In 2025, Haltadefinizione celebrates an extraordinary milestone: 20 years dedicated to the enhancement and conservation of cultural heritage. Now part of the Panini Cultura Group, Haltadefinizione has transformed the way artworks are digitized, studied, and experienced since 2005, thanks to advanced technology and a pioneering spirit.
Haltadefinizione’s journey began in 2005 with a pioneering project: the Gigapixel digitization of Gaudenzio Ferrari’s mural of the Life of Christ in the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Varallo — the first 8.6-gigapixel image of a work of art. This record was surpassed in 2007 with the digitization of Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper, which, at 16.1 gigapixels, remained for years the largest digital image ever created.
Over the last two decades, Haltadefinizione has specialized in Gigapixel acquisitions, 3D capture, and multispectral imaging of cultural heritage. Beyond ultra-high-resolution imaging, the R&D department also engineers innovative machines for Gigapixel and 3D capture and for producing 3D replicas. of paintings, frescoes, manuscripts, statues and coins. Paintings, frescoes, manuscripts, statues, coins, and other museum objects can be digitized to create images and models of the highest quality, documenting conservation status and supporting multiple applications for protection, research, and promotion to a broader and varied audience.
The company has recently developed ways for people to experience art through MR and VR headsets, using eye tracking technologies and gestural commands, combined with unprecedented visual quality. These tools transform our experience with works of art and offer many new ways of interacting with our cultural heritage. A fine example is the VR visit to Giotto’s frescoes in the Upper Basilica of Saint Francis in Assisi, presented in 2024 at Fuorisalone in Milan. With a VR headset, visitors were immersed in the Basilica and could explore Giotto’s scenes from the Life of Saint Francis from an unprecedented point of view, in an experience that combined art and technology.
Later, at the digital innovation fair “We Make Future” in Bologna, the Ministry of Culture presented a Mixed Reality app dedicated to the Tomb of the Diver in Paestum. The Gigapixel and 3D digitization of the five slabs made it possible to virtually reconstruct this masterpiece of ancient funerary art. The 3D model allowed visitors to virtually place the work within the exhibition space, zoom in on each scene, and enlarge the artifact to dimensions far greater than life size, even entering the model to observe every detail.
Thanks to the many major digitization projects carried out over the years by Haltadefinizione, the company has built an Image Bank featuring some of the world’s most prestigious digitized artworks. Masterpieces such as Giotto’s Scrovegni Chapel frescoes, Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper, and works by Caravaggio, Botticelli, and Perugino are freely accessible in ultra-high resolution. In addition to preservation, these Gigapixel images are widely used in cultural, educational, editorial, and commercial contexts, showing how technology can be a powerful tool for enhancing cultural heritage.
To celebrate this important anniversary, Haltadefinizione will present special initiatives, success stories, and behind-the-scenes insights throughout 2025.
