LibGuides: ARCH GU4140 / A6899: Mediterranean Confrontations Architecture, Colonialism, and National Identity in North Africa: Images

Selected Image Databases in Art History

Large repositories of images

ARTstor
Searchable database of digital images and associated catalog data, with new image collections added several times a year. ARTstor covers many time periods and cultures, and documents the fields of architecture, painting, sculpture, photography, decorative arts, design, anthropology, ethnographic and women's studies, as well as many other forms of visual culture. Users can search, view, download and organize images.

Creative Commons Search
The newly designed Creative Commons’ “CC Search” project is a still developing open online search and re-use tool that allows high-quality content from the commons to surface in a more seamless and accessible way. You can find collections from a variety of openGLAM institutions (open content from galleries, libraries, archives and museums) sources in one place.
Wikimedia Commons
Wikimedia Commons is a media file repository making available public domain and freely-licensed educational media content (images, sound and video clips) to everyone, in their own language. It acts as a common repository for the various projects of the Wikimedia Foundation, but you do not need to belong to one of those projects to use media hosted here.

Other collections

Digital museum collections are a great place to find high-quality reproductions of works of art, as well as all the information you need to properly caption your images. Below you will find a selection of New York City museums (and a couple of others too), which have strong digital collections online.

A&A Portal: Courtauld Institute of Art
This online portal brings together the collections of the Courtauld Institute of Art, the Courtauld Art Gallery and the Conway Library as well as the photography of Tim Benton.
L'Agence Photo: Réunion des Musées Nationaux et du Grand Palais
Since 1946, the Photo Agency of the Réunion des Musées Nationaux et du Grand Palais (a public industrial and commercial establishment under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture) has been officially in charge of promoting and disseminating the collections held in the national museums of France.
Archnet Next
Archnet Next is a new iteration of the largest online library focused on the built environments of Muslim societies. Archnet Next is the first major reimagining of the site since 2013. Archnet Next has been completely redesigned to be more responsive to users in all corners of the world and on all sorts of devices in order to remain the essential reference on the architecture, planning, and landscape design in Muslim societies.
Bibliothèque Nationale de France: Gallica
Gallica is the digital library of the Bibliothèque nationale de France and its partners. Online since 1997, it is enriched every week with thousands of new features and today offers access to several million documents
Europeana
Europeana brings together the digital collections from cultural and scientific institutions across Europe. Explore 58,245,986 artworks, artifacts, books, films and music from European museums, galleries, libraries and archives.
Getty Photo Archive Database
The Photo Archive's two million photographs provide supplementary and original pictorial research for the study of fine arts from antiquity to the modern period. The archive's strength lies in the photographic reproduction of western art, architecture, and decorative arts.
Library of Congress: Prints & Photographs
Includes photographs, fine and popular prints and drawings, posters, and architectural and engineering drawings. While international in scope, the collections are particularly rich in materials produced in, or documenting the history of, the United States and the lives, interests and achievements of the American people.
NYPL Digital Collections
A living database of items digitized from the New York Public Library’s collections. New materials are added every day, among them prints, photographs, maps, manuscripts, and streaming video. You can search images (with filters for date, genre, and other key features), or browse by collection.