Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET) in New York announced that they’re making 375,000 images – scans of artwork in their gallery – available as Public Domain images (Free to use).

These images are scans of their content, which is a copyright-free content of their artwork. Every images is available as an image under “Creative Commons” license. What it means is that you can use these images for personal as well as commercial purposes. You can also edit them and use just parts of images.

When making an announcement, Mr. Campbell – Director and CEO of The Metropolitan Museum of Art – said:

“We have been working toward the goal of sharing our images with the public for a number of years.
Our comprehensive and diverse museum collection spans 5,000 years of world culture and our core mission is to be open
and accessible for all who wish to study and enjoy the works of art in our care.
Increasing access to the Museum’s collection and scholarship serves the interests and needs of our 21st-century
audiences by offering new resources for creativity, knowledge, and ideas.
We thank Creative Commons, an international leader in open access and copyright, for being a partner in this effort.”

All these images are now available through search on Creative Commons website.

source: Metropolitan Museum of Art.