Electronic Resources for Art Research

European Art

Seattle Art Museum European Art
Selected images from the Seattle Art Museum’s European art collection.

General

The Kress Collection Catalogue
The Kress Collection encompasses more than 3,000 works of European art, and is distinguished for its abundance of Italian Renaissance paintings. The Collection was donated to American regional and academic art museums, including the Seattle Art Museum, between 1929 and 1961. Many objects currently on view in SAM's European galleries are part of this collection. The Complete Catalogue of the Samuel H. Kress Collection, published in nine volumes, is now available here in PDF format.

Web Gallery of Art
Virtual museum of European paintings and sculptures from different artistic periods. Commentaries, guided tours, period music, artist biographies and other resources are available.

British Library Online Gallery
Collection of online exhibitions that deal with different mediums, styles and historical periods. Includes paintings, manuscripts and photographs.

Dahesh Museum of Art: 19th-Century European Academic Art
Explore the paintings, sculptures and works on paper in the permanent collection of this museum in New York City. Browsing options are by artist or category.

Dutch Art—17th Century

Montias Database of 17th-Century Dutch Art Inventories
Maintained by The Frick, this database contains 1,280 inventories of pieces owned by the people living in Amsterdam in the 17th century. It includes detailed information on 51,071 works of art.

Rijksmuseum
Provides access to great works of Dutch art. The Amsterdam museum’s site allows you to view collections online as well as explore 1,000 major exhibitions.

French Art

Creating French Culture: Treasures from the Bibliothèque Nationale de France
Library of Congress exhibition that explores the development of French culture through power, politics and the monarchies. Includes art from the late 8th century to the present day.

19th-Century French Paintings at the National Gallery of Art
Historical information on French painting from the 19th century. Includes selected online tours, in-depth studies, virtual exhibition tours and an educational resource packet.

Italian Art—Renaissance, 17th and 18th Century

Vatican Museums
The Vatican’s online collections highlight works by Michelangelo, including the Sistine Chapel; Raphael; the Etruscans and others. Some rooms can be seen at different angles, and viewing tools allow you to examine works up close.

Cappella Sistina
Provides links to the paintings of the Sistine Chapel. Refer to the website's master plan of the chapel to locate paintings by number. Includes additional links and resources on other European artists, museums and churches.

Spanish Art

Online Picasso Project
This website is a comprehensive illustrated online catalogue. It includes images of Picasso’s work spanning from 1889 to 1973, from collections that hold one or more of his works.

Museo del Prado
Home to a vast collection of Spanish art, the Prado has more than 4,600 paintings. Its online gallery currently makes digitized images of 1,000 works from the collection available. It plans to continue to add to this gallery until all its works are included.