Museums in Charleston and Savannah, Ga., have joined the Google Art Project — the only Southern art museums that are part of the virtual art gallery on the Internet.

The project began last year with 1,000 images from nine museums. This month, the project was expanded to include 151 museums in 40 nations.

The Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston and the Savannah College of Art and Design Museum of Art are the only southern collections.

People can enter the Google Art Project site, see high resolution images and zoom in on details. It brings museum collections together in one place so art lovers don't have to go to various websites.

Officials at the Gibbes say it should help increase visitors who stop by to see the art in person.

Tags: Savannah, Google, Savannah College of Art and Design Museum of Art, Museum, Google Gallery