8. Dates

The date or range of dates during which the iconographic subject is relevant or was portrayed in art.

• Examples:
  • from 3rd century CE
  • 25 June 1876
  • Aztec era (flourished ca.1400-1520 CE)

Free text. Use Unicode characters and numbers.

The same authoritative sources that are appropriate for the rest of the record may be used.

Use this field to record dates associated with the subject. Dates may be estimated to a year, range of years, or century. Expressions of uncertainty and nuance should be included.

Optional: Record the dates during which an iconographic subject was relevant. Include nuance and expressions of uncertainty as necessary.

Record a year, a span of years, or a phrase that describes the specific or approximate date associated with the subject.

Specificity

Record the date with the greatest level of specificity known, but expressed in a way that conveys the correct level of uncertainty or ambiguity to the end user (e.g., ca. 1820).

Do not assume or guess; use only dates as found in authoritative sources.

Format and Syntax

Use natural word order.

Do not capitalize words other than proper nouns or period names.

Avoid abbreviations, except with ca. (for “circa”), the numbers in century or dynasty designations (e.g., 17th century), and BCE and CE. Include all digits for both years in a span; for example, with four-digit years, do not abbreviate the second year (e.g., record 1780-1795, not 1780-95).

Use ordinal numbers (e.g., 17th) and Arabic numbers (e.g., 1959), as appropriate.

Language

Express words and phrases in the language of the catalog record (the IA is in English), except in rare cases where no English-language equivalent exists or where the foreign term is most commonly used (e.g., with the name of a period). Use diacritics as required.

Calendar

Use the proleptic Gregorian calendar (the calendar produced by extending the Gregorian calendar to dates preceding its official introduction).

If dates are expressed according to systems other than the Gregorian calendar (such as Julian, Napoleonic, or Islamic calendars), this fact should be clearly designated (e.g., 1088 AH (1677 CE)) notes the year in the Islamic calendar with the year in the Gregorian calendar (Common Era) in parentheses). Indexing in Start Date and End Date will use numbers representing years in the Gregorian calendar.

BCE, CE, Before Present

Use BCE (Before Common Era) to indicate dates before the year 1 in the proleptic Gregorian calendar.

For dates after the year 1, generally do not include the designation CE (Current Era), except where confusion may occur because (a) the span of dates begins BCE and ends CE (e.g., 75 BCE-10 CE) or (b) the date is within the first few centuries of the Current Era.

Do not use BC (Before Christ) or AD (Anno Domini).

For very ancient works, artifacts, and in certain other disciplines where BCE is not appropriate (e.g., for Paleolithic artifacts), use the phrases years ago or before present to reflect your source’s indication of age relative to the present rather than an absolute date. Do not abbreviate these designations (e.g., do not use y.a. or B.P.).

Estimate display dates based on the criteria below. For further discussion of Start Date and End Date, which are used for indexing the Display Date, see below.

For Events

For named events, for display date use the date when the event took place. Start Date and End Date should represent the year or span of years during which the event took place.

For Narratives

For legendary, religious, or mythological narratives, or for characters or fictional places associated with the narrative, for display date use the dates when the narrative is first known or depictions were first seen. Start Date and End Date should represent the span of years during which the narrative was or is depicted. For narratives that are still today depicted, End Date should be 9999.

For Literary Themes

For literary works, characters, and events associated with the literary work, for display date use the date of creation or publication. Start Date and End Date should represent the year or span of years during which the work was written or first published. If the literary work is republished at later dates, this is irrelevant to dating here; the year or span of years for Start and End Dates represent the creation or first publication of the literary work.

For Themes and Symbolic Subjects

For named themes or symbolic subjects, for display date use the dates when the subject is first known or depictions were first seen. Start Date and End Date should represent the span of years during which the symbolism or themes are relevant; if themes are still in use in new creations today, End Date should be 9999.

The earliest date and latest possible dates when an iconographic subject was first established or was used.

• Example:
  Start Date: -1250 End Date: 1500

Values are controlled format. Numbers are used to represent years, with negative numbers representing dates BCE.

The same authoritative sources that are appropriate for the rest of the record may be used.

Display dates should always be carefully expressed so as to not misrpresent known information about dating. However, end users do not see Start and End Dates, thus you may estimate for retrieval purposes in these fields.

Estimating Dates

For uncertain dates for the subject, the start date and end date should be estimated broadly using available information.

Dates represented as broad historical periods, such as Medieval, could be indexed with years representing the broadest span applicable for that period. If there is great uncertainty, an estimate could be made to the nearest century or span of 100 years, indexing start date and end date as the beginning and end of the 100-year span (e.g., 15th century would be indexed as start date = 1400, end date = 1499).

For a subject, such as an event, that is a single year, both start date and end date should be the same year (e.g., for a painting created in 1674, start date = 1674, and end date = 1674). The day and month may be expressed in the Display Date, but the year is entered in Start Date and End Date.

Required if applicable: If an Iconography Display Date is recorded, it is required to index it with Start and End Dates.

Form and Syntax

Record numbers to represent years in the Start and End Date fields, without commas or other punctuation. An exception is the dash/hyphen, which is used to express negative numbers for dates BCE.

Use four digits for most years. Dates BCE may require more than four digits (e.g., -10000).

Calendar

Always record years for indexing in the proleptic Gregorian calendar, even if another calendar was referenced in the Display Date.

Start Date and End Date record the broadest estimated span of time applicable to the subject.

If the subject is still relevant in the current era, use end date 9999.

Estimate Broadly

End users do not see the start and end dates, thus you may estimate broadly in these fields.