Update on Google Art Project / World Wonders / Cultural Institute

I posted some time ago about Google Art Project, in which Google did a “street view”-like walk through of international museums. They have also done this at archaeological sites, in a set of locations now called Google World Wonders.  Here’s a list of museums and sites relevant to the classical world that now have detailed access through these projects, now collected under the umbrella of Google Cultural Institute:

World Wonders

• Archaeological Areas of Pompeii (Italy)
• Archaeological Ensemble of Merida (Spain)
• Archaeological Ensemble of Tarraco (Spain)
• Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls (Israel)
• Old Town of Segovia and its Aquaduct (Spain)
• Roman Walls of Lugo (Spain)
• Temple of Hercules (Rome, Italy)
• Temple of Portunus (Rome, Italy)
• Villa Adriana, Tivoli (Italy)

I may have missed some European cities with Roman-era stuff – there are a lot of “Old City of X” (especially in Spain) and I don’t know my Roman Europe well enough to know all the cities that may have visible architecture (if I’ve missed a doozy, please say so in comments!) There are a LOT more, from multiple parts of the world; if you teach world history or art history at all, it’s well worth a scan for classroom tools. Makes me want to plan some trips!

Art Project museums:

• Archaeologisches Museum Hamburg
• Museo del Vetro, Venice (roman glass)
• Acropolis Museum, Athens
• Altes Museum, Staatlisches Museen de Berlin 
• Benaki Museum of Greek Civilization
• Munzkabinett, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden (coins!)
• Musei Capitolini, Rome
• Museo Arqueologico de Alicante 
• Museo Arqueologico Nacional (Madrid)
• Museo Nacional de Arqueologica Subacuatica (Spain)
• Museo Nacional de Arte Romana (Merida, Spain)
• Museum of Cycladic Art (Athens)
• National Archaeological Museum of Ferrara (Italy)
• Numismatic Museum (Athens)
• Pergamonmuseum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

Note that not every display or object in a given museum is included; these are generally selections from the collections. There are 290 museums in total and I haven’t looked at all of them for relevance – there are lots of large city and national museums that probably include a few items from the ancient Mediterranean.  Coverage is thoroughly international, with especially good coverage of Europe, North America, and Asia. Have a look!

Google Art Project: Cool, but Little Ancient Material

The buzz on twitter yesterday was Google Art Project, a new Google project (what will those people think of next!) that takes the Google Street View idea indoors – one can “walk” through the galleries of about 15 wonderful museums worldwide, getting a sense of the entire rooms, and then focus in on some specific artworks.  It’s a must-see if you teach any kind of art history classes, and well worth looking at for archaeologists, historians, and humanities folks generally.

What’s good:

• Great list of museums, with good international coverage: Versailles, Hermitage, Uffizi.
• Incredible detail for some of the artworks.  Try looking at a van Gogh on maximum zoom – never mind the brushstrokes, you can see the weave of the canvas!
• Especially valuable for museums like the Frick (and many others) where the room itself, the experience of works of art in an architectural setting, with furniture and decor, is a big component of the visitor experience.

What I’d improve if it were mine:

• For museums you don’t already know, it’s not easy to figure out where to look for art you’re interested in.  In many museums, the galleries have room numbers that tell nothing about their contents, so you have to browse through all of them to see what, if anything, you want to see is there. (There is a “room description” but it’s at least 2 clicks to get there.)
• Not all the art is included in the super-zoom (which is understandable, but seeing the art on the walls makes you want to zoom!)
• Heavy focus on western European (and American) museums and western European painting (medieval-modern).  I’d love to see a more worldwide focus, and a broader time horizon. More, more more!
• I find “walking” through the rooms a little tricky – it’s like a drunk person is operating my cursor.  This may be user error (though I promise I am not drunk.)

Specifically of interest to classicists/archaeologists:

• Egypt galleries at the Met are included, as are Africa, Oceania, and Asia; classical galleries are not.
• Some classical artworks at the Hermitage are included.
• The Freer has a pretty extensive Asian collection included.
• Anything I missed?  Let me know in comments.