Online Collections of Images

There are a number of Web sites that have collections of images, but here are a few notable examples:

The New York Public Library's Digital Gallery

The New York Public Library's Digital Gallery provides access to over 450,000 images digitized from primary sources and printed rarities in the collections of the NYPL, including illuminated manuscripts, historical maps, vintage posters, rare prints and photographs, illustrated books, printed ephemera, and more.

The Kansas University Insight Image Collection

The KU Insight Image Collection is now accessible online. Some of the collection is available only to KU faculty, staff, and students. However, images from the following collections are available for everyone to enjoy: Spencer Museum of Art, Kansas City Aerial Photographs, Kansas City Hopewell Collection, Kansas Collection Photographs, and Kansas Wildflowers.

Smithsonian Photography Initiative

The Smithsonian Photography Initiative has launched an electronic portal to a portion of the vast image collections residing in its 18 museums and galleries, nine research centers, and the National Zoo. Its search engine offers access to a cross-section of the work of more than 100 photographers, who used 50 different photographic and image-making processes and technologies.

University of California Calisphere Web site

The University of California launched on August 21 a free website that offers educators, students, and the public access to more than 150,000 images, documents, and other primary source materials from the libraries and museums of the UC campuses and cultural heritage organizations across California. Calisphere'’s primary sources include photographs, documents, newspapers, political cartoons, and other cultural artifacts that reveal the diverse history and culture of the state.

The Web Gallery of Art

The Web Gallery of Art is a virtual museum and searchable database of European painting and sculpture from 12th to mid-19th centuries. It was started in 1996 as a topical site of the Renaissance art, originated in the Italian city-states of the 14th century and spread to other countries in the 15th and 16th centuries. Intending to present Renaissance art as comprehensively as possible, the scope of the collection was later extended to show its Medieval roots as well as its evolution to Baroque and Rococo via Mannerism. More recently the periods of Neoclassicism and Romanticism were also included.