Computerization of the Archives of the Foundation for the LIMC

The archives of the Foundation for the LIMC have been allocated to several archive centres in Basel, Athens, Paris, Heidelberg and Würzburg. Basel acts as central office and therefore possesses a copy of all the original documents that are kept in the other archive centres.

The documents in these archives concern the iconography of classical myths. The documents are of two kinds:

1. File-cards with technical and scientific data about objects and monuments in museums, private collections or in situ;
2. Photographs of a part of these (and other) objects and monuments.

The original documents and their copies are divided among the different archive centres as follows:

Basel: 90,000 file-cards (from about 40 countries) and 80,000 photographs (from about 4,000 museums and private collections and sites).
Athens: 9,000 file-cards and 3,000 photographs of objects mainly in Greek museums and private collections or with Greek places of discovery.
Paris: 25,000 file-cards and 25,000 photographs about objects in Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Egypt, France, FYROM, Greece, Hungary, India, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Montenegro, Pakistan, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sudan, Syria, Tunesia, Turkey. These archives are actually being digitized and are accessible on the site LIMC-France.
Heidelberg and Würzburg: 24,000 file-cards and 5,000 photographs of objects mainly in German museums.

The archive in Basel was established in 1972; it was a part of the preparations for the LIMC. A large part of the member states of the International Scientific Committee of the LIMC created a card-index – each in its own country – of the objects there concerning the iconography of classical myths that were of interest. A copy of each file-card was sent to the Central Editorial Office in Basel to be stored in its archive. The Editorial Office in Basel ordered the photographs of the objects from museums, galleries and collectors all over the world. Some were bought by the Foundation for the LIMC, others donated by the museums. The maintenance of this archive and its subsequent use for new projects remains one of the priorities of the Foundation.

The centres of Athens, Paris, Heidelberg, Würzburg and formerly New Brunswick (USA) have established their archives using their own personnel and funds (see connected Editorial Offices and Archive Centres) and have sent copies to Basel. These archives are being maintained and continued.

The accessibility of this documentary and photographic collection via the internet is the main objective of this website. It allows the consultation and searching of geographically separate archives on-line in six languages (English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Modern Greek). The digitization of the text- and photographic archives in Basel has been realized. The current project was made possible through a grant by the STAVROS NIARCHOS FOUNDATION.

The photographs will gradually be made accessible as soon as certain issues related to the copyrights of the photographs have been solved. With a similar respect for the legal issues involved, the centres in Athens, Paris, Heidelberg and Würzburg are also working on their archives using their own personnel and own information technology, aiming for reciprocal compatibility.