Skip navigation.

Citation Guidelines

General works from AMICO Library

Artist’s Name (First and Last), Artist’s Nationality and Dates
Title and Date of the Work (if known)
Materials and Dimensions of the Work
Museum Name and Location
Credit Line and Museum’s Number
Copyright if applicable
Image Source and ID Number

From Art Bulletin Style Guidelines

Basic Caption Style

3 Sandro Botticelli, Primavera, ca. 1482, tempera on panel, 6 ft. 8 in. x 10 ft. 4 in. (2.03 x 3.15 m). Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence (photograph provided by Scala/Art Resource, NY)

Artist, title, date, medium, and dimensions are separated by commas, and these elements are followed by a period. Collection, city, and credit lines follow, separated by commas. After this, in parentheses come all copyright and photograph credit lines. There is no terminal period, unless the basic caption information is followed by a descriptive sentence, which is only permitted in exceptional cases.

Not all images are of works of art or other objects, and therefore not all of the above data can be included for every image. E.g., works of performance art, architecture, photographs that are themselves artworks, etchings and other prints, etc., may in some cases not include dimensions or medium or other data. Other data specific to the argument of the text may be included.

In some instances, the object data is irrelevant to the argument; however, to aid future readers and researchers who consult the journal, complete object data should be provided if possible. Instances where reliable caption information is not available, or where its inclusion is in the author's opinion problematic, should be discussed with the manuscript editor at the stage when edited manuscript is received.

Since authors are responsible for obtaining reproduction permissions, captions should include all elements specified in the letter(s) of permission from the rights holder, institution, and/or photographer, although The Art Bulletin reserves the right to edit these to conform to its style.

Captions in The Art Bulletin must distinguish clearly between a copyright in an artwork and a copyright in a photograph of an artwork (where the artwork may or may not be in the public domain). A copyright notice and/or the © symbol should only be included when requested by a lender, and must indicate clearly whether the copyright being asserted is in the underlying artwork or in the photograph of it. Consult the Copyright Term Charts for further information. When in doubt, the author should include the language requested by the lender of a photograph and the language requested by the rights holder granting permission. (Frequently, these are separate documents from separate sources.)

In general, an artwork reproduced in The Art Bulletin using a digital scan from a published book should not include the publication information for that book in the caption, but only the collection information and any actual information relating to copyright permission. It is extremely rare for the publisher of a book to own the rights to individual images; therefore, authors should seek copyright permission for artworks (other than those in the public domain) from the copyright holder, not from the publisher of the book that is the source of the scan. (Publishers may be helpful in providing information about the identity or address of a copyright holder.)

An occasional exception to this is a diagram, floor plan, map, or other line drawing in a book. If they were created on commission for the book, the publisher may hold the copyright. If not, the book or publisher may be consulted to find the proper credit information (often in a "credits" section at the back.)

In cases where the reproduction in The Art Bulletin is of a period book illustration and the publication information about that book is germane to the argument of the essay, publication information about the book may be included in the caption at the author's discretion.

CAA does not use the phrase "courtesy of" in image captions; use "photograph provided by" instead.

More Sample Captions

Please note: These are samples, not definitive models of what all captions must contain. The Art Bulletin aims to maintain consistency in caption style with some latitude.

  • Baccio Bandinelli, Hercules and Cacus, 1525-34, marble, height 16 ft. 9 in. (5.05 m). Piazza della Signoria, Florence (photograph provided by James Smith, Rome)
  • Attributed to Cherubino Alberti, Pietà, engraving after Michelangelo, ca. 1572. Albertina, Vienna
  • Parthenon, east frieze, detail
  • Tree of Vices, Le Verger de Soulas, northern French, ca. 1290. Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, MS fr. 9220, fol. 10r

Note: some institutions and authors provide dimensions for manuscript illuminations, others do not. The Art Bulletin leaves this to the discretion of the author.

  • Roman sarcophagus, Death of Meleager, 3rd century CE, detail. Musée du Louvre, Paris (photograph © James Smith, Rome)
  • Jean Béraud, The Church of Saint-Philippe-du-Roule, Paris, 1877. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. William B. Jaffe, 1955, 55.35 (photograph all rights reserved, The Metropolitan Museum of Art)
  • Pierre Bonnard, Street Corner, ca. 1897, color lithograph, from Quelques aspects de la vie de Paris, Paris, 1899. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1928, 28.50.4(3) (photograph all rights reserved, The Metropolitan Museum of Art)
  • Étienne-Jules Marey, path of the different joints while walking, from Développement de la méthode graphique par l'emploi de la photographie, Paris, n.d., 48, fig. 34

Note: Here, the reproduction in The Art Bulletin is of a period book illustration and the publication information about that book is germane to the argument of the essay. In this instance, publication information about the book is in the caption. However, in general, an artwork reproduced in The Art Bulletin using a digital scan from a book should not include the publication information for that book, but only the collection information and any actual copyright information.

  • Cathedral of Ste-Marie, Oloron-Ste-Marie, west portal (photograph provided by the author)
  • History Master and workshop, Pulkau Passion Altarpiece (open), ca. 1518-20, painted wings and predella panels: oil on spruce, with carved and gilded shrine figures in limewood, attributed to Michael Tichter, overall height approx. 32 ft. 9? in. x 9 ft. 10? in. (10 m x 3 m). Pulkau, Church of the Holy Blood (photograph provided by the author)
  • Follower (or workshop) of Jan Polack, Intercession of Christ and Mary before God to Halt the Plague (Pestvotivbild), ca. 1517. Munich, St. Peters (photograph by Alberto Luisa, provided by the Erzbischöfliches Ordinariat München, Kunstreferat)
  • Attributed to Gu Kaizhi (ca. 344-ca. 406), Admonitions of the Court Instructress (Nüshi zhen tujuan), 5th-6th century copy after Gu Kaizhi, former handscroll, now mounted on two panels, ink and colors on silk, paintings panel, 9¾ x 97 in. (25 x 248.5 cm), colophons panel, 9¾ x 128¾ in. (25 x 329 cm). London, British Museum, (photograph provided by the Trustees of the British Museum). This figure, read from left to right and top to bottom, re-creates the painting's mounting as a handscroll between about 1746 and about 1916.
  • Tsuchida Bakusen (1887-1936), Hair (Kami), 1911, hanging scroll, ink and colors on silk, 31¾ x 33? in. (80 x 85.5 cm). Kyoto City University of Arts, University Art Museum
  • Albrecht Dürer, Mocking of Christ, woodcut with verses by Benedict I Cheldonius, title page of Passio domine nostri Jesu. . . . (the Large Passion), Nuremberg, 1511. London, British Museum, 1895-1-22-618 (photograph © the British Museum).

 

Request a Luna account or get more infromation.