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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Half a Million Records on Early 20th-Century German Art Market Added to Getty Provenance Index®
After four years of work, the Getty Provenance Index® has greatly expanded its database of German art sales catalogs, adding nearly 570,000 records of artwork sales for the years 1900 to 1929. This expansion, adding to existing records for the years 1930 to 1945, gives researchers in provenance and the art market unprecedented information on… Read more
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DH Monday: Digital Humanities in the Classroom
Last week’s DH Monday’s post featured The Programming Historian, with digital tools, techniques, and workflow tutorials that (among other uses) could be used in courses for skill building and project development. We’d like to elaborate on that with Art History Teaching Resources (AHTR), a great resource when your looking for lessons or activities for courses… Read more
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The Night Watch restoration live
This month the Rijksmuseum is launching its massive restoration of Rembrandt’s Night Watch. The team is posting regular videos and offering live chats with conservators, among other content-sharing of the complex work involved. The research phase begins today (July 5). More coverage in the Guardian. Among the rich offerings on the website is the section… Read more
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DH Monday: The Programming Historian
The Programming Historian is a resource of novice-friendly, peer-reviewed tutorials that help humanists learn a wide range of digital tools, techniques, and workflows to facilitate research and teaching. Use lessons to teach your self new technical skills, understand how humanists are using new digital tools, methods, and research processes, or use them in courses for… Read more
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DH Monday: PLATFORM – A digital forum for conversations about buildings, spaces, and landscapes
History of Art & Architecture’s Professor Swati Chattopadhyay announces the just-launched digital venue for conversation on buildings, spaces and landscapes, with creators and founding editors Chattopadhyay, Marta Gutman, Zeynep Kezer, and Matthew Lasner: PLATFORM. PLATFORM is an open digital venue for exchanging new ideas about working with, researching, teaching, and writing about buildings, spaces, and… Read more
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ArchDaily’s Sustainability Glossary: G-H-I
Since architects and designers [and architectural historians!] carry a responsibility of building a substantial future, ArchDaily has put together an A-Z list of every sustainability term that you might come across. Every week, a new set of letters will be published, helping you stay well-rounded on everything related to sustainable architecture and design. Here are… Read more