Copyright Free and Creative Commons Images: Art and literature images

These databases can be accessed through the Monash Library and most require a Monash login. Monash subscriptions allow use of these images for educational use only, with attribution. Some database may also include public collections with creative commons licensing. Always check the licence terms of any image you intend to use.

• Artstor (Via JSTOR. Click the 'images' tab to search and download from a database of more than 300,000 digital images, covering many time periods and cultures, and documenting the fields of architecture, painting, sculpture, photography, decorative arts, and design, as well as many other forms of visual culture. Different museums donate images to this database while retaining copyright.)
• Bridgeman Education (Offers over 1,000,000 digital images of art, history and culture from global museums, galleries, private collections and contemporary artists for educational use only.)
• Index of Medieval Art (Free database, images under copyright, check licence terms. A thematic and iconographic index of early Christian and medieval art objects, the index catalogs primarily Christian art from early apostolic times to approximately 1400 A.D. While coverage is predominantly of Christian iconography, Jewish, Islamic, and non-ecclesiastical subjects are also covered.)
• National Geographic Magazine Archive (Contains high quality photojournalism on topics of cultures, nature, science, technology, and more.)
• Oxford Art Online (Offers users access to authoritative and easily searchable online art resources.)
• RIBApix (Database providing unique images from the collections of the British Architectural Library at the Royal Institute of British Architects. All images on this site are the copyright of RIBA, but low resolution copies may be downloaded free of charge for personal use or teaching purposes.)
• The Harper’s Bazaar Archive (Chronicles more than 150 years of some of the most influential work of acclaimed designers, photographers, stylists, and illustrators.)
• Vogue archive (ProQuest) (The Vogue Archive contains the entire run of Vogue magazine (US edition) from 1892 reproduced in high-resolution colour page images. Find images by garment type, designer and brand names. The archive preserves the work of the world's greatest fashion designers, stylists and photographers.)

• Art Institute of Chicago (Explore thousands of artworks in the museum’s wide-ranging collection. Search results can be restricted to works in the public domain. See: Open Access Images for more information.)
• BildIndex / Image Index of Art and Architecture (Free to view and download. Check licence terms. A joint database where over 80 cultural and scientific institutions publish their images and data on art and architecture. This international research database offers integrated digital access to rare collections. Database is in German, use browser to translate).
• British Museum online collection (Check licence terms) Many images available under the Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. licence but check each image.)
• Cleveland Museum of Art (Check licence terms. Many images available under the Creative Commons Zero licence. Go to Search the Collections and tick the 'open access' box and results will be limited to CC0 only. More information at Open Access FAQs.)
• Digital Imaging Project (Educational use with Attribution. Personal archive of Art historical images of sculpture and architecture from pre-historic to post-modern created by academic Mary Ann Sullivan hosted by Bluffton University.)
• Google Art Project (Images can be linked to but not downloaded. Discover artworks, collections and stories from all around the work in a new way. Explore culture treasures in extraordinary detail.)
• Highsmith (Carol M.) Archive (Library of Congress - Public Domain) - The online presentation of the Carol M. Highsmith Archive features photographs of landmark buildings and architectural renovation projects in Washington, D.C., and throughout the United States. For more information see: Carol M. Highsmith Rights and Restrictions Information.
• Himalayan Art (Contact the institution that owns the image for permission. The world's largest educational resource for Himalayan Art and Iconography, now cataloguing over 65,000 images.)
• Kamat's Potpourri (Educational, non-commercial use with attribution. Hodge-podge of History, Mystery, and Diversity of India.)
• Livrustkammaren (Royal Armory) museum Stockholm (All museum objects in the public domain. Images available under CC-BY 4.0.)
• Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) (Images marked as "Public Domain" are free to use. Check licence terms for other images) Use search and tick box 'public domain images only'.)
• Met: Metropolitan museum of art New York (Images marked as "Public Domain" are free to use. Check licence terms for other images) The New York Metropolitan Museum of art makes available over 200 000 images of artworks available for reuse.
• Migrane Art Collection (All images available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.)  See more information on terms of use and attribution requirements.
• Morgan Library and Museum collection of drawings online (Non-commercial, educational use only. Images should credit the source.)
• Musée du Louvre and Musée National Eugène-Delacroix (The Louvre) Consists of more than 480 000 works, including the Mona Lisa. Some works protected by copyright and separate permission must be obtained from the copyright owner to use. Out of copyright artworks can be used for any non-collective use within a strictly private context and for museographic, scientific and educational purposes as listed in the terms of use under 4.1.1a. Any use requires photographic credits such as those provided on the collections website in addition to a permalink to the description of the work (entry) on the page on which the Photograph was downloaded. See Terms of Use.
• Museum fur Kunst und Gewerbe Hamberg (​Images marked as "Public Domain" are free to use. Contact website for any other enquiries.)
• Museum of New Zealand: Te Papa Tongarewa (See the Rights statement attached to each image. Collections Online has information on over 500,000 artworks, objects and specimens from Te Papa’s collections, from dinosaur teeth to contemporary art, as well as information on people, places, topics, species, and research from our curators.)
• The Museums of the city of Paris (A collection of over 150,000 images in the public domain - CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0)
  Public Domain Dedication)
• National Gallery of Art Washington DC (51 000 images in public domain for all uses including commercial) Extensive collection of world art and painting.)
• Paul J. Getty Museum: Open Content Program (Public Domain. Only applies to images marked as public domain. Other in-copyright artworks require permission.)
• Rijksmuseum (​Images marked as "Public Domain" are free to use. Contact website for any other enquiries. National Gallery of Holland.)
• Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895: as seen in prints and archives (Images: Public Domain, Document Images: contact website. Its aim is to bring together the collection of prints of the Sino-Japanese War held by the British Library and documents made public by JACAR to show how the events of the Sino-Japanese War were depicted and recorded by the people of the time.)
• Smithsonian (Public Domain) Welcome to Smithsonian Open Access, where you can download, share, and reuse millions of the Smithsonian’s images - right now, without asking.
• Statens Museum for Kunst (​Images marked as "Public Domain" are free to use. Contact website for any other enquiries) National Gallery of Denmark.)
• University of Texas Libraries: Portrait Gallery (Public Domain with Attribution. A selection of portraits of historical figures from the Perry-Castañeda Library, University of Texas at Austin.)
• V&A Museum (For educational, non-commercial use only. Avoid images labeled 'in copyright'. V&A claim copyright on all images so all images must be credited as follows: © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.)
• VADS (For educational, non-commercial use only. The images cover the broad range of the visual arts from across the UK including applied arts, architecture, design, fashion, fine art, and media.)
• Walters Art Museum (Most images under Creative Commons Zero. Thousands of artworks from around the world and across the centuries. Note: Some works are not in the public domain, so please check terms for each image.)
• Web Gallery of Art (For educational use only. The Web Gallery of Art is a virtual museum and searchable database of European fine arts from 11th to 19th centuries.)
• Wikiart Visual Art Encyclopaedia (​Public domain & copyright protected works) An online repository of fine art.)
• Yale Centre for Digital Art (Public Domain. The Centre’s Paintings and Sculpture, Prints and Drawings, and Reference Library collection.)

• Folger Shakespeare Library (Creative Commons: Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. This database offers high resolution images from the Folger Shakespeare Library, including books, theater memorabilia, manuscripts, and art.)
• Schoenberg Center for Electronic Text & Image (Public Domain and Copyright Content. Over 2,000,000 images from various collections of rare books, manuscripts, papyri, photographs and sheet music.)