A digital art gallery only available in the metaverse has invited users to invest in a 379-year-old iconic painting.
The launch of the metaverse has seen the real world and the internet merge into one, with people shopping for digital trainers and buying digital houses in the limitless digital land.
But as we shift towards a more high-tech future, the last thing we would expect to see is a famous painting that is three centuries old, digitally restored and up for sale in the online world.
The Night Watch – a popular painting by Dutch artist Rembrandt, created in 1642 – has been uploaded to the metaverse and divided into 8,000 unique pieces which users can rent out and earn cash to spend in the metaverse.
After obtaining a piece, the upcoming digital MetaRembrandt Museum has invited people through its virtual doors and witness the artist’s historical pieces in the comfort of their own homes.
These pieces will be available in the form of NFTs (non-fungible tokens) – a digital item that people can trade in exchange for digital currency.
The Night Watch NFT initiative was announced on the first anniversary of the death of Professor Dr Ernst van de Wetering, an expert of the artist who worked to preserve Rembrandt’s collection and make it accessible for current and future generations.
Jess Muntenaar, COO at HODL Finance, told Jam Press: “Digitising art is not a replacement for the real thing, but rather a way to preserve art, make it available to everyone.
“NFTs cannot be copied, replaced, or subdivided, ensuring absolute security and authenticity.
Every NFT is recorded in a database (a blockchain) and can be stored for as long as the owner wishes or sold.
“An owner of one of the 8,000 pieces of the Night Watch automatically becomes a founder of the Meta Rembrandt Museum.
“Founders have lifetime access to the museum, and can also ‘rent out’ their NFT, which not only provides a return on investment, but also gives other art lovers the opportunity to gain access to this highly exclusive digital venue.”
The virtual world, dubbed ‘the Metaverse’ consists of gaming, cryptocurrency and social media.
Players can ‘live’ in this alternative world and play games, build homes, watch films and even go to nightclubs without even having to get off their sofa in the real world.
From 12 October, everyone will have the opportunity to own a digital piece of the celebrated The Night Watch. In the real world, the original painting is well-known for its huge size, where it stretches a tremendous 12×14.5 ft.
Owners will also be granted exclusive access to the new, and soon to be open, MetaRembrandt Museum – the only place in the world where all the paintings of Rembrandt can be found remastered, digitally restored to their original state, and in high definition.
Pim Slager, co-founder of The Rembrandt Heritage Foundation, added: “The MetaRembrandt Museum is the only place where people can view all the paintings of Rembrandt together and in high definition.
“I feel honoured that we can now share the life’s work of Rembrandt van Rijn with the whole world.”
