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The Met releases high-def 3D scans of 140 famous art objects
- toomuchtodo 7mo agohttps://www.thisiscolossal.com/2026/03/metropolitan-museum-of-art-3d-models-art-history/ https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2026/03/metropolitan-museum-o... https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search?showOnly=has3d&offset=0 https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search?showOnly=has...
- xattt 7mo agoI see the “spinning” view in browser, but I don’t see an option to download the STLs. Edit: It appears the usdz AR file can be converted to obj/stl files.
- alecail 7mo agoEach of the models is available in fbx, usdz and glb if you dig a bit in the page. It's in a json file named masters
- jandrese 7mo agoIt's kind of annoying that the 3D viewer on their website keep you a respectful distance away from the object like you might try to touch it if you got too close.
- knolan 7mo agoIt works really well with the AR viewer on mobile Safari.
- LeifCarrotson 7mo agoInteresting, on desktop Firefox I can barely zoom in past the point that the object fills the FOV. I want to be permitted to navigate up close to a point where I can see the pixels and triangle meshes, as if I was a millimeter away from some brush stroke or chisel mark, and then back out just a bit.
- Uncorrelated 7mo agoFor anyone wondering, you can access this by tapping the button showing a 3D cube at the bottom left of the 3D viewer. The button may be cut off if you're viewing in a web view in another app like I was. The AR viewer runs with a much higher frame rate and you can get closer to the model. However the lighting is significantly worse, which ruins the appeal. The in-browser viewer is choppy and I can feel my phone getting a little warm, but it looks a lot more like viewing the real artifacts.
- RobotToaster 7mo agoDoesn't seem to be an option on Firefox android
- dagmx 7mo agoThe AR viewer is using ARKit on iOS which is a default system “app”. I don’t believe Google provides the same kind of built in viewer experience with AR Core being surfaced as an app.
- virgil_disgr4ce 7mo agoIt appears they arbitrarily limit the zoom such that the object stays within the browser frame. On my gigantic monitor I can get super close. Lame that they set it to stop like that
- minihoster 7mo agoAnyone know how the material roughness/metallic is captured? For instance here https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/253348 https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/253348. I've only seen basic albedo for 3D scans before. Maybe it's just hand-authored.
- utopiah 7mo agoNo idea what they used but I know that in Brussels they use CultArm3D FT20 by https://verus.digital https://verus.digital basically a camera on a robot arm.
- alecail 7mo agoFrom what I saw in that file and a few others (in USDZ), the metalness is not captured. It's in 0/1_b.jpg , and the file is always pure white. You are only seeing roughness I opened them in Houdini and it translates to a USDPreview material, with those PBR channels connected: basecolor, roughness (decent map), metallic (no data, juste white) and normal map (decent map too)
- jonhohle 7mo ago> Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee. > > To request images under copyright and other restrictions, … If these are available as public domain with unrestricted use without fee, what is the use case for requesting a version under copyright with restrictions?
- dfxm12 7mo agoNot everything is open access data and public domain images. This image is tagged open access & public domain: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/321937 https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/321937 This image is not: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/492371 https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/492371
- kaizenb 7mo agoNo idea. But I've integrated their API to a commercial project (https://bookmarker.cc https://bookmarker.cc) without any issues. Users are exploring The Met Collection and save images to their library directly in the app. > Through The Met Collection API, users can connect to a live feed of all Creative Commons Zero (CC0) data and 406,000 images from the The Met collection, all available for use without copyright or restriction. The Met Collection API is another foundational step in our Open Access program, helping make the Museum's collection one of the most accessible, discoverable, and useful on the internet. The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can now connect to the most up-to-date data and images of artworks in The Met collection, representing five thousand years of human history. source: https://www.metmuseum.org/perspectives/met-collection-api-2 https://www.metmuseum.org/perspectives/met-collection-api-2
- cwillu 7mo agoImages 1, 2, 3 are under open access Images 4, 5, 6 are still under copyright Images 7, 8, 9 have usage restrictions
- mkl 7mo agoYou misread it. The things that are public domain are available under that. The other things which are (still) under copyright are available under different terms.
- utopiah 7mo agoGreat use of WebXR. Works well both on the Vision Pro (USDz format) and Meta Quest (glTF binary format). That being said without the right mediation, without some context... unless you already are an expert in the domain what's the point?
- infocollector 7mo agoDoes anyone know where the STL/OBJ files for the 3d models are at?
- Stevvo 7mo agoThe original article is https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2026/03/metropolitan-museum-of-art-3d-models-art-history/ https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2026/03/metropolitan-museum-o... Not sure why that is not linked, instead we have an AI generated SEO spam page.
- PaulHoule 7mo agoFor what it's worth I thought the modal dialog on the original was worse than the pop-over ad on the copy.
- corndoge 7mo agoYou have no basis to claim that this is AI generated content
- roughly 7mo agoOpenCulture's been around for a long time and has been a pretty good aggregator for interesting things in art and culture.
- teachrdan 7mo agoAny recommendations for art objects worth 3D printing at home? Bonus points if it would appeal to a grade schooler.
- voxleone 7mo agoThese scans seem perfect for fabrication experiments. I’ve been trying a workflow where the mesh is inverted and used to generate a 3D-printed mold, then I gelcast zirconia ceramic into it and sinter it. The result is a dense ceramic version of the sculpture. If you downscale the models they work well as small desktop statues or relief friezes, and ceramic casting can preserve surprisingly fine detail from the scan.
- danielvaughn 7mo agoGlad this was one of the objects captured, it's absolutely stunning to see in person: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/24671 https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/24671 I wish they had captured one of their Faberge eggs; those are almost more impressive.
- markdown 7mo agoIncredible. Why isn't it in France?
- thot_experiment 7mo agoThe museum helpfully has a "Provenance" tab that gives you the answer to this question. (the answer in this case is market capitalism)
- danielvaughn 7mo agoNot sure, but there's also a Van Gogh in that 3D collection, you could ask the same question for that one.
- deleted 7mo ago[deleted]
- deleted 7mo ago[deleted]
- RobotToaster 7mo agoProbably the same reason there are french imperial eagles in British museums.
- JasonADrury 7mo agoThe provenance according to the Met: >Henry II, King of France (until d. 1559); >Carl August, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Residenzschloss, Weimar (by 1804–d. 1828); >by descent to Wilhelm Ernst, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Residenzschloss, Weimar, later Schloss Heinrichau, Lower Silesia, Germany (now Henryków, Poland) (1901–d. 1923); >his widow, Feodora, Grand Duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Schloss Heinrichau (1923–1929; >sold in May, 1929, to Kahlert & Sohn); >[E. Kahlert & Sohn, Berlin, 1929; >sold on December 14, 1929, for $135,000, to Sir Joseph Duveen for Mackay]; >Clarence H. Mackay, New York (1929–d. 1939; his estate, 1939, inv. no. A-17; >sold through Jacques Seligmann & Co. on May 15, 1939, to MMA). Unfortunately, this does not answer "why did it leave France?" However, the book "Merchants of Art, 1880-1960: Eighty Years of Professional Collecting" (1961) by the rather famous art dealer Germain Seligman offers this missing link: >Parade armor of King Henri II, embossed, damascened and gilded. Later presented by King Louis XIII to Bernhard von Weimar.
- bilsbie 7mo agoI wanted to try printing one but so far all of them seem like they’d be kind of disturbing to display in my house.
- gpm 7mo agoThis one maybe? https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/544887 https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/544887 Fill the base with concrete and use it as a bookend?
- callumprentice 7mo agoTrivial to see the raw GLB files in a Viewer that gives you a bit more control. https://github.khronos.org/glTF-Sample-Viewer-Release/?model=https://api.vntana.com//assets/products/7431e6e3-5a90-4e1d-b2e7-816c981e5cea/organizations/The-Metropolitan-Museum-of-Art/clients/masters/dc109b64-de74-4d88-afb4-a0d6176ec37a.glb https://github.khronos.org/glTF-Sample-Viewer-Release/?model...
- RobotToaster 7mo agoThe way most museum 3d viewers don't provide a download button always seemed a little odd to me.
- Geonode 7mo agoTrying to capitalize on merchandising, even though it's all public domain.
- dagmx 7mo agoThat’s a really unfavourable view for what is a likely an oversight in UI design.
- Geonode 7mo agoIt's well established. Most public websites for museums have galleries of high res scans, and they're mostly all trying to keep you from downloading it. There are lots of tools out there to circumvent them, however.
- dagmx 7mo agoThis is a tautology and one at odds with itself. They simultaneously provide the high res scans but you think there’s a conspiracy to keep you from them. Why provide them in the first place then?
- deleted 7mo ago
- IAmNotACellist 7mo agoHere's a little script to download all the publicly available scans (135) as GLBs and stick the metadata in a JSON. The scans are all CC0 (public domain) https://github.com/InconsolableCellist/met_scans https://github.com/InconsolableCellist/met_scans
- thot_experiment 7mo agoanyone wanna throw up a magnet link for this so we don't hammer their website unnecessarily?
- reverius42 7mo agoIt's only a few hundred MB, and hopefully they're using a CDN.
- dyauspitr 7mo agoFor someone that doesn’t know about this, how does a CDN help? Don’t they still have to pay for all the data downloaded even if it’s hosted on a CDN. I thought the whole purpose of a CDN was just to make access quicker and had nothing to do with saving on bandwidth costs.
- petcat 7mo ago> hammer their website unnecessarily This is what a CDN will prevent
- petcat 7mo agomaybe you could throw up a magnet link
- reverius42 7mo agoThank you! Going to try to 3d print some of these and see how they come out.
- disqard 7mo ago
- beckerdo 7mo agoAbsolutely beautiful scans. Thanks Met. Wonderful art that brightened my day.
- themarogee 7mo ago[flagged]
- Eduard 7mo ago> high-def 3D scans maybe 15, 20 years ago. I especially found the glossy shader goofy. No authentic replication, more 2000s gaming vibes. they should use gaussian splatting instead
- dmarcos 7mo agoI wish they would also publish the source images used to generate the 3D representation so people can recreate with other techniques.
- mturilin 7mo agoHow easy is it to 3D print them?
- dagmx 7mo agoYou’d have to convert them from GLB or USDZ to something your sliver of choice understands. Bambulabs app will directly read the USDZ if you’re on a Mac for example.
- Chronoz99 7mo agoThis data needs to be reprocessed to make 3D gaussian splats instead.
- Chronoz99 7mo agoCompare those scans to this splat for example: https://superspl.at/scene/d10c5638 https://superspl.at/scene/d10c5638 The visual quality is unbeatable for 3D reconstruction IMO.
- junglistguy 7mo ago[dead]
- jsd1982 7mo agoVery cool! Checking out the Van Gogh painting in the viewer I can just barely see the depth of the brush strokes. Shame you can't look 90 degrees off axis to see the protrusion effect with the bulky outer frame in the way.
- samcgraw 7mo agoSo cool! It recently dawned on me how we have a staggering amount of art available in these archives (https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/ https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/, https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en, the Met, etc). It's truly staggering. Can't wait to use these images for my side project[0]. [0] https://flaneur.ink https://flaneur.ink
- tokai 7mo agoEuropeana is also great. Such a huge amount of material available out there. https://www.europeana.eu/ https://www.europeana.eu/
- bookofjoe 7mo agoCan't wait to see how this plays with Vision Pro
- BenFranklin100 7mo agoThis is a fantastic resource, not only for present generations, but also especially for future generations if any of these objects were to be damaged or destroyed.
- ehnto 7mo agoI did initially doubt the usefulness of viewing the paintings and embroidery in 3D, but then I spun this around and the back of the board is interesting as well. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/48982 https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/48982
- XR843 7mo ago[dead]
- timpera 7mo agoCompare to: https://cosmowenman.substack.com/p/secret-3d-scans-in-the-french-supreme https://cosmowenman.substack.com/p/secret-3d-scans-in-the-fr... I wish more museums would share their scans.
- rbanffy 7mo agoIs anyone from the Computer History Museum listening? If they could do that, as well as scans with “exploded” parts it’d be a boon for both students and enthusiasts, who’d be able to 3D print replacements for many parts.
- kevthecoder 7mo agoScott Geffert did a talk about The Met scanning process on Weds at the OpenUSD working group meeting. Here's the link he shared which explains more (along with a bit of history) https://www.metmuseum.org/perspectives/color-photography-standards-van-gogh-sunflowers https://www.metmuseum.org/perspectives/color-photography-sta...
- dagmx 7mo agoThe MET also released a great article on their scanning process to preserve color accuracy https://www.metmuseum.org/perspectives/color-photography-standards-van-gogh-sunflowers https://www.metmuseum.org/perspectives/color-photography-sta... Highly recommend reading it as a companion to these 3D scenes.
- yeah879846 7mo agoUnfortunately they aren't high quality scans