Once Lost in Fire, the Collection of the Brazil National Museum Becomes Virtual

To recap, on September 2, in Rio de Janeiro the National museum of Brazil burned down, which was a tragedy for theworld science. This is the oldest scientific institution in the country. The museum had more than 20 million items, from minerals and fossils to animals and mummies. It storeddinosaur bones and the most ancient human skeleton ever found on the American continent: it belonged to a woman living more than 12 thousand years ago. According to preliminary information, archives with the description of dozensnative American languages that have been collected for more than 200 years were also lost in fire.

But now, according to TASS, the Brazil NationalMuseum is again open for the audience, though in virtual format. Google haslaunched a virtual tourwhich showsthe building of the museum and its collection just like they used to be before the accident. As the Globo newspaper reported, the work on the project started in 2016, long before the fire. At that moment, the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro which manages the National Museum,together with the Ministry of Education of Brazil, decided to acquaint a wider audience with the exhibits. Pictures in 360° format were taken, and now these images are highly valued.

"Frankly speaking, the news about the fire took me aback. This is a tragic event. Fortunately, by that moment we had been workingon the project for several months. Now any person from anywhere will be able to see the richness of the collection which was stored in the National Museum before the fire," the head of the Google Arts & Culture projectChance Coughenourtold Globo.

The virtual tour begins in the parkin front of the museum. Further you can get acquainted with its most valuable exhibits ¬– the oldest human skeletonever found in the territory of South America, Bendegó meteorite weighing 5260 kg, a statue of Venus found in Italyduring excavation, a unique collection of Egyptian antiquities. You can listen to an audio recording with the information on these objects.
There are seven virtual thematic exhibitions: Pre-Columbian America, Ancient Egypt, IndigenousPeople of Brazil, Mediterranean Cultures, Brazilian Archeology, African Cultures, and Paleontology.

It is expected that restoration of the real museum will take not less than three years demanding not less than 300 million reals.