Mona Lisa, Rembrandt, Raphael and The Blue Boy seen as they would have looked in real life for the very first time

yesterday

Thursday 3rd November 2016

HISTORICAL SELFIES

  • Series of four classic paintings have been transformed into photo-realistic recreations, using photography and digital manipulation, to reveal what the subjects would have really looked like for the first time
  • Artworks included Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, iconic self-portraits by grandmasters Rembrandt and Raphael and Thomas Gainsborough's The Blue Boy
  • Creative team behind the transformations was led by UK's leading digital artist Quentin Devine
  • TV channel Yesterday and UKTV Play commissioned the art project to celebrate Raiders of the Lost Art

Rembrandt, Raphael, the Mona Lisa and The Blue Boy have all been rendered as photorealistic 'selfie' style portraits in an incredible new digital art project, which shows how some of the most famous painters and paintings in history would have looked had camera technology been invented in the 16th century.

The photorealistic images of the Mona Lisa and The Blue Boy, and the self-portraits by grandmasters Rembrandt and Raphael used a complex combination of skilled photography and styling of models as well as digital manipulation, in a project commissioned by Yesterday and UKTV Play to celebrate Raiders of the Lost Art (Yesterday, 2pm, weekdays from 9 November, catch-up on UKTV Play), which tells the stories behind missing masterpieces including the Mona Lisa. The famous painting was stolen in 1911 in an Italian heist and not recovered for two years.

Each of the portraits was first painstakingly photographed using a lookalike model with styling and makeup to match the original painting, before final touches were made by a digital artist to create the best recreation of the iconic compositions - each taking a total of 36 hours to complete.

The creative team, led by the UK's leading digital artist Quentin Devine and including a photographer, stylist and makeup artist, worked together to transform the four models into their classical painting counterparts - revealing to the public what the subject of these portraits would have looked like in real life. The team focussed on matching the styling, lighting, textures and overall composition of the paintings to produce the most detailed match of the original painting as possible, while staying true to a realistic photograph.

Each of the portraits was first painstakingly photographed using a lookalike model with styling and makeup to match the original painting, before final touches were made by a digital artist to create the best recreation of the iconic compositions - each taking a total of 36 hours to complete.

The creative team, led by the UK's leading digital artist Quentin Devine and including a photographer, stylist and makeup artist, worked together to transform the four models into their classical painting counterparts - revealing to the public what the subject of these portraits would have looked like in real life. The team focussed on matching the styling, lighting, textures and overall composition of the paintings to produce the most detailed match of the original painting as possible, while staying true to a realistic photograph.

Revealing the fascinating true stories behind historic artworks including the Mona Lisa, which was infamously stolen from the Louvre in 1911, Raiders of the Lost Art follows art detectives and forensic art analysts as they hunt down missing masterpieces, and through rare archival footage, re-enactment, and expert commentary, reveal how these treasures vanished into thin air and how not all have been recovered. The series - airing weekdays from 9th November, 2pm on Yesterday and available to catch up on UKTV Play - tells the fascinating stories behind such famous heists as the Mona Lisa, the looted Nazi trove, and the missing Fabergé eggs created for Russian tzars.

Adrian Wills, general manager for Yesterday, says, "It's extraordinary to see familiar historic individuals we've only ever seen rendered in oil, through a modern photographic lens. We commissioned this series of artfully digitised images to encourage people to watch 'Raiders of the Lost Art' on the Yesterday channel, and to learn more about the fascinating history behind the world's most iconic paintings.

"It's incredible that we can finally see what grandmasters Raphael and Rembrandt would have looked like in real life. They could never have imagined their paintings could be recreated so accurately more than three centuries later!

"People have pondered for centuries on Mona Lisa's ambiguous facial expression - was she smiling or frowning? This recreation indicates it was indeed a smile, and she was perhaps more beautiful than the painting suggests."

Digital artist Quentin Devine says, "This was a fascinating project to work on, if not a bit intimidating when trying to imitate the skill of some of the most famous painters in history! Myself and the team have tried to create the most photo-realistic representation of these iconic artworks as we can, bringing them into the modern world for the first time."

History behind the portraits:

Mona Lisa, Leonardo da Vinci: The iconic Mona Lisa, painted by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci, is believed to have been produced between 1503 and 1506. It has been acclaimed as 'the best known, the most visited, the most written about, and the most sung about, the most parodied work of art in the world', and was infamously stolen in a heist from the Louvre in 1911 and not recovered until two years later.

Self-portrait, Raphael: This presumed self portrait of Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael, is dated between 1504 and 1506. The work of this Italian artist is admired for its clarity of form and ease of composition.

Self-portrait, Rembrandt: Rembrandt Harmenszoon Van Rijn was a renowned Dutch painter and etcher. This self-portrait is one of over 90, with this particular portrait from the period when he had lost most of his fortune, believed to have been between 1665 and 1669.

The Blue Boy, Thomas Gainsborough: A full length portrait in oil by artist Thomas Gainsborough. It is perhaps his most famous work and is thought to be a portrait of Jonathan Buttal, the son of a wealthy hardware merchant, painted in 1770.

Raiders of the Lost Art, weekdays from 9 November, 2pm on Yesterday and available to catch up on UKTV Play

For further information, please contact:

Kate Bailey at Taylor Herring: Kate.Bailey@taylorherring.com / 020 8206 5151

Katie Sheldrake, Publicist at UKTV

END.

Notes To Editors:

About Yesterday

Sky 537, Virgin 206, Freeview 19, BT and TalkTalk 019 and on demand via UKTV Play

Showcasing UK premiere series such as Raiders of the Lost Past, Forbidden History, and UFO Declassified, Yesterday provides fascinating factual stories. The channel also features dynamic nature and science programming including David Attenborough's Natural Curiosities and Why Planes Crash, and programmes which challenge expectations including Secrets of the Bible. Ancient history is also featured in series including Medieval Dead, plus modern conflict in shows such as Black Ops.

About UKTV Play

UKTV Play is the on demand TV service that lets you watch shows from Dave, Yesterday, Really and Drama whether you're on the bus, at work (we won't tell) or on the sofa. Among the gems on offer are Storage Hunters, Suits, Crackanory, Dave Gorman Modern Life is Goodish, Taskmaster, Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled, Ghost Adventures, Most Haunted and Forbidden History, so it's never been easier to fill your boots with great stuff from UKTV. You can get UKTV Play on PC and Mac and there's also an app for iPhone and iPad. Or you can put your feet up and watch on the telly, thanks to Virgin TV, YouView, Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick. If you're an M+ subscriber on Virgin Media or BT TV customer, shows from other great UKTV channels - Gold, Watch, Alibi, Good Food, Home and Eden - are on the menu as well. uktvplay.co.uk / Get the iOS app on iTunes

About UKTV

UKTV is the biggest multichannel broadcaster in the UK. The award-winning independent has eleven imaginative brands - UKTV Play, Dave, W, Gold, Alibi, Yesterday, Drama, Really, Home, Eden and Good Food. These include the two most popular non-PSB channels in the UK and account for 9.31% of the British commercial TV market. The company's most recent financial results showed record-breaking year-end revenue of £283m and EBITDA of £74.1m. It invested £123m in programming and related launches last year, and is becoming an increasingly significant investor in UK creativity. UKTV has a truly innovative model, curating brand-defining commissions, high-profile acquisitions and the very best of BBC, alongside programmes originally shown on ITV and Channel 4. The network embraces technology to deliver inspired channels to audiences through Freeview, Sky, Virgin Media, BT, TalkTalk, YouView, Freesat, Amazon Fire and UKTV Play, and distributes its highly valued original programmes to 200 territories. Now celebrating its 22nd year at the forefront of digital television, UKTV - an independent commercial joint venture between BBC Worldwide and Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. (SNI) - is proud to be the only British television broadcaster to be recognised by Best Companies. corporate.uktv.co.uk / press.uktv.co.uk / @uktv_press