Digital Art History

Exploring transformative ways to apply new technologies to art historical research

Project Details

A digital rendering of a white desert landscape featuring a monastery

Screen shot of the Digital Art History project "San Julián de Samos: a digital approach"

Photo: Estefanía López Salas

About

Goal

The Digital Art History Initiative leverages emerging technologies with grants that advance the field of art history, preparing scholars to explore new questions and develop innovative, sophisticated tools.

Outcomes

  • Training workshops at introductory and advanced levels that disseminate digital methods applicable to art history and the humanities
  • Enhanced digital mapping platforms that let users explore the ancient sites of Pompeii, Italy and Çatalhöyük (modern-day Turkey) and the cities of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Florence, Italy
  • Two image analysis projects that used open-source software to present datasets on laid paper "moldmates” and early European prints

Scope

The Digital Art History initiative opened with funding for universities, museums, and other humanities centers to offer training workshops tailored to researchers of art and architecture. Foundation grants have supported programs for beginners and those with prior experience in digital projects.

Grant-funded projects have incorporated digital tools and techniques that allow researchers to handle large volumes of digitized images and texts, trace patterns and connections formerly hidden from view, recover the past in virtual environments, and bring the complex intricacies of works of art to light as never before, to name just a few opportunities.

As of 2023, the Foundation has awarded 25 grants to 15 grantees. We are currently assessing the needs of the field and not accepting new applications.

Resources