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Pringles commissions artist to paint the Taj Mahal on a grain of rice

Once they'd popped, they weren't happy to stop at just making crisps. Hell, no. Now, curved crisp purveyors Pringles have commissioned Russian artist Vladimir Aniskin to paint some of the world's most iconic landmarks on a single grain of rice.

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Miniature painting of the Taj Mahal with minarets and dome on a single grain of rice against a dark background

One grain features the Taj Mahal, while another depicts The Great Wall of China – at 21,196km long, the world’s longest man-made structure on Earth. Its little rice likeness is just five millimetres long.

The commission marks the launch of the brand's Eastern flavoured Rice Fusion range. Aniskin's work was created using a microscope and a single strand of hair as a brush to paint with specks of gold, silver and coloured dust.

The artist is one of just eleven known "micro artists" in the world. He is said to have trained himself to slow down his own heartbeat to complete his meticulous works, since "each heartbeat causes vibrations that cause the drill to fluctuate by up to 0.1mm – enough to ruin his creations," according to Pringles.

A grain of rice with a microscopic painting held in tweezers, displayed beneath a blurred banana for scale
Two grains of rice painted with miniature landscapes next to a two pence coin for scale, showcasing artist Vladimir Aniskin's micro artwork commissioned by Pringles
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