Visual Resources Collection
The Fine Arts Library Visual Resources Collections provides image resources for teaching and research. The collection documents the entire range of works of art and architecture from prehistoric to the present in the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Islamic world and includes painting, drawings, sculpture, photography, decorative arts, and architecture. At present, collections number over 750,000 images in both 35mm slide and digital formats. All images added to the collection since 2001 are available digitally.
Digital images may be located using VIA, Harvard University’s union catalog of images, or through the Harvard University Study Collection of Digital Images hosted by ARTstor (Harvard ID and PIN required). Images may be downloaded from VIA and ARTStor for classroom presentations using PowerPoint or ARTStor’s Offline Image Viewer (OIV). Additional online resources for digital images may be found in the Fine Arts Library Introductory Guide to Research in History of Art and Architecture. Please contact Visual Resources via e-mail for more information and assistance with these tools.
In addition to individual images, the collection includes videos, CDs, and DVDs for in-library viewing. All collections are open to the Harvard community and may also be consulted by outside users upon special arrangement.
- Please contact Visual Resources via e-mail for more information and assistance with locating and using digital images and other formats.
