NYC’s Metropolitan Museum of Art has officially made available 400,000 high-resolution digital images of the collections it currently has in its possession.

Hoping to keep up with other museums, the Metropolitan has created an initiative, called Open Access for Scholarly Content (OASC), that will “provide access to images of art in its collection that the Museum believes to be in the public domain.”

Director and CEO of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Thomas P. Campbell, shared the following sentiments regarding the new endeavor:

Through this new, open-access policy, we join a growing number of museums that provide free access to images of art in the public domain. I am delighted that digital technology can open the doors to this trove of images from our encyclopedic collection.

The collection is as impressive as it is expansive, so be sure to head on over and browse it for yourself when you get a chance.

(via Kottke)