The Gallery actively lends works from its permanent collection to other institutions domestically and abroad. Loans such as these enhance art-historical research and allow a wider audience access to the collection.
Use this feature to curate and share your own virtual collection of artworks.
Create a Collection
To add a work to your collection, click the Add to My Collection button on the object page or the + icon on the object thumbnail.
The works you select will appear on the My Collection page, sorted by title.
The works will stay in your collection until you decide to clear them or your browser cache. To remove a work, click the X icon.
A new page is added for every 24 works you select.
Share Your Collection
To share your collection with others, click the Share My Collection button and copy the unique link that’s generated.
You can have multiple collections at once. Copy the share link to your current collection and paste it into a text file; your collection will always remain accessible with this link. To create a new collection, click the Clear My Collection button and begin adding new works.
Thousands of images of works in the Gallery’s collection believed to be in the public domain are available for free download through this website. Under Yale University’s Open-Access Policy, anyone may use the Gallery’s open-access material without further application, authorization, or fees due to the Gallery or to Yale.
To download open-access images, search the collection and simply click the “download” link beneath the display image in the individual object record.
You can request an image of a work that is not illustrated online, is under copyright, or digital image files in sizes or formats beyond those offered through the website by completing our Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
Object Data
The online collection features Linked.art, which is a framework for publishing and sharing data about art and cultural heritage using the Resource Description Framework (RDF) and the Linked Data principles. It aims to provide a common vocabulary and data model for describing art-related information, making it more interoperable and linked across different sources. This allows for more efficient and accurate discovery and reuse of data, and better support for research and scholarship in the field of art history and cultural heritage. The Linked.art framework is being developed by the Getty Research Institute, in collaboration with other institutions and organizations in the art and cultural heritage community.
Object Record
The electronic object record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.
Reflectance Transformation Imaging
Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) is a digital imaging technique that reveals fine surface details of art objects that are often invisible to the naked eye. An object is photographed under a stationary camera while illuminated from many different angles using a fixed light source. Specialized software combines these images into a single interactive file. The resulting image appears two-dimensional but allows users to move a virtual light source to explore texture, wear, inscriptions, and subtle surface relief.
RTI at the Gallery is a new initiative and work is ongoing, with imaging available for select numismatic objects on display. You can find links to these images under the Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) heading on the object page. Use your mouse, touchscreen, or other pointing device to adjust lighting angles and to examine the work’s surface.
An interactive image file produced through Reflectance Transformation Imaging technology, revealing the surface details of a sestertius of Trajan
Individuals and groups can view the collection in a number of study centers, rooms, and archives in downtown New Haven and at the Collection Studies Center at Yale West Campus, in West Haven.
