Classical Art Research Centre and the Beazley Archive

The Classical Art Research Centre leads and supports research on ancient art through a growing range of projects. Its activities include publication, seminars, and workshops, but above all the development of its world class physical and digital archives.

The heart of CARC is the Beazley Archive, which began in the 1960s with the University's acquisition of Sir John Beazley's notes and photographs on ancient Greek pottery. Today the Archive includes the world's largest collection of images of ancient vase-painting.

From an early stage the Beazley Archive was quick to embrace groundbreaking IT developments and subsequently the internet in order to make its holdings available, free of charge, to the greatest possible audience. The online pottery and gem databases now contain over 120,000 records. The website receives around 20,000 page views a day from universities and schools, museums, galleries, and homes in virtually every part of the globe.