How do I identify a painting with no signature?

Work from the image instead. Describe the subject, setting, palette, and mood in plain language and search on that. Semantic search compares your description against the visual content of 68,816 NGA works, so an unsigned or illegibly signed picture is no obstacle.

Can I identify a painting from a photo?

Not directly in the public app, which takes text only. Describe what the photo shows and search on that description. For true reverse-image lookup, try a visual search engine or post the photo to a community such as r/WhatIsThisPainting.

I inherited a painting. How do I find out what it is?

Start by describing it here to see whether it matches, or closely resembles, a documented work in the National Gallery of Art collection. Many inherited pictures turn out to be period copies or prints after a known composition, and finding that composition is the useful first step. Attribution and valuation of your specific object need a conservator or auction-house specialist.

Does a match mean I own that painting?

No. A close visual match usually means your picture shares a composition with the work shown, which is common for copies, studio versions, engravings, and reproductions. Retrievals identifies compositions, not individual objects.

Which museum collection does Retrievals search?

The National Gallery of Art open-access collection in Washington, D.C., 68,816 objects released under Creative Commons Zero.

Yes. Retrievals is free to use with no account or subscription required.

What languages can I search in?

Retrievals accepts natural-language queries in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, and Chinese. The semantic index is language-agnostic.

Does Retrievals save my searches?

No accounts and no saved searches. Results may restore in the same browser tab for up to 12 hours via session storage, but nothing is stored on a server.

Back to Search

Identification

Identify a painting
from what you can see

An inherited canvas, an unreadable signature, a half-remembered museum wall. Identification starts with description: put down what is actually in the picture and Retrievals will find the closest matches across 68,000 works in the National Gallery of Art's open collection.

Describe the painting you want to identify

Try an example

How it works

Describe the work as a stranger would see it, not as a catalogue would file it. Subject first, then setting, then light and colour, then mood. Style and period labels are the least useful thing you can type, because they are the part you are least likely to have right.

Retrievals embeds your description and every artwork in the collection into the same vector space, so matching happens on meaning rather than on words appearing in a title. That is why a description with no proper nouns in it can still land on the right work.

If the match is in the collection you will usually see it in the first screen of results. Open the artwork page for the full record, then follow the link to the National Gallery of Art's own catalogue entry for provenance, medium, dimensions, and credit line. If nothing fits, the work may simply be outside this collection: Retrievals covers the NGA open-access dataset, not every museum.

Frequently asked questions

How do I identify a painting with no signature?: Work from the image instead. Describe the subject, setting, palette, and mood in plain language and search on that. Semantic search compares your description against the visual content of 68,816 NGA works, so an unsigned or illegibly signed picture is no obstacle.
Can I identify a painting from a photo?: Not directly in the public app, which takes text only. Describe what the photo shows and search on that description. For true reverse-image lookup, try a visual search engine or post the photo to a community such as r/WhatIsThisPainting.
I inherited a painting. How do I find out what it is?: Start by describing it here to see whether it matches, or closely resembles, a documented work in the National Gallery of Art collection. Many inherited pictures turn out to be period copies or prints after a known composition, and finding that composition is the useful first step. Attribution and valuation of your specific object need a conservator or auction-house specialist.
Does a match mean I own that painting?: No. A close visual match usually means your picture shares a composition with the work shown, which is common for copies, studio versions, engravings, and reproductions. Retrievals identifies compositions, not individual objects.
Which museum collection does Retrievals search?: The National Gallery of Art open-access collection in Washington, D.C., 68,816 objects released under Creative Commons Zero.
Is Retrievals free?: Yes. Retrievals is free to use with no account or subscription required.
What languages can I search in?: Retrievals accepts natural-language queries in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, and Chinese. The semantic index is language-agnostic.
Does Retrievals save my searches?: No accounts and no saved searches. Results may restore in the same browser tab for up to 12 hours via session storage, but nothing is stored on a server.

Other ways to search

Find a Painting by Description

Describe what you remember: a mood, a scene, a colour, and find it across 68,000 National Gallery of Art works. No artist name or title needed.

Find Similar Paintings and Artworks

Find artworks that look and feel like one you already know. Search 68,000 National Gallery of Art works by visual and semantic similarity rather than by artist or period.

Or browse by movement

Dutch Golden Age Impressionism American Realism Romanticism

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