The (UK) National Portrait Gallery's online portrait database now has a search feature, ideal for all of us who eagerly flip to the back of a book's dust jacket for the author's picture or check a Website's "about" section for images of its creators. The online database contains approximately 10,000 images selected from the million or more portraits of famous Britons in the Gallery's collection. Using simple search, users enter a name and click a radio button indicating whether the person is a portrait artist or sitter. The search returns, however, include links to the work of sitters who are artists as well. For example, searching on John Singer Sargent yields one portrait of the artist and 45 by him. Clicking the radio button for portrait executes a search by title. In advanced search, it is possible to search by profession, such as explorer or food writer, or broader categories of professions, including travel and exploration, education, or literature and writing.
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