MLA Citation

Visual Arts Basics in MLA

Citations in MLA can be applied to all forms of visual art (paintings, sculptures, photographs, etc.). At minimum, the title, artist/creator, and the date must be cited when they are available. Other required information that is expected when citing visual arts objects in MLA includes the name of the institution that houses the artwork followed by its location (the location does not have to be listed if it appears in the institution’s name, e.g. The Minneapolis Institute of Art).

If the image you are using appears in your paper, the full citation must appear underneath the image as a caption. The caption, in this case, does not need to be included on the Works Cited page. If you are referring to an image but are not including it in your paper you must provide an in-text citation and include an entry in your Works Cited list.

Works Cited:

Lastname, Firstname. Title. Date, Repository, Location.

If the medium and/or materials are important to the reference, you can include this information at the end of the entry. However, it is not required for MLA citations.

Works Cited:

Lastname, Firstname. Title. Date, Repository, Location. Medium/Materials.

Citing Images

Image from a Book

Treat the book as the container for the reproduction: List the title before the contributors, and be sure to include page and/or reference numbers (plate, figure, etc.).

Works Cited:

Lastname, Firstname. Title. Date, Repository, Location. Title of Container, ed., by author/creator, publisher, page number, plate/figure number.

Ex.: Goya, Francisco. The Family of Charles IV. 1800, Museo del Prado, Madrid. Gardener’s Art Through the Ages, 10th ed., by Richard G. Tansey and Fred S. Kleiner, Harcourt Brace, p. 939.

Image from a Website

If the image of an artwork was found on a website, the website will be the container. Include the website’s publisher and URL at the end of the citation (however, the publisher information can be omitted if it is the same as the name of the website). Make sure there is a period after the date instead of a comma for this specific type of citation. This change is made because the date refers to the original creation of the artwork rather than the date of the image’s publication on the website.

Works Cited:

Lastname, Firstname. Title. Date. Repository, website URL.

Ex.: Goya, Francisco. The Family of Charles IV. 1800. Museo del Prado, museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/the-family-of-carlos-iv/f47898fc-aa1c-48f6-a779-71759e417e74.

Citing a Physical Work

Provide the artist/creator, title, date, the name of the institution/repository that houses the artwork, and the location of the institution/repository (if the location is not listed in its name, e.g. The Minneapolis Institute of Art).

Works Cited:

Lastname, Firstname. Title. Date. Repository, Location.

Ex.: Goya, Francisco. The Family of Charles IV. 1800, Museo del Prado, Madrid.

If the medium and/or materials are important to the reference, you can include this information at the end of the entry. However, it is not required for MLA citations.

Works Cited:

Lastname, Firstname. Title. Date, Repository, Location. Medium/Materials.

Ex.: Goya, Francisco. The Family of Charles IV. 1800, Museo del Prado, Madrid. Oil on canvas.

Citing a Cartoon

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers 5.7.9

Citations for cartoons should follow the guidelines for the medium in which you found it (e.g. magazine, website, newspaper, book, article, etc.). Additionally, the descriptive label of Cartoon or Comic strip should be added in between the title and the name of the publication.

Works Cited: 

Lastname, Firstname. “Title.” Cartoon. Title of Publication. Date. Page. Source.

Lastname, Firstname. “Title.” Comic strip. Website. Page. Date. Source. Accessed. URL.

Ex.: Chast, Roz. “Scenes from a Vacation.” Cartoon. New Yorker. 31 Oct. 2011: 66-67. Print.

Weiner, Zach. “Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal.” Comic    strip. Smbc-comics.com.N.p., 17 Nov. 2011. Web. 18 Nov. 2011. http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=2434.

Captions in MLA

Captions begin with the figure number, which is then followed by a description of the figure (image) and the full citation for the source (what you listed on the Works Cited page). The caption should be placed directly below the image in your paper or presentation.

Fig. #. Description of the figure from: citation for source figure was found in.

Ex.: Fig. 1. Man exercising from: Green, Annie. “Yoga: Stretching Out.” Sports Digest, 8 May 2006, p. 22.

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Written by, or adapted from, the references listed on the Additional Resources Page (current as of November 2019).