The strength of the Nationalmuseum lies in the wealth of its collections and the erudition and expertise of its staff. It is important to enable its curators, conservators and educational experts to enhance their study of the collections and to develop methods that will help to extend the sum of knowledge about the works they contain. The museum also conducts extensive work to digitalise and make art and cultural heritage available digitally.
Research projects
The research department was established in 1997 with the task of organising research and development work at the Nationalmuseum. This is organised on a project basis and each project has its own budget. The projects involve both external and in-house researchers. The research projects are discussed at seminars to which students from university departments of art history are invited. In the main this research is subject specific but some projects involve art education and research in the natural sciences.
Digital development
Digital development at Nationalmuseum is about using technology to make art and cultural heritage more accessible, usable, and empowering for a wide audience. Digital development covers a wide range of initiatives aimed at improving both the visitor experience and the operational efficiency of the institution. This includes integrating digital technologies into different aspects of museum activities, such as interactive exhibitions or educational programmes.
Digital development is also about digitalising and making collections and knowledge about collections available online. Digitised collections provide an opportunity for objects to be discovered. Digitisation also enables the public to use and enjoy the cultural heritage regardless of geographical or physical barriers.
The Nationalmuseum works continuously to ensure that the collections and knowledge about them are fully accessible in user-friendly formats so that both humans and machines can use the information.
Funding
Research is mainly funded from external sources. Research scholarships established by the Friends of the Nationalmuseum enable its professional staff to study the collections in greater depth.
Contact the Research Department
For questions concerning research, please contact us at forskningen@nationalmuseum.se.
For questions concerning digital development, please contact us at digitalutveckling@nationalmuseum.se.
For questions concerning the collections, please contact us at samlingarna@nationalmuseum.se.
Unfortunately, we are unable to answer general questions about art or specific questions about works and artists that are not part of or directly related to the museum's collections.
Research right now
Conference: Sensuous Consonance. The visual arts in conjunction with music around 1900
In collaboration with The Royal Swedish Academy of Music, Nationalmuseum is organizing the interdisciplinary conference Sensuous Consonance in the autumn of 2024. Scholars from all relevant fields of research are invited to propose papers by 1 May 2024.
Transparent designs: Copies and tracings in eighteenth-century architectural practice
How did architects make copies of their own designs and of other architects' designs before duplicating machines? A collection of tracings in the Nationalmuseum shows us eighteenth-century copying practices by the architects Carl Hårleman and Carl Johan
Introductions to a selection of Nationalmuseum's research publications
Italian Architectural Drawings
Dive into a selection of the recently published catalogue by Anna Bortolozzi, on the Italian architectural drawings in the Cronstedt Collection in the Nationalmuseum.
Dutch Drawings in Swedish Public Collections
In this online tour, you will find a selection of drawings from the richly illustrated catalogue of Dutch master drawings in Swedish public collections. Published in 2018 and the result of extensive research work.
Italian Paintings - Three Centuries of Collecting
Volume I of the first ever catalogue raisonné on the Nationalmuseum’s collection of Italian Paintings was published in 2015. In this online tour, you will find a selection of paintings from the catalogue.