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Guide to the Photo Archive and Database

👁 Image	👁 Image	How to Search the Photo Archive
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👁 Image	👁 Image	Browse Subject Areas
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👁 Image	👁 Image	Reproducing Photographs
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How to Access and Use the Photo Archive

How to Access

👁 Exterior of the Municipio Ex Castello Orsini (detail)

Exterior of the Municipio Ex Castello Orsini (detail), Monterotondo, Italy.
Foto Arte Minore. The Getty Research Institute, 86.P.8.
© J. Paul Getty Trust

👁 Image	👁 Image	The Photo Archive is a non-circulating collection, but holdings are available for on-site research by Stack Readers, Extended Readers, Getty staff, in-residence Getty scholars and fellows, and Getty interns. Initial appointments with a reference librarian are strongly encouraged for all levels of readers.
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👁 Image	👁 Image	Approximately 70% of the photographs are on open shelves; the rest of the archive, consisting primarily of intact collections, is stored in the Getty Research Library vaults.
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👁 Image	👁 Image	Photographs on the open shelves are divided primarily by historical/chronological period. Within each period, the photographs are arranged by medium. Library of Congress classification numbers have been assigned to each media category. These numbers can be found in advance of your visit through the Library Catalog.
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How to Use

👁 Image	👁 Image	The Archive may be viewed on L3 only. Before viewing the Archive, please sign one of the visitors' registers, which are located on the low counters near the entrance to either side of the Archive.
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👁 Image	👁 Image	If you have removed boxes from a shelf, please place them on one of the two carts designated for Photo Archive materials. Carts are located on each side of the Archive.
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👁 Image	👁 Image	Replace photographs exactly as you found them in the boxes. There is an internal order that is unique to each box. Handle the photographs with care and avoid touching the image side of the photos.
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👁 Image	👁 Image	Do not remove photographs from their plastic sleeves unless there are multiple photographs within the sleeve.
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How to Search the Photo Archive

Photo Archive Database

👁 Image	👁 Rooms of S. Filippo Neri / Hutzel
Rooms of S. Filippo Neri, Rome, Italy. Foto Arte Minore. The Getty Research Institute, 86.P.8. © J. Paul Getty Trust
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Approximately half the holdings in the Photo Archive are represented by descriptive, nonpictorial records in the Photo Archive Database. This database is available online to all users. Searchable by key word and artist name, the database is particularly useful for patrons conducting iconographic or thematic research as searches can be conducted across periods, styles, and media.

This research database is a work in progress, mostly comprising descriptive records. Images will be added to the database periodically.

Library Catalog

A number of unique, intact photograph collections that are of great value to researchers can be found through the Library Catalog. For more information about these intact collections, please contact the GRI.

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.

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

Photocopies

👁 Image	👁 Standing portrait of Catherine the Great / Unknown
Standing portrait of Catherine the Great, Study Photographs of Tapestries. The Getty Research Institute, 97.P.7
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As the Research Institute generally does not hold the copyright to the photographs in the Photo Archive, we cannot provide reproductions of our photographs or grant permission to publish except in rare cases. However, for study purposes we do permit photocopying of photographs shelved on the open stacks. A photocopy machine is located on L3. The cost is 10 cents per page for black-and-white copies.

Personal Photography and Scanning

👁 Image	👁 Image	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.
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👁 Image	👁 Image	Readers are permitted to take digital pictures for study purposes only. Use of a copy stand to take photographs from books or journals is available by advance appointment.
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👁 Image	👁 Image	Readers must be sensitive to others conducting research in the area. The Library reserves the right to request that readers cease taking photographs if the use disturbs other library users.
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👁 Image	👁 Image	Readers may NOT take pictures of staff members or other readers.
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For more information regarding the J. Paul Getty Trust's rights and reproductions policies, consult the Trust's Terms of Use.

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Have a Question about the Photo Archive?

👁 Contact the GRI	👁 Image	Contact the GRI
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👁 Contact Reproductions & Permissions	👁 Image	Contact Reproductions & Permissions
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👁 Subscribe to GRI News	👁 Image	Subscribe to GRI News
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URL: https://www.getty.edu/research/tools/photo/guide.html

⇱ Photo Archive and Database (Getty Research Institute)

How to Access and Use the Photo Archive

How to Access

How to Use

How to Search the Photo Archive

Photo Archive Database

Library Catalog

Browse Subject Areas

Reproducing Photographs

Photocopies

Personal Photography and Scanning

Have a Question about the Photo Archive?