Thanks to Dutch design studio CapitolaVR, visitors to the Mauritshuis museum in the Hague will be able to use their smart phone to have an augmented reality experience of Rembrandt’ painting ‟The Anatomy Lesson of Doctor Tulp”.

To mark the 350 year since the death of the 17th century Dutch painter, CapitolaVR created the Rembrandt Reality application which uses augmented reality to allow art lovers to ‟step into” one of Rembrandt’s most famous paintings.

Visitors acquire experience of the anatomy of a cadaver which took place in 1632, as depicted by the painter. They interact with virtual, holographic and 3D objects that have been scanned from an actual recreation of the painting, using devices that are compatible with Apple’s ARKit platforms of augmented reality or with ARCore by Google.

“We wanted to give people the opportunity to literally walk into the work of art and explore the painting and the story it is “narrating “with innovative technology”, said David Robustelli, head of the Digital Applications department at CapitolaVR.

“This is a new way of seeing art, which catapults the experience of seeing art into the future,” pointed out the Mauritshuis director, Emilie Gordenker. “Rembrandt was a pioneer painter. He used new techniques to reach a new visual language”, she explained.

“Three hundred and fifty years later, he continues encouraging us to be innovative. Using augmented reality technology you can enter an anatomy theatre through a portal, whether you are at home or outside. You witness a 17th century anatomy lesson and look over Rembrandt’s shoulder”, explains the museum’s director.