The history of the library founded in 1897 at the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florence is marked by a very close connection with the history and profile of the Institute itself. The demand for scientific literature for research on Florentine Renaissance art and culture was the key motivation for establishing a German research library in Florence, where this art and culture flourished. But from the very beginning the holdings covered Italian art as a whole, not just the Renaissance and Florentine art. The acquisition policy as well as the internal organisation and systematic structure of the library have right up to the present day mirrored the research activities of the Institute and its scholars. With the founding of a consortium of the three German research libraries in Florence, Munich (Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte) and Rome (Bibliotheca Hertziana) in 1994, a new era began. High-profile bibliographic information, additional services and the integration of the library in Florence into this co-operative network became a further characteristic of the existing identity of the Institute and its library, which were – and continue to be – closely tied to Florence and Tuscany.

The library of the Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte, although the ‘youngest’ of the three big German art libraries, is today one of the most comprehensive art libraries in the world. It offers a unique combination of open access to the shelves for some 85% of the holdings, which are arranged in classified order, and in-depth subject indexing. Nowadays, the library’s traditional strengths are enhanced by its crucial contributions in the field of national and international online co-operation, above all to the Florence-Munich-Rome union catalogue and the future Virtual Library for Art History.

The Bibliotheca Hertziana’s fascinating history is contrasted in this account with a description of the reconstruction work currently being carried out on its buildings in the historic centre of Rome. Its extensive collections are listed in the Florence-Munich-Rome union catalogue (www.kubikat.org), the union database of the major German art history research libraries in those cities, which has been accessible on the internet since December 1998. Conceived from the start as a place of study for art historians from all nations, the library continues to follow the vision of its founder, Henriette Hertz, by playing a part in international activities in the field. It is scheduled to re-open to external users in early 2008.

The Centre allemande d’histoire de l’art/Deutsches Forum für Kunstgeschichte in Paris (DFK), founded in 1997, is a research institute dedicated to German research on French art and culture. Located in the historic centre of Paris on the place des Victoires, near to the Louvre and the recently founded French Institut national d’histoire de l’art (INHA), its further task is to promote interest among French scholars in research on German art and cultural history. To support its major fields of activity, the DFK is creating a library devoted to German art and cultural history, which now comprises some 60,000 items.

Florence in Italy, a renowned centre for art and culture, has been called a ‘living museum’ of the Italian Renaissance. Today it is also the site of a co-operative international project bringing the world’s scholarly community access to the bibliographic patrimonies of a group of special art and humanities libraries. The IRIS consortium is a unique resource for art historians, but it is also of value and use for anyone interested in the many aspects of this rich artistic period.

The V&A Illustration Awards have been running since 1972, with many famous illustrators receiving the prestigious and highly coveted prizes. In 2004, the Awards were strongly contested, and their success points the way forward for this important branch of art. A display of the award-winning entries for 2005 will be on show at the V&A from 7 December 2005 until 30 April 2006. The Awards are being expanded to widen the entry categories and to reflect new trends in illustration at the beginning of this 21st century.