How to Cite an Image in Chicago Style | Format & Examples
In Chicago notes and bibliography style, it’s recommended to just cite images in notes, omitting them from the bibliography. List an image in your bibliography only if you cite it frequently, if it’s essential to your argument, or if your university requires you to.
Follow the format shown below to create a note and—if necessary—a bibliography entry for an image viewed online. Make sure to cite the page where the image is hosted, not, for example, the Google search results where you found it.
Chicago bibliography | Author last name, First name. Image Title. Format description. Website Name. Month Day, Year. URL.
Cheng, Minder. Double-Crested Cormorant. Photograph. Flickr. March 21, 2021. https://flic.kr/p/2kQcKZ3. |
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Full note | Author first name Last name, Image Title, Format description, Website Name, Month Day, Year, URL.
1. Minder Cheng, Double-Crested Cormorant, photograph, Flickr, March 21, 2021, https://flic.kr/p/2kQcKZ3. |
Short note | Author last name, Shortened Image Title.
2. Cheng, Double-Crested Cormorant. |
Citing an artwork from a museum
When you viewed an artwork in person at a museum, gallery, or other location, provide information about the institution housing it. Include a URL if the museum website has a page dedicated to the artwork.
Chicago bibliography | Author last name, First name. Artwork Title. Year. Format description. Institution Name, City. URL.
Goya, Francisco. The Drowning Dog. 1820–23. Mixed method on mural transferred to canvas. Museo Del Prado, Madrid. https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/the-drowning-dog/4ea6a3d1-00ee-49ee-b423-ab1c6969bca6. |
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Full note | Author first name Last name, Artwork Title, Year, Format description, Institution Name, City, URL.
1. Francisco Goya, The Drowning Dog, 1820–23, mixed method on mural transferred to canvas, Museo Del Prado, Madrid, https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/the-drowning-dog/4ea6a3d1-00ee-49ee-b423-ab1c6969bca6. |
Short note | Author last name, Shortened Artwork Title.
2. Goya, Drowning Dog. |
Citing an image from a book
An image you encountered in a book, journal article, or other print source should be cited by first listing information about the image itself, then listing information about the source it was contained in, including the page number where the image can be found.
Use italics for the title an image originally created outside the context of the book or article (e.g., an artwork) and quotation marks for the title of an image original to the book or article (e.g., an infographic). Use plain text to describe an untitled image.
An example citation of an artwork from a book is shown below.
Chicago bibliography | Author last name, First name. Image Title. Year. In Author first name Last name, Book Title, Page number. City: Publisher, Year.
Bruegel, Pieter, the Elder. Christ Carrying the Cross. 1564. In Rose-Marie Hagen and Rainer Hagen, Bruegel, 24. Cologne: Taschen, 2019. |
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Full note | Author first name Last name, Image Title, Year, in Author first name last name, Book Title (City: Publisher, Year), Page number.
1. Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Christ Carrying the Cross, 1564, in Rose-Marie Hagen and Rainer Hagen, Bruegel (Cologne: Taschen, 2019), 24. |
Short note | Author last name, Shortened Image Title, Page number.
2. Bruegel, Christ Carrying the Cross, 24. |
Image citations in Chicago author-date style
In Chicago author-date style, an in-text citation for an image consists of the author’s last name and the year the image was created.
These citations correspond to entries in your reference list. Reference list entries are similar to bibliography entries, except that the year comes immediately after the author’s name.
Chicago author-date format | Author last name, First name. Year. Image Title. Month Day, Year. Format description. Website Name. URL. |
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Chicago reference entry | Cheng, Minder. 2021. Double-Crested Cormorant. Photograph. Flickr. March 21, 2021. https://flic.kr/p/2kQcKZ3. |
Chicago author-date citation | (Cheng 2021) |
Chicago author-date format | Author last name, First name. Year. Artwork Title. Format description. Institution Name, City. |
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Chicago reference entry | Goya, Francisco. 1820–23. The Drowning Dog. Mixed method on mural transferred to canvas. Museo Del Prado, Madrid. |
Chicago author-date citation | (Goya 1820–23) |
Chicago author-date format | Author last name, First name. Year. Book Title. City: Publisher. |
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Chicago reference entry | Hagen, Rose-Marie, and Rainer Hagen. 2019 Bruegel. Cologne: Taschen. |
Chicago author-date citation | (Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Christ Carrying the Cross, 1564, in Hagen and Hagen, 2019, 24) |
Frequently asked questions about Chicago style citations
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Caulfield, J. (2024, April 09). How to Cite an Image in Chicago Style | Format & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved June 17, 2025, from https://www.scribbr.com/chicago-style/image-citations/