Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum is usually a buzzing tourist hotspot, central in the city's maze of canals and confined streets. But as with nearly all the capitals in Europe, it is quiet as residents and tourists alike are locked down by the coronavirus pandemic. 

The palatial landmark, home to work by many of Europe and the Netherlands' best-known artists, from Vermeer to Van Gogh, has put a special version of one of its most famous works online for all to see.

The Night Watch is a lifesize scene by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (though most people call the Dutch Master simply by his first name) of local guardsmen or militia. It was painted in 1642 but the version uploaded by the museum this week is cast in a 21st-century light. 

It's a "gigapixel" image. You might have heard that phrase before – it's not the first time such an image has garnered media attention. Similar techniques have been used for highly detailed, zoomable photographs of London, Paris, Prague, Hamburg, Vienna, and Mont Blanc. A gigapixel is one billion pixels, or a thousand megapixels.

What makes such images special is the detail. Anyone can zoom in to Night Watch and see the individual brush strokes laid down by Rembrandt nearly 400 years ago. Time has taken its toll on the piece, of course, and the cracks and blemishes that paint develops over time are arguably clearer than the view art fans get from the other side of a glass panel that protects the piece in Amsterdam. 

The gigapixel version is made of 528 individual photographs, creating 24 rows of images and a mind-boggling 44,804,687,500 pixels. Each pixel is 0.02 mm across, meaning the slightest pinprick of color can be seen clearly.  

The new presentation of the classic work is part of Operation Night Watch, originally a plan to restore the painting to its original quality. 

It was produced for researchers to accurately assess the current state of deterioration - and so any future damage or changes could be accurately tracked. 

However, as this work has been put on hold until 2021 because of the pandemic, Rijksmuseum director Taco Dibbits, explained the gigapixel project was made public. 

"The photograph is a crucial source of information for the researchers, and online visitors can use it to admire Rembrandt's masterpiece in minute detail," Dibbets said. 

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