Cardiff’s cultural scene just got an incredible, permanent upgrade! Amgueddfa Cymru—National Museum Wales, has made a brilliant move, releasing over 2,000 high-quality images from the national collection into the public domain on the new Amgueddfa Cymru Images digital platform.
This ambitious initiative puts Wales on par with some of the world’s most prestigious institutions, including the Natural History Museum, the Smithsonian, the Rijksmuseum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in making its vast collections openly accessible to everyone.
The new platform offers an extraordinary window into Wales’ rich artistic, historical and natural heritage. Visitors can browse captivating galleries featuring masterpieces by iconic artists such as Van Gogh, Monet and Renoir. Beyond these world-renowned artworks, the collection includes historic photographs that tell stories of people and places across Wales, alongside a diverse array of objects from the national collection itself.
From the delicate beauty of the museum’s Blaschka glass models of sea creatures to historic landscapes of North Wales, and even a cherished collection of Monet’s Waterlilies – famously left behind by the philanthropic Davies Sisters, there’s something to inspire every interest. The platform also boasts hundreds of images reflecting Welsh history and daily life, including intricate lovespoons, traditional clothing and colourful quilts, alongside rare historic photographs captured by some of Wales’ earliest lensmen. The range of images truly reflects the comprehensive nature of Wales’ national collection, spanning natural history, archaeology, social history and industrial heritage.
Free for All: Your Gateway to Welsh Heritage
Thanks to Amgueddfa Cymru’s new Open Access Policy, anyone can now download medium-resolution images from the site completely free of charge, for both commercial and non-commercial use. This means the collection is truly yours to explore, use and enjoy. Whether for scholarly research, to adorn the website of a local pub or for television and film productions – all without the need for fees or additional approvals.
Dr. Kath Davies, Director of Collections and Research at Amgueddfa Cymru, expressed the museum’s excitement about this new chapter:
“The national collection belongs to everyone, and we are thrilled to launch Amgueddfa Cymru Images which offers another way we can share the national collection and stories of Wales. We particularly hope that schools and educational institutions following the Curriculum for Wales will use this free tool to support their work. We look forward to seeing how it will be used.”
Dr. Davies added, “This is only the beginning. We’re delighted to be launching with more than 2,000 images, and will be continuing to add more images to the platform and to digitise new content. We’re also keen to collaborate with other institutions to reach as many people as we can and continue to share and encourage learning and enjoyment through the national collection.”
Ready to explore?
Amgueddfa Cymru Images can be accessed https://images.museumwales.ac.uk
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