I've always wanted to see Botticelli's Birth of Venus in person at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence and now, thanks to Google, I can. Launched today, Google Art Project is like a google maps tour of the inside of 17 of the world's most respected museums including the Tate Britain (London), State Hermitage (St. Petersburg), Palace of Versailles and hometown favorites the Metropolitan Musuem and the Museum of Modern Art. Each museum allows navigation through specific galleries through interactive floorplans. There is even a piece of work available as a 1GB download for each museum. In the example below, the detail view of Chris Ofili's No Woman No Cry is accompanied by the backstory about working with the artist.
