Rarely Seen Beautiful Gothic Digital Art Backgrounds and Wallpapers

Our pick of the best online collections of public domain images from the British Museum to NASA. Yours to utilize and modify as you lot like…

Spring straight to the museum collections

"Good artists copy, great artists steal." A quote often attributed to Picasso turns out to accept a suitably complicated history of copying and stealing itself.

Original ideas entered the endangered species list 3,000 years ago when Male monarch Solomon lamented: "What has been done will exist done once more; at that place is nothing new under the sun."

In his book Steal Similar An Artist Austin Kleon asks: "How does an artist wait at the globe?" and concludes: "First, you figure out what's worth stealing, so you lot move on to the adjacent affair."

So let's cutting ourselves some slack. Nosotros make it on a planet full of history and wonder and other people's stuff. Information technology'southward not only permissible to use what came before to create what's side by side – it's incommunicable not to.

Using Public Domain Images

This drove of websites offering free to utilize public domain images have been a fantastic resource for my own artwork exist it drawing, painting, printmaking or design. A public domain image is i that is complimentary of known copyright around the world. Every bit the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 outlines: "Y'all tin copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission." First-class news for artists.

United kingdom Public Domain Law

An artwork falls in to the public domain seventy years after the decease of the artist. That's the general rule anyhow, see this DACS factsheet for a list of exceptions. But expect! Information technology's possible that the photograph or reproduction of a public domain piece of work might itself be nether copyright! Thankfully the European union's 2019 directive Copyright in the Digital Single Market, specifically Article 14, made it impossible to copyright "true-blue reproductions of works in the public domain." The United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland has similar guidelines updated in 2021: "information technology seems unlikely that what is simply a retouched, digitised epitome of an older piece of work can be considered every bit 'original'".

Fair Use for all other images

While I've tried to list only public domain images some websites accept specific copyright weather for certain images so be sure to double cheque copyright terms earlier using an image. If an paradigm is protected under copyright you might notwithstanding be able to use it (or elements of it) if your work aligns with fair use.

For a deeper dive on the subject field Stephen Fishman'due south The Public Domain: How to Find & Use Copyright-Free Writings, Music, Fine art & More comes highly rated.

My Top Site For Public Domain Images

Raw Pixel's Public Domain Images

Part of me wants to keep these wonderfully curated collections to myself just I'd be doing you a huge disservice. Aiming to "requite anybody access to the best public domain creative resource" Raw Pixel scan and enhance high resolution images from antiquarian books, plates and museum collections ensuring each image is 100% copyright gratis for personal or commercial use (CC0 license). There are bigger collections out in that location merely none come close to matching their Apple-similar ease of apply and thoughtful pattern. Public Domain Gems is a proficient place to start while Artist Collections feature 20th century masters like Cézanne, Gaugin and Van Gogh or explore the Animal Kingdom via some incredible illustrations from the 19th century and across. Collage artists and scrapbooking enthusiasts, welcome to your new dwelling.
Visit Raw Pixel's Public Domain Images

And A Special Mention To…

Heritage Library – Free Vintage Illustrations

Heritage Type Library's public domain images might not accept the breadth and depth of RawPixel's offering but what they make up for in number they deliver in quality. Download hi-resolution vintage illustration packs from Jungle Animals, Butterflies and Fantastic Birds to Bicycles, Baseball game and Skulls. What sets Heritage Type'southward images apart from the contest is the the way each image has been carefully cutting out with transparent backgrounds. It's non often the case that images are cut out so cleanly and are prepare to drib right in to your artistic project. Each prototype can be used for personal or commercial work (CC0 license).
Visit Heritage Library Vintage Illustrations

Free Stock Images

Raw Pixel also host a large collection of free stock images you can use for personal or commercial piece of work. Rounding off my top 3 recommendations for genuinely free stock photos are Pexels and Unsplash.

The Public Domain Review

Before moving on to the museum collections I accept to mention The Public Domain Review. Truly a treasure trove of the weird and wonderful, sign up to their newsletter for a weekly dose of public domain highlights.

"You've got to realize that influence is not influence. Information technology'southward only someone's idea going through my new heed."

—Jean-Michel Basquiat

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The All-time Museum Collections

Ordered by the number of public domain images in each online collection.

Smithsonian Open up Access – over three,000,000 images

Launched in February 2020, Smithsonian Open Access came late to the public domain political party merely was truly worth waiting for. The world's largest museum now has the world'due south largest library of public domain images. Not but is it the biggest prototype resource for artists it's also assigned every paradigm a Creative Eatables Zip license. In other words, knock yourself out – utilise the images notwithstanding you desire. No worries over attribution, selling your art or legal stuff. They're all yours. Non only that, every epitome is available at high resolutions that are perfect for printing beautiful prints. Open Admission has clearly been a labour of love from the Smithsonian team. Don't miss over ii,000 interactive 3D models of everything from the Apollo eleven Command Module to a wooly mammoth skeleton. It's intuitively like shooting fish in a barrel to search, filter results, browse categories and dissimilar many other public domain collections it also works only as well on mobiles as it does on desktops. Bravo Smithsonian, this is wonderful.
Visit Smithsonian Open Access

Europeana Collections – over 2,200,000 images

Okay I'one thousand slightly adulterous here every bit Europeana collects data from thousands of European archives, libraries and museums (several of which are listed here) providing access to over 50 million digitised items from audio recordings to videos and texts. Over ii million of those items are public domain images and Europeana's search facility is an incredibly useful research tool. Browse curated art collections by topic, theme or genre and refine search results by image size, reuse rights, country, institution, colour etc. For example here'south a gallery of more than than viii,000 free to utilize loftier resolution paintings. Europeana is an excellent portal for artists to source public domain images and a timely reminder of what can exist achieved when European nations work together.
Visit Europeana Collections

Museo – over 1,900,000 images

I was hoping that something like Museo might come up along and in 2021 it did. Museo is an open source visual search engine that connects directly to several of the best museum public domain libraries. 100% clutter costless with but a search box that speedily delivers every bit many images as your net connectedness can handle. Here's a few random searches for a taster: equus caballus, boob, waves. Museums currently connected are Art Institute of Chicago (55,000 images), Rijksmuseum (716,000), Harvard Art Museums (236,000), and New York Public Library Digital Collection (901,000). Every image you observe with Museo is in the public domain and completely free to utilise – thought it'due south always worth a double bank check for any limitations earlier using for commercial work. Hats off to the developer and hither'southward to further collections beingness added. Museo's a gem.
Visit Museo

The Calisphere Collections – over ane,400,000 images

The collections on Calisphere have been contributed by all ten campuses of the University of California and other of import libraries, archives, and museums throughout California. Collections range from meticulous Indian Miniature Paintings to the incredibly unique costume pattern drove by UC Merced faculty fellow member Dunya Ramicova. Calisphere is a collection of collections and the best fashion to get your caput round it is to dive right in and enjoy the randomness of cool citrus fruit posters to British war posters.
Visit The Calisphere Collections

Five&A Collections – over 1,200,000 images

The V&A holds an amazing online drove – permit down but past their strict-ish image usage restrictions. Like the British Museum their images can be used for certain not-commercial work but aren't held in the public domain. If you can work around the license restrictions then yous'll find countless sources of inspiration among the cultural artefacts at the 5&A. For instance here's over 500 images of beautifully designed Japanese Kimonos, a like corporeality of slightly scary puppets or browse over one,000 propaganda posters over the last century. The search is 1 of the fastest I've used and it'due south easy to narrow down results using the sidebar on the left. The Five&A also have a commercial arm at vandaimages.com.
Visit Five&A Collections

The British Library – over 1,000,000 images

In 2013 The British Library appear it was calculation over a one thousand thousand costless images to Flickr for anyone to 'use, remix and repurpose'. It'south an awesome precedent to set up and one many more museums and libraries would do well to follow. Many of the images are taken from 17th-19th century books and illuminated manuscripts but there's lots outside of that likewise. Not sure where to kickoff? Try out this selection of 430 images for a prissy introduction of what'due south available. It'southward worth clicking but for this adorably drawn 19th century Tapir illustration.
Visit The British Library Collection

The British Museum – over ane,000,000 images

Over ii one thousand thousand records (only over a million with images) just the usage rights are catchy. About of the British Museum'due south images are released nether a Creative Eatables iv.0 Share & Adapt licence and then they aren't 100% public domain images. You're complimentary to remix, transform, and build on them – in other words – make fine art. Only I'm non entirely sure where that non-commercial apply line gets drawn once y'all've transformed an prototype. Here'due south their terms of utilize for reference and their commercial site is at bmimages.com. To get a high resolution version (2,500 pixels) sign up for a gratuitous account then send an order request via the 'use epitome' link under each image.
Visit The British Museum Collection

Library of Congress – over 950,000 images

If you're not conscientious y'all could easily lose whole days uncovering hidden gems in these fascinating collections. The best part is that about all of it is available as copyright free loftier resolution tif files. You can either search by keyword or scan the collections from the homepage. In one case inside a collection, select 'View all' and make sure to click the 'Larger image bachelor anywhere' tickbox to evidence just images with loftier res versions to download. Highlights include hundreds of ghostly daguerreotypes and some wonderful air balloon and other vintage flight machine illustrations in the Tissandier Collection. But my favourite has to exist this collection of free to use true cat images.
Visit The Library of Congress Collection

The Rijksmuseum Drove – over 700,000 images

The Rijksmuseum is the Dutch national museum based in Amsterdam. I used to work with a really alpine Dutch guy chosen Taco. He was really smart, easy to work with and always got the task washed. The Rijksmuseum'south online collection is like a digital version of Taco (if you swap meridian for range). Not only do they encourage artists to create new works using their images, they offer an annual prize for the best piece of work created using Rijksstudio. It's a joy to use and a wonderful resource for viewing other artistic collections and gathering source textile.
Visit Rijksmuseum Collection

Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History – over 550,000 images

If you love natural history museums so gear up to go lost down the enormous rabbit hole of the Yale Museum'south image collection. Take a look at these beautifully carved and adorned Kachinas for an example of the treasures you can find here. There are over 300 images of masks, over 150 shields and over 100 manus made canoes. Don't miss the wonderfully weird Eskimo Dolls either. I haven't even mentioned the many thousands of animal, plant and fossil images so finish reading this and outset exploring!
Visit The Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History

The Met Collection – over 400,000 images

Founded in 1870 The Met lives at 3 iconic New York Metropolis locations housing over 5,000 years of art from around the globe. The Met's online collection is as rich in pickings equally its offline museums with over 280,000 images to draw from. Not all Met images are held in the public domain and merely some of them are downloadable in high resolution. Yous'll merely have to dig around and see what you tin can unearth as the rewards are well worth the effort. I'd particularly recommend the Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas section for some incredible cultural artifacts. The Musical Instruments drove is an equally impressive jumble of musical crafts and curiosities from around the world.
Visit The Met Collection

The Biodiversity Heritage Library – over 260,000 images

An image collection that's long been a favourite of mine for gathering resource materials for artwork and collage. If you like animals, birds, bugs, plants, the oceans and everything in them then welcome to your new home for loftier-res copyright free images. The image collection is held on Flickr rather than their website with every image available for download nether a Creative Commons license. Check out these vintage bird drawings from The natural history of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahamas collection for an idea of what'due south inside. Follow BioDivLibrary on Twitter for obscure highlights and insights on the collection. Or browse all eleven categories from reptiles to fungi.
Visit The Biodiversity Heritage Library

Yale University Art Gallery – over 180,000 images

The art gallery at Yale Academy houses some of the finest examples of art from ancient times through to modern and contemporary works. Like many other museum and gallery collections there's no guarantee you can download a high resolution image of a work in its drove merely you're more liable to have success with older artworks. Subsequently searching for a few minutes I discovered a genre of art I'd never seen before – the Chinese fine art of Mandarin Squares from the Qing dynasty. But a couple of these are available to download merely it's notwithstanding given me a new surface area of inspiration to explore further. In one of the world's nifty mysteries the Yale Art Gallery holds over four,000 cat images all the same contains a mere 160 canis familiaris pictures… the truth nearly cats and dogs continues to baffle.
Visit The Yale University Art Gallery

Getty Search Gateway – over 150,000 images

The Getty's reasons for putting so many of their images into the public domain for complimentary artistic use is worth quoting direct: "The Getty adopted the Open up Content Program considering we recognized the demand to share images of works of art for free and without restriction, so that all those who create or appreciate art—scholars, artists, fine art lovers, and entrepreneurs—will have greater access to high-quality digital images for their studies and projects. Fine art inspires the states, and imagination and creativity lead to artistic expressions that aggrandize knowledge and understanding. The Getty sincerely hopes that people will use the open content images for a wide range of activities and that they will share the fruits of their labors with others." Indeed. Haunting photographs of life in 1870'south Scottish tenements highlight the richness of images available in the collection.
Visit The Getty Search Gateway

Wellcome Images – over 100,000 images

Information technology'south no longer a secret that The Wellcome Drove is one of the best museums in London for fascinating exhibitions and mind bending stuff. Founded past Sir Henry Wellcome – pharmacist, entrepreneur, philanthropist and collector of more than a one thousand thousand objects which formed the ground of the collection in 1936. Describing itself as a 'free company destination for the incurably curious' their online prototype collection serves upwardly a similar feast for the incurably curious among us. Fancy an prototype of The smallest medicine chest in the world balancing on a finger, it's all yours. 5 hundred year onetime drawing of a mechanical hand yous say, at your service. The Wellcome Image Collection is a true Cabinet of Curiosities and our commonage creativeness is all the meliorate for it.
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David Rumsey Map Collection – over ninety,000 images

David Rumsey started collecting maps over xxx years ago launching his website in the year 2000. Rumsey'south dream was to make his large private map drove accessible to everyone and we're glad to say he'southward done just that. The collection focuses on rare 16th through 21st century maps of North and S America, as well every bit maps of the Earth, Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania. From early on 19th century celestial maps to quirky mitt fatigued maps of San Francisco the site truly is a wonder of curation and a precious gift to map lovers everywhere.
Visit The David Rumsey Map Collection

Yale Middle For British Art – over lxx,000 images

Yale holds the largest collection of British fine art outside the UK with over 70,000 images available to download and apply for artistic projects. Over three,000 Turner paintings, prints and drawings are represented while Constable makes do with a mere couple of hundred masterpieces! Browse over 3,000 public domain images of horses in sculptural and painted forms by some of the best British artists in history from Sickert to Seymour.
Visit The Yale Centre For British Art

Art Institute of Chicago – over 50,000 images

1 of my favourite cities is behind 1 of my favourite sites for public domain images. The site's a joy to utilise with a unproblematic and make clean layout just the highlight is the high quality scans of the artworks. The colours and lighting are true-blue to the original artwork and are some of the best I've seen from any museum prototype collection. When those artworks include impressionist and post impressionist heavyweights similar Van Gogh, Seurat and Monet then you know you're in good hands for high quality reproductions to utilize as y'all'd like for your own projects.
Visit The Art Institute of Chicago

National Gallery of Art Images – over 50,000 images

The National Gallery Of Art was constructed by Andrew West. Mellon in 1937 in Washington, DC. NGA Images is their online collection of artwork with all images available gratuitous of charge for any utilise, commercial or non-commercial. Explore some wonderful Gauguin artworks, 130 Degas artworks of ballet dancers, horses and portraits then stop up with some of Cézanne's drawings and studies.
Visit NGA Images

Los Angeles County Museum of Art – over xx,000 images

One of the most difficult parts of putting this postal service together is giving away the sites I want to continue hole-and-corner so I can have all the best source material to myself! Just kidding I'1000 excited to share the LACMA image drove as it'southward such a fantastic resources for creativity. One of my favourite collections is the 10,000-500 BC category featuring early art from all over the world. What'due south not to love most this Iranian deer shaped vessel from 1350-800 B.C. or this Egyptian Figurine of the Goddess Bastet as a True cat from 1081 – 525 B.C. Information technology's a humbling feel to witness so many beautifully crafted artworks thousands of years earlier everything nosotros remember of as modernistic and avant-garde.
Visit Los Angeles County Museum of Fine art

Project Apollo Annal – over fifteen,000 images

NASA seriously delivers in this collection of photos from the Apollo infinite programme that ran from 1961–1972 and includes the non likewise small accomplishment of landing the get-go humans on the Moon. This collection from Apollo xi's incredible mission captures that other worldly wonder the moon landings gave united states all. For example you can download this iconic Buzz Aldrin photo in 4048 10 3968 loftier resolution to apply for absolutely anything you want as NASA has generously placed it in the public domain.
Visit The Project Apollo Archive

Flickr: The Commons – over 15,000 images

From its public home on Flickr The Commons goal is to "share hidden treasures from the globe'southward public photography archives". It'southward an admirable ideal and one that could run into The Eatables ascension to the peak of the gratis paradigm charts as more and more public orginisations contribute. The guiding principle for contributors is to ensure that images have "no known copyright restrictions" and are therefore able to be used freely within the public domain. Dozens of notable institutions are on board – view the entire listing of contributing organistations or browse the whole collection at random. You could practice worse for starters than viewing the collections of George Eastman House that range from the proverbial sublime (moon landings) to the ridiculous (giant pigs to stretchy contortionists!).
Visit Flickr: The Eatables

The Walters Drove – over 12,000 images

The commencement affair I noticed near the Walters Collection is the care and attention they've put into photographic the artworks. Sculptures and art objects are expertly lit and captured in high resolution images that accentuate color and course. The site is also one of the best designed and very user friendly with like shooting fish in a barrel to download high res images. The Walters Art Museum is based in Baltimore, Maryland and its drove traverses the third millennium B.C. to the early on 20th century. I enjoyed the Fine art of The Aboriginal Americas section especially this Mexican Female Performer With Drum. You can also search the collection using Tags with an A-Z of topics from birds to beards and tempera to terracotta.
Visit The Walters Drove

The Morgan Library & Museum – over 10,000 images

The Morgan Library & Museum is based in the heart of New York City. Their online drove contains a large sections of drawings and an impressive assortment of Rembrandt prints. Discover the intricately illustrated Prayer Volume of Claude de France that tin fit in the palm of your mitt. There'due south plenty more images to find just things can get more than catchy to navigate with illustrated manuscripts such as The Crusader Bible demanding a trawl through a list of links with no image previews. The rewards can be worth it though with Gothic illustrations of the Days of Cosmos and Noah's Ark.
Visit The Morgan Library & Museum Collection

Wikipedia Featured Pictures – over 6,000 images

I've saved one of the best free public domain images resources 'til last. Information technology's only got a few thousand images at the moment merely information technology'southward only going to keep getting improve and better as more people contribute to the collection over time. Wikipedia's criteria for inclusion sets the bar super high in terms of free license, loftier resolution, excellent image quality and detailed descriptions. How does this translate in existent life? Check out The Garden of Earthly Delights by Bosch where yous can download the original file ‎at a staggering 30,000 × 17,078 pixels (file size: 222.86 MB). That's loftier quality! Wikipedia Featured Pictures sets the standard for freely distributing public domain images and I hope many other sites follow their lead. The Paintings, Architecture and Outer Infinite sections are particularly worth bookmarking for future reference.
Visit Wikipedia Featured Pictures

Phew, let's call it a mean solar day here eh! Hope y'all institute this collection of public domain images helpful for making art and fuelling your creative projects. I'll be coming back to apply it myself for painting, drawing and collage source textile. Please share the mail on social media if you lot found it useful, appreciate information technology!

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Source: https://www.moma.co.uk/public-domain-images/

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