NICE Paintings contains detailed records of over 8,000 pre-1900 Continental European oil paintings from 200 public collections across the United Kingdom. From early Italian altarpieces to landscapes by the Impressionists, the work of hundreds of artists, famous and obscure, has been revealed by our researchers, working with curators in museums large and small, in cities, towns and country houses across the land.

Over 2,500 are illustrated with digital colour images, and more images are being added regularly. This pioneering database is the first phase of a project to bring together in one searchable catalogue all 22,000 old master paintings in UK museums.

You can search for paintings in many ways, by artist, subject, and date, or by looking for public collections in your own region. You can look for the works owned by particular collectors, or shown in particular exhibitions. You can create your own collections of ‘NICE Paintings’ for future use.