Exploring Europeana’s most viewed public domain works

Public Domain Day is celebrated annually on 1 January, but in 2020 Europeana Pro News is extending the focus for a whole month! This January we look at how the public domain contributes to the re-use of cultural heritage and explore different aspects of open access. In this post, we begin by highlighting which of the more than ten million public domain works accessible through Europeana were viewed the most last year.

When a work (of art, music, or literature) enters the public domain, it loses copyright protection, giving wider society the opportunity to re-use the content. Alongside open access licenses, the public domain fosters creativity and innovation by ensuring that shared cultural heritage is available to all. Here is our list of the five most viewed public domain works on Europeana.eu from 2019!

1. Lying Venus with Amor and Anteros by François Boucher (Rijksmuseum, Netherlands).

2. The Triumph of Venus by François Boucher (National Museum, Sweden).

3. Grape juice recipe by Johanna Baltrušaitienė (Vilnius University Faculty of Communication, Lithuania).

4. The tower-gate from Podului street by Veress Ferenc (Images of Old Cluj, Romania).

5. Corrected and completed map of Bulgaria, 1899-1911 (National Library of Bulgaria, Bulgaria).

Explore more public domain images on Europeana and share your favourite!