A holo is thought to be an evolution of the NFT – NFT 2.0. Holoverse say they use a formula that includes minting an image with a minimum of 500 million pixels. “Our company is focused on acquiring priceless art masterpieces and transforming them into something unique and never seen before, giving a new form of fruition to the artwork. By scanning the QR code on the label, it is possible to consult the smart contract, and verify the artwork’s authenticity and uniqueness.”
Andrea Prince is the co-founder and CEO of The Holoverse. “This painting is not on permanent loan to a museum, and very few have been able to see it. Now someone can have it displayed in their home or office in the physical realm while unlocking new capabilities for viewing it in the digital world.”
Holo: The artwork
La Bella Principessa is a portrait of a young Milanese aristocrat in a beautiful renaissance dress. The original canvas was scanned into a multi-gigabyte photogrammetry image. The viewer can zoom in and see more detail than the naked eye can see. The unique 1:1 hologram will be encased in a crystal case (73cm x 73cm x 12cm). The company says it will be delivered and installed with white-glove service.
“The hologram is generated by rotation at very high speed (900 rotations per minute) of four blades containing 256 micro LEDs and microprocessors, which use an algorithm to compose the work in the air.”
One advantage of displaying artwork as a hologram is how it can be viewed at night. The potential for kudos at parties is unlimited.
Craig Palmer is the CEO of MakersPlace, another collaborator of the sale. “When I saw this piece in person, I was astounded by the amount of detail the hologram provides. This technology creates a whole new experience when it comes to viewing artwork. Nowhere else can you see such minute details of an Old Master, and zoom in at will to really see the texture of the lines and canvas.”
MakersPlace accept both cryptocurrency (ETH) and non-cryptocurrency (USD) payments. They were the platform that sold Beeple’s Everydays: The First 5000 Days for $69.3 million along with Christie’s auction house in March 2021. This was a record price for any digital artwork.
Holo: The creators
Holoverse is a spin-off of Laserman Industries. They are a live performance technology group who have gone into the world of digital art. Holoverse has exclusive commercial rights to create the Holo through a collaboration with the Italian company Scripta Maneant, and the private owner of the physical painting.
Says Holoverse, “The original work is under lock and key held in the Geneva freeport. The original will be part of an exhibition at a world-renowned European institution this Fall, but it is not on permanent loan to a museum and has, to this point, only been on display three times since its revised attribution in 1998. The unlockable image brings new capabilities for viewing, and the hologram creates another life for the work in the physical world.”
The hologram is so precise, that it is thought viewers will be able to tell that the profile portrait has been done on vellum in colored chalks and ink.
“The piece is believed to have been taken from an important manuscript about Francisco Sforza, the founder of the ducal dynasty of Milan, and his family.”
Sforza dynasty
The artwork has three stitch holes in the margin of the vellum, which matches with the theory that it was once in a bound volume.
“This image depicts a fashionable young woman in a beautiful renaissance dress and hair netting. The sitter is believed to be Bianca Sforza, a young aristocrat from Milan. It was likely commissioned by Leonardo’s employer, Ludovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan, to celebrate the marriage of his beloved but illegitimate daughter, Bianca, in 1496 to an Italian nobleman. Her future husband was the captain of the Milanese military forces and a patron of Leonardo. Tragically, Bianca died within months of her marriage due to pregnancy complications. She was the subject of many portraits in her young life, being a great beauty born into an aristocratic family, but this was likely her last portrait.”
Want to bid for this Holo? Then you can register your interest here.
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