The Timeline Museum — a zoomable art-history timeline with walkable 3D galleries of real paintings, all sourced from Wikipedia
TypeScript
15
29 commits
updated Oct 7, 2026
See what people are saying
README
A Walkable History of Art
Visit the museum · Watch the one-minute tour
A museum you can walk through in your browser. Travel along a timeline, choose an artist, and step into a gallery of their work.
The aim is to make art history easier to explore: see who worked at the same time, follow an artist's work through the years, and spend time with paintings beyond the handful everyone recognises. Wikipedia's knowledge becomes a place you can visit, freely, without an account.
What you can do
- Explore more than a thousand years of painting. Browse 35 periods and traditions, including Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Persian and European art.
- Find your own starting point. Begin with Featured painters or choose All artists for the full collection of 526 artists and 82,139 works. Switch between the Gallery Wall and Star Map, zoom into a period, or search for a name in Explore.
- Walk through an artist's work. Galleries bring together the works available from the sources, with no limit to famous paintings. Explore rooms arranged by date, with room styles and music chosen for each period.
- Look closer. Approach a painting, click it to inspect it, and read about the work or follow its source. Wall labels show recorded dimensions when available and whether the display is at original scale, reduced or enlarged.
On a computer, use W A S D to walk and the mouse to look; hold W for three seconds to run. On a phone, drag to look and tap the floor to walk. Click or tap a painting to inspect it. Explore → How to explore brings back the short guide on the timeline.
The collection is a starting point, and coverage is uneven. Featured is an editorial introduction to influential painters, with its selection explained here. The museum will keep growing as more artists and works become available in the sources.
Made possible by Wikipedia
Artist biographies, artwork information and images come from Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons. The museum brings that material together; artist selection and timeline groupings are editorial choices. Source links and image credits let you explore further.
Recorded sizes help convey scale, but very large or small works are adjusted for the gallery. Some dates, dimensions and images are unavailable. This is an educational way to explore the collection, with room for corrections and better coverage.
The volunteers who write, photograph, catalogue and maintain this knowledge make the museum possible. If you enjoy it, please donate to Wikipedia. Free knowledge keeps democracies strong.
Help it grow
Missing an artist, spotted a mistake, or have an idea? Contributions are welcome. Improvements to Wikipedia and Wikidata can also benefit the museum when its collection is refreshed. See Contributing and the open work.
To run it locally:
npm install
npm run dev
Setup details and technical notes live in the development guide.
Code is licensed under MIT. Text, images and music retain their own licences and credits; see NOTICE. Works still in copyright are labelled in the gallery. Rights holders can submit a takedown request.
Made with care by justdataplease.com.
Similar repos
The Timeline Museum — a zoomable art-history timeline with walkable 3D galleries of real paintings, all sourced from Wikipedia
TypeScript
15
29 commits
updated Oct 7, 2026
See what people are saying
README
A Walkable History of Art
Visit the museum · Watch the one-minute tour
A museum you can walk through in your browser. Travel along a timeline, choose an artist, and step into a gallery of their work.
The aim is to make art history easier to explore: see who worked at the same time, follow an artist's work through the years, and spend time with paintings beyond the handful everyone recognises. Wikipedia's knowledge becomes a place you can visit, freely, without an account.
What you can do
- Explore more than a thousand years of painting. Browse 35 periods and traditions, including Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Persian and European art.
- Find your own starting point. Begin with Featured painters or choose All artists for the full collection of 526 artists and 82,139 works. Switch between the Gallery Wall and Star Map, zoom into a period, or search for a name in Explore.
- Walk through an artist's work. Galleries bring together the works available from the sources, with no limit to famous paintings. Explore rooms arranged by date, with room styles and music chosen for each period.
- Look closer. Approach a painting, click it to inspect it, and read about the work or follow its source. Wall labels show recorded dimensions when available and whether the display is at original scale, reduced or enlarged.
On a computer, use W A S D to walk and the mouse to look; hold W for three seconds to run. On a phone, drag to look and tap the floor to walk. Click or tap a painting to inspect it. Explore → How to explore brings back the short guide on the timeline.
The collection is a starting point, and coverage is uneven. Featured is an editorial introduction to influential painters, with its selection explained here. The museum will keep growing as more artists and works become available in the sources.
Made possible by Wikipedia
Artist biographies, artwork information and images come from Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons. The museum brings that material together; artist selection and timeline groupings are editorial choices. Source links and image credits let you explore further.
Recorded sizes help convey scale, but very large or small works are adjusted for the gallery. Some dates, dimensions and images are unavailable. This is an educational way to explore the collection, with room for corrections and better coverage.
The volunteers who write, photograph, catalogue and maintain this knowledge make the museum possible. If you enjoy it, please donate to Wikipedia. Free knowledge keeps democracies strong.
Help it grow
Missing an artist, spotted a mistake, or have an idea? Contributions are welcome. Improvements to Wikipedia and Wikidata can also benefit the museum when its collection is refreshed. See Contributing and the open work.
To run it locally:
npm install
npm run dev
Setup details and technical notes live in the development guide.
Code is licensed under MIT. Text, images and music retain their own licences and credits; see NOTICE. Works still in copyright are labelled in the gallery. Rights holders can submit a takedown request.
Made with care by justdataplease.com.