I use a chrome extension called Imagus that will load any linked image on mouseover (either instantly or after a configurable delay). The image can be shown as large as your current browser window and it will even load links to albums in such a way where scrolling while mouse-overed or pressing left and right on the keyboard will advance between images.

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/imagus/immpkjjlgap...