I lie. That is not actually my credo, though I am often in the company of those who are all about the free stuff. I generally go by the rule that you get what you pay for. However, in this case, the fact that it’s free is not an indication of the freebie’s worth. The Metropolitan Museum Of Art has released for non-commercial or scholarly use nearly 400,000 digital images. There are historical pictures, pictures of landmarks and famous people, photos of art works and ancient artifacts. You can search for something specific, or you can filter by artist, culture, method, material, geography, era, and/or department.  You name it, they’ve got it.  Even if you don’t need anything, it’s truly a joy to just browse.

“Through this new, open-access policy, we join a growing number of museums that provide free access to images of art in the public domain,” Campbell said in a statement. “I am delighted that digital technology can open the doors to this trove of images from our encyclopedic collection.”  – Met Director and CEO Thomas P. Campbell

I am loving this recent trend of museums providing free online access to images of art in the public domain, and I think they deserve our support more than ever for encouraging fair use of these works.

Bookmark this link and browse at your leisure. It’s my new favorite zen activity.

http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online

You can also subscribe to receive a new work in your inbox every day!

http://www.metmuseum.org/collection