Images for teachers and students of science, history and art

A wealth of free images to use in the classroom

Wellcome Images is the world’s leading source of free images on the history of medicine, contemporary healthcare, social history, and biomedical science.

We have worked closely with teachers to curate image galleries specially designed to support the secondary curriculum. Use these galleries to quickly find high-quality

images on themes such as pathogens and disease, the history of surgery, portraiture and book design.

All our images are available online and are free to download and use for educational purposes.

To see the galleries, go to:wellcomeimages.org

Thanks to teachers at Camden School for Girls, Maria Fidelis School, Forest School and Central Foundation Girls’ School.

Images for science teachers and students

Wellcome Images contains thousands of photographs and

illustrations of biological processes such as cell division, and

structures including bacteria and DNA.

You can also find examples of the imaging techniques scientists use

to record what they’re studying, including microscopy, magnetic

resonance imaging and computerised tomography scans.

As well as being an excellent resource for the classroom, Wellcome

Images is a rich and intriguing collection for independent research

projects. Go to wellcome.ac.uk/education to download ‘The student

researcher’s guide to Wellcome Images’.

B0008352Caffeine crystals.Scanning electron micrograph.Annie Cavanagh and David McCarthy

B0008750Surface of a mint leaf.Scanning electron micrograph.Annie Cavanagh

B0005750 HIV particle budding from a lymphocyte.Transmission electron micrograph.R Dourmashkin

Images for history teachers and students

Wellcome Images contains a rich variety of historical sources, including manuscripts, etchings, early photography and

advertisements, that help put together narratives about the development of surgery, medicine and public health.

Explore the collection to investigate ancient medical beliefs and rituals, the role of war in accelerating the development of surgical techniques and hospital reform, and satirical cartoons by Thomas

Rowlandson, James Gillray and George Cruikshank.

As well as being an excellent resource for the classroom, Wellcome Images is a rich and intriguing collection for independent research

projects. Go to wellcome.ac.uk/education to download ‘The student researcher’s guide to Wellcome Images’.

V0010642A physician wearing a 17th-century costume to protect from plague.Watercolour, 1910.Wellcome Library

L0006579A woman horrified at the monstrous content of a magnified drop of Thames water.Etching, with watercolour, 1828. Wellcome Library

L0023766Medical facilities available at a new 1940s health centre contrasted with ill-health in old-fashioned housing.Colour lithograph, 1943.Wellcome Library

Images for art teachers and students

Wellcome Images contains examples of a huge variety of creative techniques to employ in art projects, ranging from embroidery and

carving to oil painting and computer graphics.

Be inspired by the artistic treasures in the collection, including etchings by artists such as Vincent van Gogh and Francisco Goya, Paolo Mascagni’s vibrantly coloured etching of an ‘exploded’ torso

and Eadweard Muybridge’s photographic studies of motion.

As well as being an excellent resource for the classroom, Wellcome Images is a rich and intriguing collection for independent research

projects. Go to wellcome.ac.uk/education to download ‘The student researcher’s guide to Wellcome Images’.

L0057759Foetus in placenta.Digital photograph of sculpture in wax.Science Museum, London/Wellcome Images

B0008031 Neural migration.Artwork.Prof. Bill Harris/Wellcome Images

V0010485A young Viennese woman before and after contracting cholera.Stipple engraving, with watercolour.Wellcome Library

Find out more about our work to improve science education at

wellcome.ac.uk/education