How to Use

Photo Archive

The Photo Archive is an archive of photographs, negatives, and clippings from published sources located at the Getty Library, one of the most comprehensive art history libraries in the world. Its holdings are available for on-site researchers, though you can search the Photo Archive database online at any time to find nonpictorial descriptive records.

Access the Photo Archive In Person

On-site access to the Photo Archive is available for registered Readers. We strongly encourage you to make an appointment with a reference librarian who can provide more information about how to use the Photo Archive and help you with your research request.

To make an appointment, fill out the Getty Library contact form. Requests for appointments are given priority over unscheduled visits.

Searching the Photo Archive Online

Photo Archive Database

Approximately half of the holdings in the Photo Archive are represented by nonpictorial descriptive records in the Photo Archive database. This database is available online to all users.

Users can search by:

keywords
artist name
style
time period
media type

Use the Photo Archive database when you are:

looking for records that fit certain themes or areas of study
conducting in-depth research to find individual photographs that fit certain periods, geographic locations, media, and more
seeking access to the vast majority of photo-level records

Library Catalog

Users can also browse subject sections and shelving numbers of the Photo Archive through the Library Catalog.

Use the Library Catalog when you are:

planning a visit to the Getty Research Institute and trying to locate the Photo Archive records you’re seeking
browsing digitized collections

Browse Subject Areas

Descriptive records for browsable categories of the Photo Archive and their classification numbers can be found through the Library Catalog by selecting any of the subjects below.

- Museum Displays of Ancient Art
  Greek and Roman art from many museum galleries and displays, including the J. Paul Getty Museum.
- Ancient Coins
  Ancient Greek and Roman coins.
- Ancient Inscriptions
  Ancient inscriptions, predominantly Greek and Roman; includes Athenian inscriptions.
- Ancient Archaeological Artifacts and Documentation
  Organic material, such as plaster casts of bodies from Pompeii, and reconstructions of war paraphernalia and ancient technology.
- Ancient Architecture
  Ancient sites and monuments from archaic Greece through the late Roman Empire.
- Ancient Architectural Sculpture
  Architectural sculpture, primarily from the Greek and Roman periods.
- Ancient Mosaics
  Ancient mosaics, both in situ and removed, from Greece, Italy, Libya, Tunisia, Turkey, and other countries.
- Ancient Sculpture, Round
  Ancient sculpture in the round, primarily from the Greek and Roman periods.
- Ancient Sculpture, Relief
  Ancient sculpture in relief, primarily from the Greek and Roman periods.
- Ancient Sculpture, Portraits
  Ancient portrait sculpture of well-known individuals from the Greek and Roman periods.
- Ancient Sculpture, Sarcophagi
  Ancient sarcophagi with relief sculptural decoration, primarily from the Greek and Roman periods.
- Drawings of Antiquities
  Primarily Italian drawings from the 16th through the 18th centuries.
- Ancient Painting
  Painted bathtubs, panels, and tables from Cycladic, Minoan, Egypto-Roman, and Coptic cultures.
- Ancient Painting, Funerary
  Includes Egypto-Roman mummy portraits, cinerary urns, sarcophagi, and stelae.
- Ancient Painting, Mural
  Ancient wall paintings, both in situ and detached, with an emphasis on the Greek, Etruscan, and Roman periods.
- Ancient Minor Arts Objects
  Objects include arms and armor, athletic equipment, furniture, jewelery, lamps, musical instruments, textiles, and vessels.
- Ancient Vases
  Includes Attic black- and red-figure vases arranged according to the system established by Sir John Davidson Beazley.
- Darrell Amyx Collection: Corinthian Vases
  Amyx's archive used for his publication, Corinthian Vase Painting of the Archaic Period.
- Mario Del Chiaro Collection: Etruscan Vase Painting
  Primarily Etruscan red-figure vases from the three major groups: Caeretan, Tarquinian, and Faliscan.
- Johannes Felbermeyer Collection
  Felbermeyer's personal archive includes Greek, Roman, and Etruscan antiquities, and documentation of his work for the Central Collecting Point in Munich after World War II.
- Guntram Koch Collection
  Ancient Greek and Roman architecture and sculpture as well as some Byzantine architecture.
- John Henry Parker Collection
  From 1865–77, Parker, an English publisher, bookseller, and antiquarian, documented the remains of ancient Rome. (Note that the Photo Archive houses facsimiles; the original photographs reside in Special Collections.)
- Enizelaufnahmen antiker Sculpturen
  Paul Arndt, a classical archaeologist and photographer, documented Greek and Roman sculpture from collections across Europe as well as several in the United States.
- Medieval Architecture and Architectural Arts
  Medieval architecture, monumental sculpture, wall painting, stained glass, and mosaics in France, Italy, and Spain.
- Medieval Sculpture
  Sarcophagi, statues, crucifixes, and carved fragments from across much of Europe.
- Medieval Panel Painting
  Includes altar frontals, antependia, icons, retables, and miscellaneous panels.
- Illuminated Manuscripts
  Includes French, Italian, and Flemish manuscripts, most of which were produced between the 13th and 16th centuries.
- Medieval Minor Arts
  Includes arms and armor; coins and seals; gems and crystal; glass; ivory; metal; textiles; and wood.
- Claude Schaeffer Collection
  French and architectural sculpture assembled by Schaeffer, a French scholar of medieval sculpture and manuscripts.
- The Index of Medieval Art
  The largest archive of medieval art in the world documents primarily Medieval art from early apostolic times to approximately 1400 A.D. Learn more.
- Foto Arte Minore
  Architecture, sculpture, and painting, ranging from antiquity to late Baroque.
- Renaissance to Modern Architecture
  Modern architecture from the Renaissance forward, with most of the collection devoted to Italian architecture.
- Czechoslovakian Architecture
  Baroque architecture in Prague and throughout the Czech Republic.
- Sylvester Baxter: Spanish-Colonial Architecture in Mexico
  Colonial architecture in Mexico; includes churches, other religious buildings, and secular structures.
- Art and Architecture in Bologna
  Urban sites of Bologna as well as paintings, sculpture, and medieval manuscripts.
- Florentine Domestic Architecture
  Florentine houses and palaces primarily from the late medieval to Baroque period.
- Ralph Lieberman: via Maggio
  Documents each building along the via Maggio in Florence, from piazza Frescobaldi to piazza San Felice.
- Ralph Lieberman: Architecture of Vasari
  Images of Vasari's architecture that correspond to Vasari's own drawings of the buildings.
- Renaissance to Modern Sculpture
  Modern sculpture from the Renaissance into the 20th century, with most of the collection devoted to Italian sculpture.
- Latin American Painting
  Paintings and drawings by 33 Latin American artists from the 16th through the 18th centuries.
- American Painting
  American paintings and drawings by approximately 525 artists from the 18th and 19th centuries.
- Canadian Painting
  Paintings and drawings by 11 Canadian artists from the 18th and 19th centuries.
- Eastern European Painting
  Paintings and drawings by 248 Eastern European artists from the late Middle Ages through the 19th century.
- British Painting
  Paintings and drawings by approximately 1,100 English, Scottish, Welsh, and Irish artists from the 14th through the 19th centuries.
- Austrian Painting
  Paintings and drawings by approximately 380 Austrian artists from the late Middle Ages through the 19th century.
- French Painting
  French paintings and drawings by approximately 3,086 artists from the late Middle Ages through the 19th century.
- German Painting
  Paintings and drawings by approximately 1,498 artists from the German School; dates range from the 14th through the 19th centuries.
- Italian Painting
  Italian paintings and drawings from the late Middle Ages through the 19th century; includes old master drawings from the Italian Renaissance through the Baroque periods.
- Netherlandish Painting, 1400–1600
  Paintings and drawings by approximately 454 Dutch and Flemish artists from the 14th through the 16th centuries.
- Flemish Painting
  Paintings and drawings by approximately 700 Flemish artists from the 17th through the 18th centuries.
- Dutch Painting
  Paintings and drawings by approximately 2,500 Dutch artists from the late Middle Ages through the 19th century.
- Roman Church Frescoes of the Counter-Reformation
  Frescoes in Roman churches painted in the latter half of the 16th century, with an emphasis on artists working under Pope Sixtus V.
- Dutch and Flemish Still-life Paintings
  Artists from the Dutch and Flemish schools; includes both images and clippings.
- Honnef Archive of Dutch and Flemish Artist Portraits
  Portraits and self-portraits of Dutch and Flemish artists from the 14th through the 17th centuries.
- 20th-Century Paintings and Drawings
  Paintings, drawings, sculptures, and prints by artists born after 1880.
- Prints, 14th to 19th Centuries
  Prints from approximately 2,584 designers and printmakers.
- Bartsch Prints
  Prints from the British Museum, assembled by Adam von Bartsch for Le Peintre-Graveur (1803–21), the first catalog of European prints.
- Design Drawings
  French decorative drawings from the 17th to 19th centuries.
- Interiors
  Furnished interiors in the United States and Europe.
- Lighting
  Lighting instruments from the 18th and 19th centuries, including candelabras, candlesticks, chandeliers, girandoles, lanterns, torchères, and wall lights.
- Architectural Decoration
  Architectural interiors from the 15th to 19th centuries, including modern imitations of older European styles.
- Furniture
  French furniture from the 17th to 19th centuries, and European and American examples from the late 14th to the early 20th centuries.
- Boxes
  Decorative boxes from the 15th through the 19th centuries, with an emphasis on snuff boxes.
- Ceramics
  French and German ceramics from the 18th and 19th centuries; some Chinese porcelain, Italian, English, Japanese, Dutch, Hungarian, and Russian ceramics.
- Glass and Crystal
  European glass and crystal objects from the 15th to 20th centuries, with an emphasis on 19th-century production.
- Stained Glass
  Detached panels of European stained glass from the 15th to 18th centuries.
- Organic Materials
  Decorative objects made of bone, coral, ivory, mother of pearl, shell, and tortoiseshell.
- Writing Accessories
  Includes desk sets, pen boxes, blotters, seals, and candleholders.
- Metal
  Metal objects, mostly from the 17th to 19th centuries, made of silver gilt, gilt bronze, enamel, wrought iron, pewter, copper, and steel.
- Arms and Armor
  European and Asian arms and armor from the 15th to 18th centuries.
- Clocks
  French clocks from the 17th to 19th centuries as well as other European clocks.
- Watches
  French pieces from the 17th to 18th centuries; also includes examples from England, Switzerland, and other European countries.
- Musical Instruments
  European keyboard, string, and wind instruments from the 17th to early 20th century.
- Stone
  Objects made of marble, alabaster, porphyry, jasper, lapis lazuli, and jade.
- Traveling Items
  Portable desks, tableware services, trunks, and transportation vehicles such as sedan chairs and carriages from the 17th to 19th centuries.
- Lacquer
  Lacquer objects, including folding screens, furniture, boxes, and vases from the 17th to 19th centuries.
- Scientific Instruments
  Includes French and English astronomical clocks, barometers, and thermometers from the 17th to 19th centuries.
- Tapestries
  Panels from the late 15th to the late 18th centuries.

Reproducing Photos from the Photo Archive

Visit the Reproductions & Permissions page to learn more about how to request reproductions, including digital reproductions, of photographs in the Photo Archive.

Personal Photography and Scanning for Study Purposes

The copyright law of the United States (Title 17 U. S. Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Use of patron-owned copying equipment such as digital cameras and scanners is subject to compliance with United States copyright law, and any person using his or her own equipment to make copies of copyrighted material is liable for infringement.

Readers are permitted to take digital pictures for study purposes only. Learn more on the Copyright Information section of the Reproductions & Permissions page.

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How to Use

Access the Photo Archive In Person

Searching the Photo Archive Online

Photo Archive Database

Library Catalog

Browse Subject Areas

Reproducing Photos from the Photo Archive

Personal Photography and Scanning for Study Purposes

Hours

Hours

How to Use

Access the Photo Archive In Person

Searching the Photo Archive Online

Photo Archive Database

Library Catalog

Browse Subject Areas

Ancient Art and Architecture

Medieval Art and Architecture

Pre-20th-Century Paintings and Drawings

Decorative Arts, 17th to 19th Centuries

Reproducing Photos from the Photo Archive

Personal Photography and Scanning for Study Purposes