The Wallace Collection launches on Google Arts & Culture

Today, the Wallace Collection, home to one of the world's most significant collections of fine and decorative arts and arms & armour in the heart of London, celebrates its 125th anniversary with its first collaboration with Google Arts & Culture. In 1897 Lady Wallace bequeathed the family’s legendary collection of over 5,500 objects to the nation, in the largest gift of art ever left to the British state. This partnership with Google Arts & Culture honours the complex histories and beauty woven into this renowned collection, through newly digitised artworks, including 59 in stunning gigapixel detail, 50 expertly curated digital stories and an immersive 3D exhibition, all accessible to a global audience. This extensive digital experience culminates in a playful experience, Whispers from The Wallace Collection, where the museum comes to life and audiences are invited to meet the art for a very personal and unexpected journey.

Magnificent detail

The 59 ultra-high-resolution gigapixel captures show a level of detail normally lost to the naked eye. Viewers can appreciate remarkable subtleties, such as the unexpectedly vibrant red lashes of the maid in Watteau’s A Woman at Her Toilet , the translucent lace in Vigee Le Brun’s Madame Perregaux, hidden symbols in Jan Steen’s Celebrating the Birth, or atmospheric details in Ruben’s Rainbow Landscape.

The use of the Gigapixel imaging technology preserves these masterpieces for both everyone who cannot access the museum in person and future generations of researchers, safeguarding the knowledge of our historic works against possible degradation or loss.

To enhance this detailed exploration, these artworks can be explored using a Hotspots feature available to mobile users on the Google Arts & Culture app. Hotspots use Google AI to highlight specific details drawn from human-curated cultural sources. This makes art discovery more intuitive.

Extraordinary stories

Beyond the visual splendour, 50 digital narratives offer engaging insights into the provenance, techniques, and profound meanings behind our collection's highlights. Learn about how Rembrandt reflected on the evolution of ageing and loss, discover Diego Velázquez’s enigmatic Lady with a Fan, and marvel at the magnificently jewelled daggers of the Mughal court. Discover the history of Hertford House, home of the Wallace Collection, and the festive traditions of 18th-century Venice through Canaletto's art. These stories delve into the human narratives of a diverse collection, from Sikh arms and armour to Rosa Bonheur's animal paintings, examining various identities with new perspectives, including depictions of Blackness in European art.

A 3D exhibition of Animals in Art

Step into the Animals in Art 'Pocket Gallery', an innovative way to explore art, and inviting you to observe the connection between animals, humans, and art. Transform your device into a personal 3D gallery and get up close to a unique exhibition. Zoom in on details, read descriptions, and discover how animals – from pets to wild creatures – have shaped human stories across centuries. It's a unique, immersive experience, offering fresh perspectives on our relationship with the natural world.

This collaboration between The Wallace Collection and Google Arts & Culture is part of the museum’s mission to make its collection accessible to as many people as possible. As it embarks on an ambitious architectural masterplan to transform its Grade II-listed building, this project represents another strand of expansion into the digital world, bringing the museum’s collection to a global audience.

Immerse yourself in the stories and secrets of art history that the collection holds. Explore the Wallace Collection on Google Arts & Culture with Whisper from the Wallace Collection at goo.gle/wallace.