Named after the small red sticker that once guided scholars through legacy 35mm slides, The Red Dot is here to help you navigate the ever-evolving landscape of visual and material research. While rooted in the University of California, Santa Barbara community, our posts are open to all.
At MIRL, we engage with art history, digital humanities, and material culture through hands-on research and archival projects. Guided by our core principles—critical engagement with visual and material culture, ethical stewardship of images and data, and innovative approaches to research and pedagogy—we work at the intersection of technology and the humanities. We are especially interested in how digital tools can expand the study of images, objects, and spaces.
Here, we’ll share insights on Digital Art History and Architectural History, highlight new image and data resources, discuss copyright and ethical considerations, and spotlight events that shape our field.
The Red Dot © 2025 is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0
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East African photo collection now online
The Humphrey Winterton Collection of East African Photographs, housed in the Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies at Northwestern University, is now online and accessible to the public. This rare collection includes roughly 7,610 photographs, 230 glass lantern slides, and various additional materials from 1860 to 1960. Read more
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Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz online exhibitions
The Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz announced a new online exhibition on The Cloister of Monreale. The exhibition offers general views of the cloister but it’s the extensive details of the capitals that make it worth seeing. Clicking on each detail opens a bit bigger image, but to get an even better view, follow the “full-size”… Read more
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New Acropolis Museum opens
After years of planning, and decades of debate, The New Acropolis Museum opened its doors on Saturday. The concrete and glass museum, designed by Bernard Tschumi, stands near the foot of the Acropolis and offers a view of the Parthenon — a visual argument by the Greek government that the Parthenon sculptures (previously known as… Read more
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Rubens etching found in Rome
A Peter Paul Rubens etching lost to scholars for over 170 years has been rediscovered in Rome. The work was based on Leonardo’s Last Supper and is believed to be one of the few etchings made by the artist himself. via ansa.it [Note: link now restricts access] Read more
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Long Beach Museum of Art forced to sell art?
The LA Times reported last Friday that the Long Beach Museum of Art appears to be in dire financial straits due to a $3-million bond debt due to the city in September. The city is threatening a takeover of the museum and to sell works of art to cover the debt. To address this issue,… Read more
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ARTstor release and collection announcements
It seems ARTstor has been very busy lately. Two agreements have been reached with the following organizations: Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros (CPPC): to release “hundreds” of images covering colonial, modern, and contemporary Latin American art (no specific number at this time) The National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC: to share over 600 images of… Read more