Databases
To make accessible to the greatest number the capital works of humanity, and first of all of France: to implement this fundamental mission, the Ministry of Culture, its institutions and institutional partners publish and animate on a daily basis a large number of databases and online resources for the general public, professionals and researchers. In this page, you will find a presentation of the main aggregators, followed by the list of databases presented by major field of cultural action.
«POP», the open heritage platform
The Open Heritage Platform (POP), launched in 2019, is a tool for disseminating cultural resources through notices documenting French cultural property: paintings, sculptures, architecture, art objects, photographs, illuminations - public or private property; property kept in French museums or libraries; property classified or registered as Historical Monuments, studied by the regional services of the General Inventory of Cultural Heritage, labeled Remarkable contemporary architecture, Remarkable garden or Houses of the Illustrious. POP also provides access to the directory of museums in France, the catalogue of stolen goods called MNR or the directories of authors.
Its more than 4 million records come from the main heritage databases of the Ministry of Culture (Illumination, Mona Lisa, MNR-Rose Valland, Museofile, Mérimée, Palissy, Mémoire, Autor...).
Some resources are available in open data on the open data platform of the Ministry of Culture.
Search engine Collections
Since 2007, the Collections search engine references more than 70 databases as well as numerous websites (more than 170) and virtual exhibitions (more than 680) from both the Ministry of Culture and partner sites. It provides direct online access to more than 7 million documents and more than 5 million iconographic resources. The Collections engine is one of the three main national aggregators of Europeana, the digital portal of European heritage.
Collectif Objets
On "Collectif Objets" you can find the list of protected objects Historical Monuments sheltered by your municipality.
Historical monuments are the history of our territories. A regular census makes it possible to identify in time the situations which require an intervention and to bring solutions adapted to the singularities of your municipality.
All databases, by field of cultural action
Arcade: the database of art acquisitions
The Arcade database traces the genesis and history of works of art acquired, commissioned or managed by the State and local authorities, from 1800 to 1969 and available from the National Archives. It is available in the Collections resource base.
Archim: an image bank of documents held at the National Archives
Archim is an image bank of documents held at the National Archives (Paris site - former Historical Center of the National Archives). It is available in the Collections resource base.
National Archives
The portal of the National Archives includes a dozen databases searchable in full text, separately or simultaneously and searchable at the National Archives in Paris.
National Archives: virtual room
Discover the resources of the National Archives through 31,000 inventories and more than 10 million images online.
Bora: the basis for archival research and guidance
This database will gradually give access to the description of all the collections held in the French public archives. It can be viewed from the Collections engine.
Capadoce: the shared catalog of documentation in Headquarters
Bibliographic catalogue containing all the documentary collections of the documentation centres of the Ministry of Culture and Communication (more than 115,000 bibliographic references). It is available in the Collections resource base.
Egérie: the historical centre of the archives
Documentation database.
FranceArchives: national archive portal
The FranceArchives portal makes it possible to find the references of historical and administrative archives preserved in France.
Archives des monuments historiques
Inventory of the heritage and photography media library
IREL: the online search tools of the Overseas National Archives
Research instruments of the Archives nationales d'outre mer which preserve the archives of the French colonial history and the French presence in Algeria.
IREL ANOM: the online search instruments of the French Overseas Archives (Algeria)
Archives from the ministries responsible for the seventeenth to twentieth centuries of the French colonial empire and local administrations of the former colonies and Algeria.
New France: French resources
Documentary collections and collections on French Canada (16th-18th centuries) preserved in France. It is available in the Collections resource base.
Léonore: the index of the Order of the Legion of Honour
390,000 records of holders of the Order of the Legion of Honor since the creation of the Order and died before 1977.
Manuscripts of the Central Library of National Museums
A collection of correspondence and various documents, artists, archaeologists (excavations of Egypt), curators, merchants, critics essentially of the nineteenth century.
Genealogy portal
The genealogy portal is an engine to query simultaneously a set of nominative databases, several million names. It collects the five pieces of information necessary to find the original document that gave rise to the nominative indexing by an archive service or an association of genealogists.
Priam 3: a database for the recording of archival deposits by the Archives nationales de Fontainebleau
The database lists all the archives kept by the Archives nationales de Fontainebleau since 1969. It is available in the Collections resource base.
Ulysses: Overseas National Archives
Digitized images of the French colonial empires. Photographs, posters, maps and plans kept at the Archives nationales d'outre-mer. 5,000 images. Accessible in the Collections resource base.
Mérimée: a database of French monumental heritage from prehistory to the present day
Database of French monumental and architectural heritage from prehistory to the present day (religious architecture, domestic, agricultural, school, military, industrial...). This database comprises three areas: the documentary resources produced by the regional services of the General Inventory of Cultural Heritage, the notices of each of the buildings, built or not built, classified or registered as Historical Monuments and notices of property with the label "Remarkable Contemporary Architecture" (ACR) or the label "Remarkable Garden". It is accessible via POP, the open heritage platform and the search engine Collections. Learn more
Palissy:database of French movable heritage from prehistory to the present day
Database of French movable heritage from prehistory to the present day (excluding museum collections in France). This database comprises two areas: the documentary resources produced by the regional services of the General Inventory of Cultural Heritage and the notices of each of the movable objects or buildings by destination classified or registered as Historical Monuments. It is accessible via POP, the open heritage platform and the engine Collections. Learn more.
Memory: graphic and photographic fonds illustrating French heritage
Graphic and photographic collections illustrating French heritage (studied by the General Inventory of Cultural Heritage or classified or registered as Historical Monuments) or received, preserved and/or constituted by the Médiathèque de l'architecture et du patrimoine (photographic archives). It is accessible via POP, the open heritage platform and the engine Collections. Learn more.
Autor: the author identification database
This database offers a directory of goldsmiths registered at the Garantie de Paris in the 20th century to help identify their hallmarks, a directory of glass painters, mostly active in the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as a directory of fund producers held at the Médiathèque de l'architecture et du patrimoine. It is accessible via POP, the open heritage platform and the engine Collections.
Archidoc: architectural documentation
The Archidoc database (architectural documentation) is composed of records from various documentary sources: bibliographical, printed sources, journals, manuscript or iconographic sources dealing with architecture and dating from the 19th and 20th centuries. It consists of approximately 75,000 notices containing each localized information (region, department, canton, commune, locality, address) on an architectural work, a movable object or a site and their actors (architects, contracting authorities, contractors, etc.). It can be downloaded from the Ministry of Culture’s open data platform.
ArchiRès: the library network of national schools of architecture and landscape
The Réseau francophone de bibliothèques d'écoles nationales supérieures d'architecture et de paysage and their partners offer more than 200,000 bibliographic records, 200 titles of specialized journals, 25 specialized libraries and teams of documentation professionals.
Library of architecture and heritage
The mission of the Médiathèque de l'architecture et du patrimoine (MAP) is to collect and compile, classify and preserve, study, communicate and enhance the archives and documentation of the administration of historic monuments, understood as monumental heritage, furniture and archaeological of France and the photographic heritage of the State. The MAP archives are described in two online databases:
- the new database of the archives of the MAP, which lists the main collections (protection files, works on historical monuments in the 19th and 20th centuries, plans) and is regularly enriched. This database is intended to present all the inventories of the MAP archives.
- the old database, known as Mediathek, which lists the holdings that are not yet accessible on the new MAP archive database.
During this transition period, it is necessary to consult both databases simultaneously. Mediatek remains accessible by the search engine Collections.
ArchiWebture: an inventory of architectural archives
Architectural Archive Collection of the Centre d'archives d'architecture du XXe siècle de la Cité de l'architecture et du patrimoine: more than 400 archival collections described, approximately 300 short or detailed inventories, and more than 20,000 accessible images. Some of these descriptions are extended by the 22 virtual exhibitions available on the website of the Cité de l'architecture et du patrimoine.
Synapse: resources from the Laboratory for Historical Monuments (LRMH)
The Digital System Applied to Heritage and its SciencEs (SYNAPSE) is composed of digital resources, available online or physically at the Resource Center of the Research Laboratory of Historical Monuments (LRMH), which brings together:
- a documentation centre: publications relating to research and studies on the problems of conservation and restoration of monuments and works of art.
- an archival collection: reports, results of studies and research conducted by laboratory researchers.
- an iconotheque: photographs and videos illustrating the reports and a particular photographic collection on the stones of monuments and quarries.
- knowledge bases: specific databases or laboratory funds on materials or related to restoration projects, instrumental analyses, etc.
The documentary portal of the National Heritage Institute (INP)
The documentary portal/catalogue of the INP’s collections consists of the collections of the documentary resource centre of the curatorial department and the library of the conservators department.
Views: stock images of monuments
The Images section of the Centre des monuments nationaux has an extensive collection for monuments, which the Centre des monuments nationaux opens to the public. These photographic collections form an exceptional documentary ensemble, regularly updated, both on architecture, mainly French, monumental or vernacular, but also on the collections preserved in monuments, whether paintings, drawings, sculptures or movable objects.
Sancti: a thesaurus of Christian iconography
The thesaurus of Christian iconography develops in a database form nearly 3,500 thermal baths useful for reading Christian representations (books of the Old Testament, episodes of the life of Christ, the Virgin and the saints). It was designed to identify scenes or characters. It can be downloaded from the Ministry of Culture’s open data platform.
TCMH: Contemporary techniques used in historical monuments.
Construction sites on historic monuments use varied and complex techniques, often innovative. The database provides access to simple information on the techniques or processes used. This resource is also available in the search engine Collections.
Thesaurus the designation of architectural works, and landscaped spaces
Thanks to its precise definitions, synonyms, references and hierarchical structuring in large domains, the thesaurus allows to name works belonging to the French architectural heritage. It can be downloaded from the Ministry of Culture’s open data platform.
Thesaurus of the designation of movable objects
Thanks to its precise definitions, synonyms, references and hierarchical structuring into major domains, the thesaurus can be used to denote property belonging to the French movable heritage or architectural elements. It can be downloaded from the Ministry of Culture’s open data platform
Scientific and technical vocabularies of the Ministry of Culture
Many scientific or technical vocabularies validated by cultural heritage professionals and periodically enriched are made available to all by the Ministry of Culture, in a homogeneous and centralized way.
A simple search tool allows you to search for concepts or terms present in the various vocabularies available. The search is done both on the vocabularies entries and in the notes and definitions associated with them.
The different concepts are accessible via the search form "Search the concept". It is also possible to access the vocabularies by producer service or by subject.
The vocabularies of the Ministry of Culture are produced in accordance with ISO 25964-1:2011 (Information and documentation - Thesaurus and interoperability with other vocabularies - Part 1: Thesaurus for documentary research). They can be downloaded in various formats, including SKOS, a language used to disseminate terminology on the web. They are also searchable by machines through a SPARQL Endpoint.
French Film Archive
Catalogue of 20,000 films from 1883 to the present day, including 17,000 feature and short fiction films, mainly French, including films deposited under the legal deposit since 1977 and also 3000 documentaries. Collected, inventoried and safeguarded by the CNC Heritage Department.
Images of culture: a catalogue of documentary films managed by the CNC
Images de la culture is a catalogue of documentary films managed by the CNC. It is aimed at cultural, social or educational organizations, very varied structures such as public libraries, permanent contracts of schools, museums, art schools, schools of architecture, festivals, associations, prisons... all those who carry out cultural activities in direct contact with the public.
Éduthèque: a public and educational service
Éduthèque is a public educational digital service for all primary and secondary school teachers and their students. It brings together structured educational resources with large public institutions of a cultural and scientific nature.
Milestones: the educational site of the National Audiovisual Institute
The National Audiovisual Institute offers free access for all teachers of the first and second degree to the full version of its educational site Jalons, including more than 1750 downloadable audiovisual documents from 1914 to the present day, from the filmed press, television and radio.
Agohra: the database of the National Institute of Art History
AGORHA provides online access to heritage and research databases in art history and archaeology produced by the National Institute of Art History (INHA) and its partners. It is available in the Collections resource base.
National Contemporary Art Fund
Database on works acquired by the State in 2000 (plastic arts, photographs, decorative arts, crafts, industrial creation)
Art images: the art image base of French museums
Images d'art offers the wealth of a base of 30,000 artists and hundreds of thousands of works to share and collect. This image database presents the works of French museums that the Photographic Agency of the Réunion des musées nationaux - Grand-Palais has digitized and documented.
History through the image
History through the image has given itself the ambition to enrich the knowledge of the past through works of art. This site is primarily intended for secondary school teachers and their students. Launched in November 2001 in co-production with the Ministry of Culture and Communication and with the support of the Ministry of Education, the site currently offers 2692 works, 1485 studies and 118 animations.
Media library of the Ecole nationale supérieure des beaux-arts de Paris
The media library of the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts de Paris offers a fund specializing in contemporary art. This site gives access to the public catalogue of printed matter, and to two of its online publications: the notices of articles of the Bulletin signalétique des arts plastiques and the professional information of the guide "Entrée des artistes". It has 80,000 records.
History of the Arts Portal
The History of the Arts portal offers free and open access to thousands of online resources, produced by qualified personnel of cultural structures, and covering all fields of artistic creation and heritage.
Today, with a network of more than 400 cultural partners (opera houses, theatres, museums, FRAC and art centres, cities and countries of art and history, resource centres for film education, circuses, departmental archives, libraries, CAUE, etc.)The History of the Arts portal, which is spread across the country, lists nearly 5,000 educational resources and is regularly enriched with the help of its many contributors.
Panorama of art
Published by the Réunion des musées nationaux – Grand Palais, Panorama de l'art covers the whole field of art history, from prehistory to the present day: architecture, sculptures, paintings, stained glass, tapestries, etc. Hundreds of images in large format and high quality for the simple pleasure of watching, comparing, discovering and dreaming.
Tell me ten words: an operation to raise awareness of the French language
This campaign to raise awareness of the French language leads everyone to have fun and express themselves in literary or artistic forms from September to June. Every year, a theme leading to a message on the French language and ten words illustrating it are chosen by the various francophone partners: France, Belgium, Quebec, Switzerland and the International Organization of La Francophonie.
FranceTerme: the basis for the terms recommended in the Official Journal of the French Republic
This permanently updated database is devoted to terms recommended in the Official Journal of the French Republic. It brings together a set of recent terms from different scientific and technical fields and does not constitute a general language dictionary. Some of these terms have become common. The use of the terms recommended by the French language enrichment scheme is mandatory for the administration, but everyone can adopt them. Over 6,000 records
Calvet Barometer of World Languages:
Collective catalogue of national museum libraries
Collective catalogue of books and periodicals in the 24 libraries of national museums. Over 380,000 records, updated quarterly.
Catalogue of the Kandinsky Library - National Museum of Modern Art
Documentation and Research Centre of the National Museum of Modern Art - Centre for Industrial Creation. 225,000 bibliographic records.
General catalogue of the BnF
15 million bibliographic records, 5.9 million authority records and 17 million copies.
Catalogue of the Public Information Library - BPI – Centre Pompidou
A public reading library, the Bpi is for anyone seeking information or training, whether for personal, professional, academic or academic motivation.
Catalogue collectif de France: an instrument for locating references and a directory of French documentary resources
The collective catalogue of France (CCFr) locates more than 40 million documents in French libraries and provides access to the National Directory of Libraries and Documentary Collections (RNBFD)
Illuminations: access to reproductions of medieval illuminations and decorative elements
The Enluminures database offers free consultation of more than 100,000 digital reproductions of illuminations and decorative elements from more than 8,000 medieval or incunabula painted manuscripts preserved in a hundred French municipal libraries, in museums, archives, etc.
Gallica: the BnF digital library
Gallica is the digital library of the BnF. Several million documents can be consulted and downloaded for free: books, manuscripts, maps and plans, prints, photographs, posters, magazines...
Malraux: the bibliographic collections under the Ministry of Culture
Bibliographic collections of several libraries and documentation centres of directorates and institutions of the Ministry of Culture
Twenty years of building public libraries in Rhône-Alpes 1986 – 2005
250 municipal, intercommunal or departmental libraries built with the help of the State in Rhône-Alpes. A descriptive sheet illustrated on each equipment made.
Muséofile, directory of museums of France
More than 1,200 museums benefit from the name «Musée de France» within the meaning of the Heritage Code. Muséofile is the official directory. The data can be accessed on POP, the open heritage platform and on data.culture.gouv.fr.
Base Joconde, collective catalogue of the collections of the museums of France
Joconde is the collective catalogue of the collections of the museums of France, rich of more than 600.000 notices of works in majority illustrated. The information is online on POP, an open heritage platform, and an extraction is available on data.culture.gouv.fr.
Online collections catalogues: Musée de France
This directory lists the online catalogues of museums in France that widely disseminate their collections on the Internet on collective sites - on national, regional or municipal portals - or on their own site.
Online collections catalogues: international museums
This directory offers a selection of sites of international museums that have decided to make their collections accessible online significantly. Resources from more than 45 countries are listed.
Specialized resources on heritage collections
This selection presents useful resources for the study and enhancement of heritage collections, posted online by various institutions or associations worldwide.
Louvre-Atlas: the database to consult all the works exhibited at the Louvre
Atlas is a database that allows you to consult all the works exhibited in the museum, more than 25,000 works. It is available in the Collections resource base.
MNR: National Museums Recovery
«Musée Nationaux Récupération» brings together 2000 works of art recovered in Germany after the Second World War. It is available in the Collections resource base.
Meeting of the National Museums: a photographic repertoire
Photographic images of works in national museums and several regional museums. More than 400,000 documents. Searchable from the Collections engine.
CDMC: Catalogue of the Centre de documentation de la musique contemporaine de Paris
More than 20,000 documents relating to contemporary music, including numerous sound recordings and unpublished scores.
Collections of the Museum of Music
The media library includes the catalogueinstruments and works of art (more than 7,000 detailed records of musical instruments), photographs, recordings (more than 100 recorded instruments), instrument factors, archives and varnishes (a base of old varnish recipes). Searchable from the Collections engine.
IRCAM Media Library: Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique
Online Resource Base
Library of the Institute of Research and Coordination Acoustics/ Music.
Hector Berlioz Library - Conservatoire de Paris
Since 1990, when the Conservatoire was installed on the site of La Villette, the Médiathèque Hector Berlioz offers an extensive collection of multimedia documents on music and dance. Educational funds and heritage funds are thus combined for the benefit of students and teachers of the institution, but also any external researcher looking for very specific resources.185,000 printed and audiovisual documents.
Médiathèque Nadia Boulanger - Conservatoire national supérieur musique et danse Lyon
The library now holds more than 99,000 copies. A resource centre for musical and choreographic education and research, the Nadia Boulanger Library welcomes students, professors, musicologists and researchers. It raises funds: Nadia Boulanger, Jean Martinon, H. Mondon, Henry de Rouville, Xavier Darasse, Monsieur Béthenod, Jane Bathori and Roger Accart.
Catalogue of digitized collections - Digital heritage
The online catalogue of digitized cultural heritage describes the digitized collections and the associated multimedia productions (website, dévédérom, cd-rom...). It lists the institutions behind digitization projects in France. You are interested in the Middle Ages or the 20th century, a civil status to build your family tree or the heritage of your region, the catalog can help you search, indicate where to find. The catalogue is the national component of the European Michael project. It can be viewed from the Collections engine.
Catalogue of studies on the conservation of cultural properties
Technical studies carried out at the request of the Ministry of Culture.
PCI Lab: collaborative platform for the inventory of intangible cultural heritage in France
PCI Lab presents the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage (soon 500 items) in the form of a database offering research, enhancement and enrichment features.
Arago: the portal of photography
Arago aims to offer free and direct access on the Internet to all collections of photographs kept in France. - The Arago site has closed for redesign; it will reopen soon.
PhoCem: database of MuCEM photographic collections
Database of the photographic collections of the MuCEM (Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations). 191,000 records and 57,000 images, viewable from the Collections engine.
Directory of performing arts
Collections of theatre and performing arts held in French, public and private institutions. 1700 records. 800 establishments represented. Searchable from the Collections engine.
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