Courtauld Permanent Galleries

In November 2021, I was commissioned by the Courtauld Institute of Art to create a virtual tour of their newly refurbished permanent galleries at Somerset House. The goal was to give global audiences an immersive way to explore their world-renowned collection—from Medieval to Impressionist to 20th Century art. This bespoke virtual tour was designed to reflect the Courtauld’s visual identity while offering ultra-high-resolution access to artworks by Renoir, Manet, Monet, Van Gogh, Degas, Cézanne, Rubens, Botticelli and more. The tour also enhances accessibility and outreach for students, educators, and researchers around the world.

Explore the live virtual tour below. Navigate through the galleries and discover highlights via interactive hotspots.

The Courtauld team sought a virtual experience that would allow users to explore the permanent galleries online in ultra-high-resolution, with 360° panoramic views of each room, including ceilings. They required interactive hotspots for over 200 works of art, and the interface needed to reflect the Courtauld’s brand identity throughout. The tour also had to be hosted securely on their existing infrastructure, while being future-proof and easy for their internal team to update.

My proposal covered both the technical and creative scope of the project, including capture, post-production, interface design, content integration, testing, and hosting.

I was one of several specialists invited to submit proposals after the Courtauld team found my portfolio online. Initially, another contractor was selected. However, a couple of months later, I received a message saying their original choice had not worked out and that my proposal had been a very close second. Despite never having tackled a virtual tour at this resolution or scale before, I was keen. I offered to do a test shoot in one of their galleries to prove the feasibility, and it worked. The successful demo reassured both the Courtauld team and myself, and I was formally commissioned for the full project.

Shooting

• Panoramas were captured with a Nikon Z7ii and 50mm f/1.8 lens, mounted on a Nodal Ninja Mecha C2 panoramic head.
• Each panorama required up to 170 images, resulting in stitched resolutions of 82,000 x 41,000 pixels (i.e. 3.4 Gigapixels).
• Shooting took place after-hours between 6pm and 10pm, coordinated with gallery lighting and security.
• I averaged capturing 5–6 panoramas per visit across multiple evenings.
• One evening was interrupted by a transport strike, and another by COVID—thankfully, my shoot schedule and post-processing pipeline kept the project on track.

Post-production

• Each panorama took around 8 hours to stitch and retouch.
• Software used included PTGui Pro for stitching and Photoshop for retouching, colour correction on calibrated professional monitor, and fixing minor stitching errors.
• Multiple focus distances were needed in some galleries, requiring careful compositing.

Development & Interface

• The virtual tour was built using krpano API.
• I developed a bespoke interface styled with the Courtauld’s brand colours, fonts, and icons.
• Navigation includes clickable arrows and a level-switching widget.
• Hotspot tooltips and content panels are dynamically loaded via the WordPress REST API, allowing Courtauld staff to update text or mark artworks as “on loan”.
• No iframes were used for displaying high-res artwork closeups. Everything renders natively thanks to krpano’s advanced zooming and API integration.

This virtual tour was designed not only to showcase the Courtauld’s extraordinary collection but also to deliver a refined, user-friendly experience across all devices. Built with a clean, branded user interface that adapts seamlessly to desktops, tablets, and smartphones, the tour offers a fully responsive design to ensure accessibility and engagement for every visitor.

The short video clips below highlight key interactive and technical features, from intuitive navigation and gallery information panels to custom interactions and deep zoom functionality, that together create a rich, immersive experience for researchers, students, and casual visitors alike.

The final tour was delivered and approved in early May 2022, after starting in January. The Courtauld team was thrilled with the result and continues to use it for global audience engagement, education, and promotion. The use of the WordPress REST API proved invaluable, giving their internal content team full control over hotspot text updates.

This was the first time I worked at this level of detail and complexity. It pushed my creative and technical boundaries—from focus calibration and managing huge stitched files to remote collaboration with institutional teams. I also had to learn how to set up and operate a robotic panoramic head, including scripting the capture sequence to ensure consistent, precise results across the entire gallery.

I also realised the power of offering a small test shoot. Not only did it secure this project, it gave me the confidence I needed to deliver under pressure.

This virtual tour now forms a digital extension of one of the UK's most prestigious galleries. Since its creation, it has allowed thousands of virtual visitors, from researchers to art enthusiasts, to experience the Courtauld Collection in stunning detail.

This project also marks a milestone in my own practice, demonstrating that with careful planning, deep focus, and collaboration, even the most ambitious briefs can become lasting, high-impact digital experiences.

Building on the success of this project, I continue to collaborate with the Courtauld Institute to document their temporary special exhibitions as ultra-high-resolution virtual tours, capturing not only the art, but the evolving curatorial vision for future reference.