MADRID.- In celebration of International Women’s Day on March 8, the Museo del Prado has introduced “Creators at the Prado,” a new digital platform designed to bring greater visibility to the women who have shaped the history of art and cultural knowledge.

Developed in collaboration with the University of Salamanca, the platform gathers thousands of previously dispersed references to women connected to art—ranging from painters and sculptors to librarians, historians, photographers and museum professionals. By consolidating these records into a single searchable system, the museum aims to reveal the networks, careers and intellectual contributions of women whose work has often remained overlooked.

The initiative is based on an extensive research effort that identified more than 10,800 records in the Prado’s library catalogues and 88 references within the museum’s collection itself. Using data-mining techniques and artificial intelligence, researchers were able to detect and organize information that had long been scattered across different archives and publications.

The result is a dynamic platform that allows users to explore the role women have played in artistic creation, scholarship and cultural preservation across centuries.

Mapping women’s presence in art history

One of the most notable aspects of the project is its ability to connect figures from different artistic disciplines and historical periods.

The platform highlights painters such as Sofonisba Anguissola and Rosa Bonheur alongside contemporary artist Lita Cabellut. It also features pioneering photographers including Jane Clifford as well as renowned war photographers Gerda Taro and Lee Miller.

Spanish photography is represented through figures such as Ouka Leele and Cristina García Rodero, while the world of sculpture includes names ranging from 19th-century artist Camille Claudel to contemporary sculptors like Susana Solano and Cristina Iglesias.

But the project goes beyond artists alone. It also recognizes professionals who have shaped the production and preservation of cultural knowledge—museum conservators, exhibition curators, art historians, publishers and archivists.

Among them are pioneering figures such as librarian Elena Páez, art historian María Luisa Caturla and scholar Estrella de Diego, whose work has played a major role in interpreting and disseminating art history.

A new way to explore the museum’s knowledge

The platform includes an advanced search engine that allows users to filter information by name, profession, historical period or geographic region. An interactive timeline and map also place each creator within a broader cultural context, allowing users to visualize connections between disciplines, places and generations.

By linking its records to open databases such as Wikipedia and Wikidata, the Prado has also expanded the scope of each profile, creating an interconnected network of information that can continue to grow over time.

Expanding the definition of authorship

One of the central goals of Creators at the Prado is to broaden the understanding of who contributes to artistic culture. In addition to painters and sculptors, the project highlights the work of editors, printers, illustrators, bookbinders, librarians and archivists—many of whom played key roles in preserving and transmitting artistic knowledge.

Some entries even document early women printers from the 17th and 18th centuries who managed publishing workshops after the deaths of their husbands. In several cases, their names have been lost to history, yet their printed editions survive.

A long-term commitment

With this initiative, the Prado reinforces its broader institutional effort to bring greater recognition to women in art history while continuing to explore new technological tools for studying cultural heritage.

By gathering thousands of names, stories and professional trajectories in one digital space, Creators at the Prado opens new possibilities not only for academic research but also for public discovery.

For visitors, scholars and art enthusiasts alike, the platform offers a new lens through which to understand the many women who helped shape the artistic world—often from behind the scenes, but now firmly placed in the historical spotlight.