Google Art Project. Virtual tour of the world's largest museums.

Last updated on 30 September 2023

Google Art Project is a crazy project signed by the giant of web research. To propose in a single place the works of all the museums of the world. No more and no less. Google has the means for the craziest projects. The site evolves by regularly enriching itself with new museums and new works. The base keeps growing.

Explore the works of the greatest museums with Google Art

Hundreds of thousands of works (paintings, sculptures, street art …) were scanned in high definition by Google technicians and are freely searchable on your computer screen. High-definition images in which you can zoom in to get as close as possible to the material of the works. Each of them is accompanied by‘an explanatory note linked by multiple links to works of the same period or of the same author. You will be able to get closer to the works than you could do in the museums where they are exhibited. Nice work.

Google Arts and Culture a real gold mine for teachers. It includes an extensive collection of works of art, historical photographs, archival documents and much more. You can use this resource to showcase famous artists, historical periods or specific artistic movements. For example, by studying the Impressionist movement, teachers can show their students masterpieces such as Vincent van Gogh’s La Nuit Étoilée or Claude Monet’s Les Nymphéas. Through detailed descriptions and high-quality images, students can dive into the heart of the artworks and learn about artistic techniques and styles.

Searching this huge database of works of art is easy and powerful. You can search through a museum, the name of a painter or a work. Everything is clear and fluid, you can use a magnifying glass to see a detail up close. You can also compare two works with one click. Google has used its street view technology to offer you a virtual visit of the end of the mouse in the rooms of many museums. You move around the rooms and can zoom in on the paintings hanging on the different walls. Bluffing.

Create a custom collection

In the Favorites section you can set up a kind of personal museum. Users can create their own personalised collection of works of art, photographs or documents.

You can use this feature to gather relevant resources for your classes and share them with your students. For example, a plastic arts teacher can create a collection on the Cubist movement in just a few clicks, selecting iconic works by Picasso, Braque and Gris. Students can then explore this collection and discuss the characteristics of this artistic movement.

Playing with great masterpieces

Another part of the Google Arts site that deserves a stop, the Games section. From online colouring albums to rebuses made with works of art, more than a dozen games are on offer.

The site does not forget the surge around artificial intelligence and offers a surprising riddle game that is particularly well done. The game shows you four paintings side by side. One of them does not exist and was generated by artificial intelligence. Unsettling.

Another amazing activity is the game "Art Handler". The aim is to transport works of art through a virtual gallery, encouraging students to develop their hand-eye coordination while discovering famous works of art. A playful approach to learning that should delight your students while strengthening their understanding of artistic concepts.

Explore cultural treasures near home

Another original idea of the site, the "Nearby" section. Google Arts and Culture invites you to discover the cultural treasures that are close to your school.

This feature is especially useful for teachers who want to enrich their courses by arranging field visits. For example, a history teacher can use this feature to find local museums that display artifacts from the period studied in class.

For the class

It is an exciting visual resource which is offered here to students regardless of their level. This virtual galerie is particularly conducive to simple or more complex research topics. The function to compare two tables is particularly interesting. That of being able to build his own galerie a real asset for a better personal investment of the students.

Google Arts and Culture is a valuable resource for teachers, students and beyond all art lovers.

Google Art Project is free and ad-free. The journey starts here.

Also read: 10 virtual tours in the largest museums