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Purpose
The Cultural Objects Name Authority ™ (CONA), like the Art & Architecture Thesaurus ® (AAT), the Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names ® (TGN), and the Union List of Artist Names ® (ULAN), is a structured vocabulary that can be used to improve access to information about art, architecture, and material culture.
- Cataloging: The Getty vocabularies may be used as data value standards at the point of documentation or cataloging. In this context, they may be used as a controlled vocabulary or authority by the cataloger or indexer; they provide preferred names/terms and synonyms for people, places, and things. They also provide structure and classification schemes that can aid in documentation.
- Retrieval: They may be used as search assistants in database retrieval systems. They are knowledge bases that include semantic networks that show links and paths between concepts; these relationships can make retrieval more successful.
- Research tools: They may be utilized as research tools, valuable because of the rich information and contextual knowledge that they contain.
Target audience: CONA and the other Getty vocabularies are intended to provide terminology and other information about the objects, artists, concepts, and places important to various disciplines that specialize in art, architecture and material culture. CONA contains titles and other information about architecture and movable works, which include paintings, sculpture, and a wide range of other objects.
The primary users of the Getty vocabularies include museums, art libraries, archives, visual resource collection catalogers, bibliographic projects concerned with art, researchers in art and art history, and the information specialists who are dealing with the needs of these users. In addition, a significant number of users of the Getty vocabularies are students or members of the general public.
Accessing the vocabularies: The timeframe for making CONA accessible to users will depend upon the rate at which contributions are received from the target user community. The online "browser" is scheduled to go live in early 2012. Licensed files will hopefully be available within a few years, keeping in mind that a certain critical mass of records will be required to make CONA useful to licensees. Methods for accessing CONA are still under development, although it is currently believed that CONA data will be available using means similar to those available for the other three Getty vocabularies, as described below.
Catalogers and indexers who use the AAT, TGN, and ULAN typically access them in two ways: By using them as implemented in a system (either purchased off-the-shelf through a vendor or custom-built for their local requirements), or by using the online databases on the Getty Web site. The databases made available on the Web site are intended to support limited research and cataloging efforts. Companies and institutions interested in regular or extensive use of the existing three Getty vocabularies should explore licensing options by contacting the Getty Vocabulary Program at vocab@getty.edu. Implementers who wish to provide vocabularies to end-users or use them in search engines may license the vocabularies in XML or relational tables, which are released annually. The data is also available via Web services, where it is updated every two weeks. The licensed files include no user interface.
Comprehensiveness and updates: CONA is a compiled resource;
it is not comprehensive. CONA grows through contributions. Institutions
interested in contributing to CONA may contact us at vocab@getty.edu.
A
minimum record in CONA contains a numeric ID, title or name, creator, object/work type, and other fields as described below. Information in CONA is compiled by the Getty
Vocabulary Program in collaboration with many institutions.
Implementers should keep in mind that CONA, like the other Getty vocabularies, will grow and
change over time. Once the timing is right to release CONA, it is planned that new versions will be released in licensed files annually
and on the Web site every month.
History of CONA
Detailed discussions regarding the Getty Vocabulary Program compiling a vocabulary comprising unique numeric identifiers and brief records for art works began in 2004. It was determined that various Getty projects collected data for movable works and architecture that could form an initial data set, upon which other contributors could build over time. The project was enthusiastically embraced by the user community. In 2005 mapping of the data model used for all three existing vocabularies (AAT, TGN, ULAN) to potential CONA fields was completed. The effort coincided with the development of CCO (Cataloging Cultural Objects), a more concise offshoot of the CDWA (Categories for the Description of Works of Art), and CDWA Lite, which is an XML schema intended to serve as an exchange format for art information. Both CCO and CDWA, which reflect consensus in the user community of best practice in cataloging art and architecture, lay out the required fields and rules for cataloging art objects.
It is hoped that the contributions to CONA from the user community will commence in 2011. The growth and utility of CONA will depend upon contributions from users. As with the AAT, TGN, and ULAN, CONA will grow and change via contributions from the
user community and editorial work of the Getty Vocabulary Program.
Technical development of CONA began in 2010. The editorial system and online search screens for CONA will be similar to those used for the existing Getty vocabularies. The data is compiled and edited in an editorial system that was
custom-built by Getty technical staff to meet the unique requirements
of compiling data from many contributors, building complex and changing
polyhierarchies, merging, moving, and publishing in various formats.
Final editorial control of CONA is maintained by the Getty Vocabulary
Program, using well-established editorial rules.
The current manager
of the Getty vocabularies is Patricia Harpring, Managing Editor. Administratively, the Vocabulary Program resides under the GRI Collection Management and Description Division (David
Farneth, Head). Other GRI departments in this division are General Collection Cataloging,
Special Collections Cataloging, Digital Services, the Registrar\x92s Office, Institutional
Records and Archives, and Conservation and Preservation. The Vocabulary Program works with Art History Documentation (Murtha Baca, Head) to foster foreign language
translations of the vocabularies, maintain national and international
partnerships, and oversee licensing and marketing.
Scope and Structure
CONA is a structured vocabulary containing authority records for cultural works, including architecture and movable works such as paintings, sculpture, prints, drawings, manuscripts, photographs, textiles, ceramics, furniture, other visual media such as frescoes and architectural sculpture, performance art, archaeological artifacts, and various functional objects that are from the realm of material culture and of the type collected by museums. The focus of CONA is works cataloged in scholarly literature, museum collections, visual resources collections, archives, libraries, and indexing projects with a primary emphasis on art, architecture, or archaeology.
The focus of each CONA record is a work of art or architecture. In the database, each work's record
(also called a subject in the database, not to be confused with iconographical depicted subjects of art works) is identified by a unique numeric
ID. Linked to each work's record are titles/names, current location, dates, other fields, related works, a parent (that is, a position in the hierarchy), sources for
the data, and notes. The coverage of CONA is global, from prehistory through the present. Names or titles may be current, historical, and in various languages.
More about scope and structure: There are many fields in CONA, however through titles/names (equivalence relationships), as well as hierarchical and associative relationships, the basic structure of CONA is that of a thesaurus in compliance with ISO and NISO standards. Although it may be displayed as a list, CONA is a hierarchical
database; its trees branch from a root called Top of the CONA
hierarchy (Subject_ID: 700000000). There may be multiple broader
contexts, making CONA polyhierarchical. In addition to the
hierarchical relationships (e.g., between a print and the larger volume to which it belongs), CONA has equivalence relationships (between equivalent titles/names) and associative
relationships (e.g., between a sketch and the final work). The primary top divisions of CONA are the facets Built Work and Movable Work.
With the exception of performance art, CONA records unique physical works. However, CONA may include works that were never built or that no longer exist, for example designs for a building that was not constructed or a work that has been destroyed.
Built Works: Built works within the scope of CONA are architecture, which includes structures or parts of structures that are the result of conscious construction, are of practical use, are relatively stable and permanent, and are of a size and scale appropriate for—but not limited to—habitable buildings. Most built works in CONA are manifestations of the built environment that is typically classified as fine art, meaning it is generally considered to have aesthetic value, was designed by an architect (whether or not his or her name is known), and constructed with skilled labor.
Movable Works: The term movable works is borrowed from legal jargon, referring to tangible objects capable of being moved or conveyed from one place to another, as opposed to real estate or other buildings. It is useful to separate the two types of works—built works and movable works—into different facets in CONA because movable works typically are located in a repository, have a repository identification number, have a provenance of former locations, and other characteristics that typically differ from architecture.
Movable works within the scope of CONA include the visual arts that are of the type collected by art museums, although the objects themselves may actually be held by an ethnographic, anthropological, or other museum, or owned by a private collector. Performance art is included in CONA under this facet as well.
What Is Excluded from CONA? In general, CONA does not include records for objects in natural history or scientific collections, although there are exceptions for works of particularly fine craftsmanship that are of the type collected by art museums. CONA does not include names of musical or dramatic art, titles of documentary or feature films, and titles of literature. CONA does not include records for corporate bodies, although the building that houses the corporate body would be included, even if it has the same name as the corporate body. For example the buildings of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, are included in CONA; however, the corporate body that inhabits those buildings, also called the National Gallery of Art, is outside the scope of CONA (but within scope for ULAN).
Information in the Record (Fields)
- Language: Most fields in CONA records are written in English.
However, the structure of CONA supports multilinguality insofar
as titles/names and descriptive notes may be written and flagged in multiple
languages. All information is written in the Roman alphabet (pending
our conversion to Unicode in the future).
- Diacritics: The CONA titles/names and other fields contain dozens
of different diacritics, expressed as codes (e.g., $00) and alternatively translated into Unicode in the
various licensed data files. CONA diacritical codes are mapped to Unicode. The mapping is
distributed with the licensed data files. In
Web displays, it may be impossible to display all diacritics.
If a box or illegible sign displays instead of a character in a name or term, this
means that your system cannot display the Unicode character represented.
You may view the full name or term with correct diacritics by
using Vista, Mac OS 10.5, or often by pasting the word into an
MS Word document.
- Fields: The CONA fields (i.e., discrete pieces of data)
are described below. Data dictionaries for the licensed files
will be made available when CONA is available for licensing in the future.
The minimum fields and editorial rules of CONA are in compliance with CDWA and CCO. The minimum fields are the following: Catalog Level, Object/Work Type, Title or Name, Creator, Creation Date, Measurements, Materials and Techniques, Depicted Subject, and Current Location.
Works are identified with a unique and persistent numeric ID. In addition, given that CONA is an authority, it is important that records contain enough other minimum information to allow users of CONA to clearly identify each work uniquely, in order to prevent users from unintentionally linking to the wrong work. The discussion of fields below includes both required and optional fields.
- Subject ID
Unique numeric identification for the CONA record. Note that "subject" in this context is not the same as the depicted subject (e.g., iconography) of the work. The term "subject" has been used to refer to the record as a whole in the AAT, TGN, and ULAN, and thus is used for consistency in CONA.
Each work
in the CONA database is uniquely identified by a numeric ID that
serves to link the titles/names and all other pertinent information to
the work record. The ID is generally permanent. Occasionally
an ID may change due to the record being merged with another record;
in such cases, the new IDs are included in the licensed files,
and a mapping between defunct and new IDs is provided to licensees.
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Example
Subject ID: 700000007
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- Record Type
Type designation that characterizes the CONA record (facet,
guide term, built work, movable work).
Facet: Refers to the top of a facet, which is the major division of CONA (e.g., Built Work and
Movable Work).
Guide term: Also known as the node label;
refers to records that serve as place savers to create
a level in the hierarchy under which CONA records can be collocated. It is rarely used in CONA.
Built Work: Refers to records in CONA that represent architecture, as defined above.
Movable Work: Refers to records in CONA that represent items that are or could be held in repositories, as defined above.
- Label
Brief text identification of the work, concatenated from various fields in the work record. Whereas the Subject ID identifies the concept
in the database, the Label serves as an easily legible heading
to identify the work for end-users. It is a brief description and credit line that identifies the work and distinguishes it from similar works.
- Catalog level
An indication of the level of cataloging represented by the record, based on the physical form or intellectual content of the material (e.g., item, group, subgroup, volume, collection).
- Classification
Placement of a work of art or architecture within a classification scheme that groups other, similar works together on the basis of similar characteristics. (e.g., Pre-Columbian art, ceramics).
- Object/Work Type
The kind of object or work described (e.g., refectory table, altarpiece, portfolio, drawing, drinking vessel, basilica, dome).
- Titles/Names
Titles, identifying phrases, or names given to a work of art, architecture, or material culture. For complex works, series, or collections, the title may refer to a discrete unit within the larger entity (a print from a series, a photograph in a collection, a panel from a fresco cycle, a building within a temple complex) or it may identify only the larger entity (series, collection, cycle) itself (e.g., Venus and Cupid, Noli me tangere, Portrait of Thomas Jefferson, Ceramic fruit bowl, Untitled, Empire State Building, Album of 65 Studies). Each work may have multiple titles.
- Term ID: Numeric ID that identifies the title/name in the database
(e.g., in the example above, Hagia Sophia could have the following
Term_ID: 1000000008). Term IDs are unique; homographs have
different IDs. The Term_ID may be hidden from end-users.
- Display order of the titles/names
Titles/names are arranged in a particular order by the editors. The preferred
title or name is positioned first in a list of titles/names for the work.
Implementers should sort the titles/names by the Display_order
number, which is included in the data files, but typically hidden
from end-users.
- Flags for the titles/names
In displays for the end-user, titles/names are displayed with various
flags.
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Preferred Title/Name
The flag preferred following a title/name indicates that
the title/name is the so-called preferred title/name for the
record. Non-preferred titles are flagged variant/alternate.
Each record has one and only one default preferred title/name,
flagged in order to provide a default term for displays (see also Language of the Titles/Names below).
LC Flag
Also called the AACR Flag. Currently this flag is usually set to N/A in CONA. Where it is used, it flags the title/name that corresponds
to Library of Congress Subject Heading, for works that are listed in Library of Congress authorities (e.g., Eiffel Tower).
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NA = Not Applicable
Y = Yes
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Term Type flag
Indicates the type of term (title), based on specialized terminology
used in thesauri. It is currently set to N/A in CONA.
Historical flag
Indicates if the title/name is current or historical.
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C = Current
H = Historical
B = Both current and historical
U = Unknown
NA = Not Applicable
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Vernacular flag
Indicates if the title/name is in the vernacular (local) language,
or some other language. Currently in CONA, most titles/names
are flagged U for Undetermined. See also
Language of the Titles/Names below.
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V = Vernacular
O = Other
U = Undetermined
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Other flags
Flag identifying a primary characteristic of the title/name regarding the kind of title/name or its purpose. (This field maps to Title Type in CDWA.)
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descriptive
repository
inscribed
artist's
former
translated
constructed
original
brand name
popular
published
series
manuscript designation |
Display Title/Name
Currently, this flag is generally set to N/A (Not Applicable)
in CONA. When used, it distinguishes titles/names intended for indexing in alphabetical lists from those in natural order intended for displays.
Part of Speech
Indicates the category into which the title/name would be placed relative to its normal function in a grammatical context (e.g., noun, past participle). This flag is currently set to Undetermined in CONA.
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- Dates for the Titles/Names
The date on which a particular title or name was assigned to the work, or a range of dates during which a title/name was known to be valid. The date fields comprise a Display Date, which is a note referring
to a date of usage of the term, and Start Date and End
Date, which are years that delimit the span of time referred
to in the Display Date. Start and End Dates index the Display
Date for retrieval, but are hidden from end-users.
Start and End Dates are years in the proleptic Gregorian calendar,
which is the calendar produced by extending the Gregorian calendar
to dates preceding its official introduction. Dates BCE are expressed
as negative numbers. If the date extends to the current time,
the End Date is 9999.
- Language of the Titles/Names
The languages for the title or name may also be included. A given title/name
may have multiple language designations because it may have the
same spelling in multiple languages.
Languages are derived from a controlled list, which includes the
name of the language and a numeric code (e.g., British English
/ 70053). The code is hidden from end-users.
Preferred flag for a given language
A "P" following the language in the examples indicates
that this is the preferred title or name in that language.
Language status
Indicates if the title/name is a loan word or phrase from another language, meaning the term in one language is used with little or no change in a second language (e.g., Les Demoiselles d'Avignon is a French title that is often used in English).
- Title/Name Qualifier
A word or phrase used to distinguish between homographs, which
are titles/names that have the same spellings but refer to different works.
Qualifiers are currently rarely used in CONA.
Distinctions between works with homographic titles is instead made through the use of the Label, described above.
- Creator
Set of fields identifying the named or anonymous individuals or corporate bodies responsible for the design, production, manufacture, or alteration of the work. Creators are indexed using Related Person/Corporate Body, which includes a link to ULAN, a Role, and optional Extent and Qualifier.
Creator Display
Display field for the named or anonymous creator or creators. If there is no known creator, this is a reference to the presumed culture or nationality of the unknown creator (e.g., Christopher Wren, attributed to Kicking Bear, follower of the Limbourg Brothers, Tintoretto with additions by unknown 16th-century Venetian). Ambiguity and nuance should be expressed in this free-text display field.
Related Person/Corporate Body
A link to ULAN, indexing the display Creator field.
Role
The role or activity performed by a creator or maker in the conception, design, or production of a work (e.g., artist; painter; designer; draftsman; engraver; muralist; potter; modeller; sculptor; goldsmith; publisher; architectural firm).
Extent
The part of a work contributed by a particular creator (e.g., predella; execution; with additions by; figures).
Attribution Qualifier
An expression of the certainty with which a work can be attributed to a known artist or group, used when the attribution is uncertain, is in dispute, when there is more than one creator, when there is a former attribution, or when the attribution otherwise requires explanation (e.g., attributed to, formerly attributed to, probably by, possibly by, workshop of, studio of, office of, atelier of, assistant to, associate of, manufactory of, follower of, circle of, school of, style of, after, copyist of, manner of). Definitions of these terms are in the editorial manual.
Examples
Creator Display:Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853-1890)
Role: painter Related Pers./Corp.: Gogh, Vincent van
Creator Display: Katsushika Hokusai (Japanese, 1760-1849); published by Nishimura Eijudo (Japanese, 19th century)
Role: printmaker Related Pers./Corp.: Hokusai, Katsushika
Role: publisher Related Pers./Corp.: Nishimura Eijudo
Creator Display: unknown Northern Paiute
Role: weaver Related Pers./Corp.: unknown Northern Paiute
Creator Display: Sèvres porcelain manufactory (French, established 1740); design: attributed to Jean-Claude Duplessis, le père (French, ca. 1695-1774); painting: attributed to Charles-Nicolas Dodin (French, 1734-1803)
Role: manufactory Related Pers./Corp.: Sèvres porcelain manufactory
Role: designer Qualifier: attributed to Related Pers./Corp.: Duplessis, Jean-Claude
Role: painter Qualifier: attributed to Related Pers./Corp.: Dodin, Charles-Nicolas
Creator Display: unknown Chinese, with French mounts
Extent: bowl Role: ceramicist Related Pers./Corp.: unkown Chinese
Extent: mounts Role: silversmith Related Pers./Corp.: unkown French
- Creation Date fields
A set of fields recording the date or range of dates associated with the creation, design, production, presentation, performance, construction, or alteration of the work or its components.
Creation (Display) Date
A concise description of the date or range of dates associated with the creation, design, production, presentation, performance, construction, or alteration of the work or its components, presented in a syntax suitable for display to the end-user and including any necessary indications of uncertainty, ambiguity, and nuance (e.g., 1667, ca. 1210, 17th century, before 952 BCE, reign of Rameses II).
Start Date and End Date
The earliest and latest possible dates when the work of art or architecture was created. For works that were created over a span of time, start date is the year when the work was designed or when execution was begun, and end date is the year when it was finished. For uncertain or approximate dates, these are the earliest possible years when the work could have been begun or designed.
Date Qualifier
A clarification of the meaning of the date, including an indication that different creative activities took place on different dates (e.g., design; execution; alteration; addition; performance; restoration; destruction; discovery; bulk; inclusive; coverage; publication). Qualifier, Start Date, and End Date repeat as a set.
Examples
Creation Date: ca. 1898
Start: 1893 End: 1903
Creation Date: designed 1685/1686; executed 1691
Start: 1685 End: 1686 Qualifier: design
Start: 1691 End: 1691 Qualifier: execution
Creation Date: Middle Minoan Palace period, ca. 1600 BCE
Start: -1630 End: -1570
- Measurements
Set of fields containing information about the dimensions, size, or scale of the work. It may include the shape, weight, or other characteristics of the work. It may also include the number of the parts of a complex work, series, or collection (e.g., 23.9 x 35.8 x 8.3 cm, 76 x 41 x 39 feet, 56.8 cm (diameter), sheets range from 20.3 to 49 cm height). The set of fields includes a display field and fields intended to index the display values: Value, Unit, Type, Extent, Qualifier, Scale, Shape, and Format.
Examples
Dimensions: 29.85 x 15.88 x 17.15 cm (11 3/4 x 6 1/4 x 6 3/4 inches)
Value: 29.85 Unit: cm Type: height
Value: 15.88 Unit: cm Type: width
Value: 17.15 Unit: cm Type: depth
Dimensions: comprises 10 panels; overall: 280 x 215 cm (110 1/4 x 84 5/8 inches)
Extent: components Value: 10 Type: count
Value: 280 Unit: cm Type: height
Value: 215 Unit: cm Type: width
Dimensions: 59.44 x 91.44 cm (23 3/8 x 36 inches); scale: 3/4 inch = 1 foot
Value: 59.44 Unit: cm Type: height
Value: 91.44 Unit: cm Type: width
Scale: numeric Value: .75 Unit: inch Type: base
Scale: numeric Value: 1 Unit: foot Type: target
- Materials and Techniques
Set of fields containing an indication of the substances or materials used in the creation of a work, as well as any implements, production or manufacturing techniques, processes, or methods incorporated in its fabrication. (e.g., oil on canvas, egg-tempera paint with tooled gold-leaf halos on panel, Carrara marble on granite base). The set of fields includes a display field and fields intended to index the display values:
Role (medium, support, technique, implement), Material Flag (material, technique/implement), and Extent.
Examples
Materials/Techniques (Display): oil paint on linen canvas
Flag: material Role: medium Name: oil paint
Flag: material Role: support Name: linen canvas
Flag: technique/implement Role: technique Name: painting
Materials/Techniques (Display): ink and tempera on vellum (illuminations), leather and silver (binding)
Extent: folios/illuminations Flag: material Role: medium Name: ink
Extent: folios/illuminations Flag: material Role: medium Name: tempera
Extent: folios/illuminations Flag: material Role: support Name: vellum
Extent: folios/illuminations Flag: technique/implement Role: technique Name: calligraphy
Extent: folios/illuminations Flag: technique/implement Role: technique Name: painting
Extent: binding Flag: material Role: support Name: leather
Extent: binding Flag: material Role: support Name: silver
- Watermarks
A description of marks inherent in or applied to the material before it was fashioned into the work, including watermarks and stationers' stamps or marks (e.g., foolscap, EAL in orb).
- Inscriptions
The transcription or description of the content of the inscription, mark, or text, which may include the material or medium in which the inscription or text was executed; its support if it is on a separate piece affixed to the object; the method by which the inscription or text was produced; and a brief description of the content or appearance of the inscription or text.
Examples
signed in lower left: GBPiazzetta; inscribed and dated verso, in a later hand: S. Maria dei Servi / 1735
inscribed lower center: COSMO MEDICI / DVCII / FLORENTINOR.ET.SENESNS. / URBIS ROMAE / AEDIFICIORVM ILLVSTRIVMQVAE / SVPERSVNT RELIQVIAE SVMMA [...]
rotunda Gothic script, beginning of the last canto of Dante's Inferno, in Italian with the first line of the new section in Latin
- Typeface
The name or a descriptive phrase that identifies the typeface or script used in an inscription (e.g., Carolingian minuscule, Helvetica 9 point bold).
- Marks
An identification of an inscribed mark type or name (e.g., Sèvres double Louis,
Grindley Tunstall).
- State
An indication of the relationship of the work to other stages of the same work (e.g., 3rd state, 4th of 5 states, printer's proof).
- Edition
A description of the specific edition to which a work belongs, whether expressed as a fractional number or as a name or expression of the context related to prior or later issuances (e.g., 46/500 ; 2nd edition).
- Current Location and Other Locations
Set of fields recording the name and geographic location of the repository that is currently responsible for the work, or, for monumental works and architecture, the geographic location of the work. If the work is lost, destroyed, has an unknown location, or in an anonymous private collection, this is indicated. (e.g., Graphische Sammlung Albertina (Vienna, Austria); Columbus (Indiana, USA)).
Other locations of the work are also recorded here.
Geographic locations are controlled by TGN. Repositories and other corporate body locations are controlled by ULAN. In addition to the place name or corporate body name, additional fields are the following: Current flag, Location Type (Creation; Discovery; Architectural Context; Lost; Destroyed; Not Applicable), Repository Numbers, Credit Line, and Address Note.
Examples
Flag: Current Type: N/A
Corp. Body Location: National Gallery of Art (Washington, DC, USA)
Credit Line: Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc.
Repository Numbers: 1986.43.10
Flag: Current Type: N/A
Geog. Location: Columbus (Indiana, USA)
Address Note: 536 Fifth Street
Flag: Current Type: destroyed
Flag: Other Type: Creation
Corp. Body Location: Gedächtniskirche (Berlin, Germany)
Flag: Current Type: N/A
Corp. Body Location: J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles, California, USA)
Flag: Other Type: Discovery
Geog. Location: Athens (Greece)
- Creation Number
Any numbers or codes assigned to a work of art in the context of its creation (e.g., DAR ; no. 1227Y).
- Copyright
A formal statement of the copyright of a work, and/or any restrictions placed on it (e.g., Copyright © 1981 The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust).
- Provenance
The prose description of the provenance or history of the owners or others in possession of a work of art or architecture, or a group.
Example
before 1835, Sant'Agostino (San Gimignano, Italy);
before 1846, Cardinal Fesch [1763-1839] collection (Rome, Italy).
then to Campana collection;
1863-present, Musée du Louvre (Paris, France).
- Style
The term or terms identifying a style, historical period, school, or art movement whose characteristics are represented by the work (e.g., Post-Impressionist).
- Culture
The name of the culture, people, or nationality from which the work originated (e.g., Celtic, Chinese). This field is used particularly with works by unknown creators (although an appellation referring to the unknown creator is required in the Creator field).
- Events
Set of fields for terminology that refers to pertinent events in the history of the work, particularly used for exhibitions in which the work was displayed. An event must always be accompanied by a place and/or a date.
Event Type
Identification of the type of event (e.g., exhibition, coronation, dedication).
Place for the Event
Location where the event occurred. Place names are taken from TGN (e.g., England (United Kingdom)).
Dates for the Event
Dates comprise a Display Date, which is a note referring to a date or other information referring to a date or other information about the work relative to the event and Start Date and End Date to delimit the span of time.
- Depicted Subject
Fields recording the subject matter of a work of art (sometimes referred to as its content), which is the narrative, iconographic, or non-objective meaning conveyed by an abstract or a figurative composition. It is what is depicted in and by a work of art. It also covers the function of an object or architecture that otherwise has no narrative content. It maps to "Subject Matter" in CDWA.
Indexing Type
Type of indexing represented by this subject term; a classification of the level of subject description indicated by the indexing terms, for use if necessary to distinguish between what a work is "of" and what it is "about," using the terms description, identification, and interpretation.
Description:
Terms flagged description refer to generic elements depicted in or by the work. These are terms reflecting only what you would see in the subject if you did not know the specific people, event, story, or place depicted (e.g., human female, nude, column, train).
Identification: Terms flagged identification refer to the specific subject, including named historical, mythological, religious, fictional, or literary subjects (e.g., Leiden (Holland), Bodhisattva, Endymion, Three Graces, Madonna and Child).
Interpretation: Terms flagged interpretation refer to the meaning or themes represented by the subjects and includes a conceptual analysis of what the work is about (e.g., salvation, original sin, sacrifice).
Subject Extent
Part of the object on which this particular subject is depicted, using an extensible controlled list (e.g., recto, verso, side A, side B, main panel, predella , general, overall).
Preference
Indication if the subject depicted is preferred or a variant for this work (i.e., preferred, variant/alternate).
Display Order for depicted subjects
Sort order for the subjects depicted. Implementors should sort subjects according to these numbers within the two sets, General Subject and Specific Subject.
General Depicted Subject
Indexing terms that characterize in general terms what the work depicts or what is depicted in it. This subject analysis is the minimum required. It is recommended to also list specific subjects, if possible. The controlled terms for general subject are the following:
advertising and commercial
allegory
animal
apparel
architecture
botanical
cartographic
ceremonial object
cityscape
didactic and propaganda
funerary art
genre
history and legend
human figure
interior architecture
landscape
literary theme
machine
military
mixed motif
nonrepresentational art
object (utilitarian)
performance
portrait
religion and mythology
seascape
still life
Specific Depicted Subject
Indexing terms that characterize what the work depicts or what is depicted in it, including generic terms and proper names. These terms are more specific than the general subjects discussed above. They are drawn from several controlled sources, as described below.
Person or Corporate Body: Links to ULAN provide indexing for people and corporate bodies depicted in the work, including the proper names of sitters and historical characters.
Geographic Places: Links to TGN provide indexing for geographic locations depicted in the work, such as the proper names of cities or mountains.
Generic Terms: Links to AAT provide for indexing subjects depicted that are not described by proper names (e.g., loving cups, tents).
Works: Links to other works in CONA; to be used when one work depicts another, for example, if a drawing depicts a built work that is also documented in CONA.
Iconography Authority: Links to the Iconography Authority (IA), which contains names/terms and other information for iconography and other subject terminology not contained in the other linked vocabularies. The IA includes proper names for events, religion/mythology, fictional characters, named animals, themes from literature, fictional places, and built works not recorded in CONA. The IA is further discussed below.
Outside Iconography
Note fields and link to a source, for subjects taken from some outside source not included in AAT, TGN, ULAN, or the CONA Iconography Authority. Fields include the Term, Code used in the outside source, and a link to the published Source and Page number of the iconography (e.g., Iconoclass or the Library of Congress Authorities).
- Hierarchical Positions / Parent ID
The hierarchy in CONA refers to the method of structuring
and displaying the works within their broader contexts. All works are placed under a facet, Built Work or Movable Work. In addition, wholes and parts of works may be structured in a hierarchy. In the example below, a print, View of Naples, is displayed in a hiearchy as part of a volume.
Example
Top of CONA Hierarchy
....Movable Works
........Theatrum civitatum nec non admirandorum Neapolis et Siciliae regnorum
............View of Naples
- Multiple parents
CONA is polyhierarchical. Each Subject_ID may be linked to multiple
Parent_IDs. If there are multiple parents, one is marked as preferred.
In displays, the preferred parent is listed first or otherwise
designated. An example of when this could be used in CONA would be to link a work to its current parent and to a historical parent, of which it was formerly a part.
- Sort order in the hierarchy
Siblings in the hierarchies are usually arranged alphabetically.
However, they are sometimes arranged by another logical order,
for example, in chronological order.
- Historical flag for the Parent
Indicates if the link between the child and its parent is current
or historical. Most relationships in CONA are flagged Current; however, Historical relationships may exist, as when a print is linked to a volume of which it was formerly a part.
- Dates for the parent
Dates may indicate the span of time during which a whole/part relationship existed, as when parts of a former work are now disassembled. Dates comprise a Display Date, which is a note referring
to a date or other information about the link between a child
and its parent, and Start Date and End Date, which
are years that delimit the span of time referred to in the Display
Date.
- Hierarchy Relationship Type
Indicates the type of relationship between a hierarchical child and its parent, expressed in the jargon of controlled vocabulary standards. Relationships in CONA are generally whole/part, as between a print and the volume that contains the print. Another example of a whole/part relationship is in TGN, Tuscany is a part of Italy. An example of genus/species relationship is calcite is a type of mineral (AAT). An example of the instance relationship is Rembrandt van Rijn is an example of a Person (ULAN).
- Related Works
Associative relationships to other works
in CONA; they include various types of ties or connections
between works, excluding whole/part (hierarchical) relationships, but including links such as those between sketches and finished works.
Each reference comprises a relationship type and a link to the
Subject_ID of the related work (note that "subject" in this context refers to the record, not the Depicted Subject). For end-users, the related
work should be displayed with its Label.
Relationship Type
A term or phrase characterizing the relationship between the work
at hand and the linked work. Relationship types are reciprocal (that is, linked
to both records), drawn from a controlled list that comprises
the controlled phrase and a numeric code, as illustrated below.
The codes are hidden from end-users.
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Code
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Focus Entity
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Related Code
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4000
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related to
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4000
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4010
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distinguished from
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4010
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4111
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preparatory for
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4112
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4112
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based on
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4111
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Historical flag for the Related Work
Indicates if the link between the related works is current
or historical. Most relationships in CONA are flagged Current.
Dates for the Related Work
Dates comprise a Display Date, which is a note referring
to a date or other information about the link between the related
concepts, and Start Date and End Date, which are
years that delimit the span of time referred to in the Display
Date. Start and End Dates index the Display Date for retrieval,
but are hidden from end-users. Dates are reciprocal, meaning that
they are linked to both records in the relationship.
Start and End Dates are years in the proleptic Gregorian calendar,
which is the calendar produced by extending the Gregorian calendar
to dates preceding its official introduction. Dates BCE are expressed
as negative numbers. If the date extends to the current time,
the End Date is 9999.
Examples
[for a terrestrial globe]
Relationship Type: pendant of
Related Object/Work Label: Celestial Globe; globe; Nicolas Bailleul le jeune (French, active 1740-1750); 1730; J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles, California, United States); 86.DH.705.2
[for an architectural work]
Relationship Type: depicted in
Related Object/Work Label: Pantheon; engraving; design by Giovanni Antonio Dosio (Italian, 1533-after 1609), printmaker Giovanni Battista de'Cavalieri (Italian, ca. 1525-1601); published 1569; in Urbis Romae aedificiorum illustrium quae supersunt reliquiae, Florence (Italy)
[for a carpet]
Relationship Type: mate of
Related Object/Work Label: Ardabil Carpet; Maqsud of Kashan (Persian, active mid-16th century); 1540; Victoria and Albert Museum (London, England); 272-1893
- Descriptive Note
A narrative text or prose description and discussion of the work or group of works, including a discussion of issues related to it. Important information in this note should be indexed in other appropriate fields.
Examples
[for Adoration of the Magi by Bartolo di Fredi, ca. 1400, Pinacoteca, Siena, Italy]
The Adoration of the Magi in Siena was produced by Bartolo's workshop but probably executed primarily by Bartolo di Fredi himself. Although it is unknown where the altarpiece originally stood, the quality of the materials, large size, and the influence that the work had on other artists are all evidence of an expensive commission and prominent location, possibly in the cathedral of Siena. It illustrates the artist's late stylistic concerns and was extremely influential in Siena and elsewhere.
[for a group of works]
152 design drawings and models for the East Building project that I. M. Pei & Partners gave to the archives of the National Gallery of Art in 1986.
- Language for the Note
The language of the Descriptive Note. Most notes in CONA are written in English, however translations in other languages may be included.
- Contributors
The institutions or projects that contributed information to the
CONA record. In order to give due credit to the contributing institution,
it is required that implementers display a reference to the contributor
to end-users.
References to contributors are drawn from a controlled list comprising
a numeric ID, a brief name, and a full name. The end-user must
have access to the brief name and the full name. The Brief Name
is the initials, abbreviations, or acronyms for the contributing
projects or institutions.
Contributors may be linked to the record in three ways: with the titles, with the record as a whole (called subject in this context; this is not the depicted subject), and with the
note (descriptive note).
- Sources
The CONA record generally includes the bibliographic sources for
the titles/names and the descriptive note. In order to give due credit to
published sources, it is required that implementers display a
reference to the published source to end-users.
References to sources are drawn from a controlled list comprising
a numeric ID, a brief citation, and a full citation. The end-user
must have access to the brief citation and the full citation.
Sources may be linked to the record in three ways: with the terms,
with the record as a whole, and with the descriptive note.
Page Number
A reference to a volume, page, date of accessing a Web site, or
heading reference in a hardcopy or online source.
- Iconography Authority (IA)
The Iconography Authority (IA) is used to control terminology in the Depicted Subject area of a CONA record (discussed above). IA contains controlled terminology not within scope for AAT, ULAN, or TGN, such as named events (U.S. Civil War), mythological characters not in ULAN (e.g., Venus (Greek and Roman mythology)), iconographical themes (e.g., Adoration of the Magi), etc. This authority is hierarchical in structure. It includes the following fields: Iconography ID; Iconography Parent; Iconography Type (e.g., event, character/person, fictional place, etc.); Descriptive Note; Display Date, Start and End Dates for the iconographical theme; Terms/Names; Display Order, Preference, and Type for terms/names; Language and Language Preference flag for term/name; Source for term/name, Page, and Preference flag; Sources for the record; Associative Relationships and Relationship Type; links to AAT, TGN, and ULAN, and Relationship Types for these links/relationships.
- Revision History
The editorial history of each CONA record is captured in the Revision
History, which identifies when records and titles/names have been added,
edited, merged, etc. When CONA is released, the Revision History will be included with the
licensed files, but hidden from end-users. This information allows
implementers to update CONA in their system with each new release.
Sample Record
Record Type: movable work
Catalog Level: item
Object/Work Type: painting
Classification:
paintings
European art
TITLES
Title/Name: Irises
Preference: preferred
Type: repository
Language: English
Title/Name: Les Iris
Preference: variant/alternate
Language: French
Title/Name: Piante di iris
Preference: variant/alternate
Language: Italian
Title/Name: Die Irisse
Preference: variant/alternate
Language: German
Title/Name: Irysy
Preference: variant/alternate
Language: Polish
Title/Name: Irissen
Preference: variant/alternate
Language: Dutch
CREATOR
Creator Display: Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853-1890, active in France)
Related Person/Corp.Body Link: Gogh, Vincent van
Role: painter
DATE
Creation Date: 1889
Start Date: 1889 End Date: 1889
LOCATIONS
Flag: current Type: N/A
Location: J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles, California, United States)
Repository Numbers: 90.PA.20
Flag: Other Type: creation
Location: Saint Rémy de Provence (Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur, France)
STYLE/CULTURE
Style:
Impressionist
Post Impressionist
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Material and Technique: oil on canvas, applied with brush and palette knife
Flag: material Name: oil paint Role: medium
Flag: material Name: canvas Role: support
Flag: technique/implement: Name: impasto Role: technique
Flag: technique/implement: Name: palette knife Role: implement
Flag: technique/implement: Name: brush Role: implement
Dimensions Display: 71 x 93 cm (28 x 36 5/8 inches)
Value: 71 Unit: cm Type: height
Value: 93 Unit: cm Type: width
Inscription: signed lower right: Vincent
DEPICTED SUBJECT
General Subject:
botanical
allegory
Specific Subject:
AAT link: flowers Indexing type: description
AAT link: Iris germanica (species) Indexing type: identification
AAT link: regeneration Indexing type: interpretation
NOTE
Descriptive Note:
This work was painted when the artist was recuperating from a severe attack of mental illness; it depicts the garden at the asylum at Saint Rémy. The cropped composition, divided into broad areas of vivid color with monumental irises overflowing the borders of the picture, was probably influenced by the decorative patterning of Japanese woodblock prints. There are no known drawings for this painting; Van Gogh himself considered it a study. His brother Theo recognized its quality and submitted it to the Salon des Indépendants in September 1889, writing to Vincent of the exhibition: "[It] strikes the eye from afar. It is a beautiful study full of air and life."
Source: J. Paul Getty Museum. Handbook of the Collections. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2008. Page: 129
EVENT
Event Type: exhibition
Event: Salon des Indépendents of 1889
Display Date: September 1889 Start: 1889 End: 1889
OTHER NOTES
Provenance:
- 1892: Julien Tanguy (Père) [Paris, France], sold to Octave Mirbeau, 1892;
- 1892 - 1905: Octave Mirbeau [Paris, France], sold to Auguste Pellerin, 1905;
1905 - : Auguste Pellerin [Paris, France]; Galerie Bernheim Jeune [Paris, France]
1925 - 1929: Jacques Doucet [Paris, France; Neuilly sur Seine, France], by inheritance to his wife, Mme. Jacques Doucet;
1929 - 1938/1939: Mme. Jacques Doucet [Neuilly-sur-Seine, France], sold to Jacques Seligmann et Fils, 1938/1939;
1938/1939 - 1945/1946: Jacques Seligmann et Fils [Paris, France; New York, New York], sold to M. Knoedler & Co., possibly 1945/1946;
1945/1946 - 1947: M. Knoedler & Co. [London, England; New York, New York; Paris, France], sold to Joan Whitney Payson, 1947;
1947 - 1975: Joan Whitney Payson , by inheritance to her son, John Whitney Payson, 1975;
1975 - 1987: John Whitney Payson (sold, Whitney Payson sale, Sotheby's, New York, November 11, 1987, lot 25, to Alan Bond.);
1987 - 1990: Alan Bond [Perth, Australia], returned to Sotheby's (New York), 1990;
1990: Sotheby's (New York) , sold to the J. Paul Getty Museum by private treaty sale, 1990.
Updated 6 July 2010
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