This paper presents a method for indexing and retrieval of multimedia data. The proposed indexing and retrieval strategy is based on the usage of textural information contained in the data imagery components as the indexing keys. On the basis of a 2-D Wold-like decomposition, the texture field is represented as the sum of purely indeterministic, harmonic, and evanescent fields. A new rigorous distance measure between textures which employs their estimated parametric models, is developed. This distance measure is then applied to retrieve multimedia records that contain images with textured segments which are similar to those in a given image. Evaluation of this distance measure is computationally efficient, and hence highly suitable for data base retrieval applications