diff --git a/docling/datamodel/settings.py b/docling/datamodel/settings.py
index 439ffe7..fee871a 100644
--- a/docling/datamodel/settings.py
+++ b/docling/datamodel/settings.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import sys
 from pathlib import Path
-from typing import Annotated, Tuple
+from typing import Annotated, Optional, Tuple
 
 from pydantic import BaseModel, PlainValidator
 from pydantic_settings import BaseSettings, SettingsConfigDict
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ class AppSettings(BaseSettings):
     debug: DebugSettings
 
     cache_dir: Path = Path.home() / ".cache" / "docling"
+    artifacts_path: Optional[Path] = None
 
 
 settings = AppSettings(perf=BatchConcurrencySettings(), debug=DebugSettings())
diff --git a/docling/pipeline/standard_pdf_pipeline.py b/docling/pipeline/standard_pdf_pipeline.py
index 13e435f..1c71bf7 100644
--- a/docling/pipeline/standard_pdf_pipeline.py
+++ b/docling/pipeline/standard_pdf_pipeline.py
@@ -61,6 +61,14 @@ class StandardPdfPipeline(PaginatedPipeline):
         artifacts_path: Optional[Path] = None
         if pipeline_options.artifacts_path is not None:
             artifacts_path = Path(pipeline_options.artifacts_path).expanduser()
+        elif settings.artifacts_path is not None:
+            artifacts_path = Path(settings.artifacts_path).expanduser()
+
+        if artifacts_path is not None and not artifacts_path.is_dir():
+            raise RuntimeError(
+                f"The value of {artifacts_path=} is not valid. "
+                "When defined, it must point to a folder containing all models required by the pipeline."
+            )
 
         self.keep_images = (
             self.pipeline_options.generate_page_images