Introduction
The features described in this section are information about the object, and are mostly interpretive rather than absolute. For example, any number of accurate descriptions of an object could be provided without invalidating the others, whereas only a single set of dimension measurements can be correct at a given time.
Description
The main description of the object is provided in the same manner as other such texts; as the content of a LinguisticObject resource. The classification for descriptions is (aat:300411780). The description can include any content that describes the object, and is useful primarily for display to a human user.
Example:
A painting the has the description "The Example Painting is a great example of exampleness".
{
"@context": "https://linked.art/ns/v1/linked-art.json",
"id": "https://linked.art/example/object/33",
"type": "HumanMadeObject",
"_label": "Example Painting",
"classified_as": [
{
"id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300033618",
"type": "Type",
"_label": "Painting",
"classified_as": [
{
"id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300435443",
"type": "Type",
"_label": "Type of Work"
}
]
},
{
"id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300133025",
"type": "Type",
"_label": "Artwork"
}
],
"referred_to_by": [
{
"type": "LinguisticObject",
"classified_as": [
{
"id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300435416",
"type": "Type",
"_label": "Description",
"classified_as": [
{
"id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300418049",
"type": "Type",
"_label": "Brief Text"
}
]
}
],
"content": "The Example Painting is a great example of exampleness."
}
]
}
Physical Object and Visual Work
Physical things are the carriers of intellectual works, be they visual works or textual works. The same visual work can be carried by many physical things, such as multiple copies (editions) of a print or photograph. Even multiple copies of a painting created manually to look the same would show the same visual work. It can be thought of as the image or impression that the object gives when looking at it.
Every human-made object with an intent to look a certain way is the carrier of a visual work, be that a two dimensional artwork such as a painting, a three dimensional artwork such as a statue, or a crafted three dimensional object such as armor, a plate, or a building.
This visual work is modeled as a VisualItem resource, associated with the HumanMadeObject instances via the shows property. The VisualItem then has various properties described below that are used to describe the different facets.
Depiction
Many sorts of artwork depict things that can be pointed out in the artwork. These could be identifiable entities, such as a known Person or Object with a name or identifier, or unidentifiable (perhaps fictional) instances of a class of entity, such as a depiction of a battle but not any particular battle. For example a portrait depicts the person sitting for it, or a sketch of a generic landscape depicts a place even if it's not a particular, known location. The depiction pattern describes what is in the artwork's image.
This is modeled using the represents property on the VisualItem, which refers to the entity that is being depicted.
Example:
A self portrait is both produced by the artist and has visual content that represents the artist.
{
"@context": "https://linked.art/ns/v1/linked-art.json",
"id": "https://linked.art/example/object/34",
"type": "HumanMadeObject",
"_label": "Self Portrait",
"classified_as": [
{
"id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300033618",
"type": "Type",
"_label": "Painting",
"classified_as": [
{
"id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300435443",
"type": "Type",
"_label": "Type of Work"
}
]
},
{
"id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300133025",
"type": "Type",
"_label": "Artwork"
}
],
"shows": [
{
"type": "VisualItem",
"represents": [
{
"type": "Actor",
"_label": "Artist"
}
]
}
],
"produced_by": {
"type": "Production",
"carried_out_by": [
{
"type": "Actor",
"_label": "Artist"
}
]
}
}
Subject
Subjects are the concepts or things that the artwork evokes, as opposed to an object (real or imaginary) that is depicted by the artwork. For example, a portrait of a military commander in full regalia on a battlefield depicts the person and the place, but could be interpreted to have a subject of "war". A painting with an allusion to a piece of literature does not depict the literature, but instead evokes it as a subject. This could be thought of as what the artwork is about rather than what can be seen, or as why the content in the artwork is present.
The model for subject is that the VisualObject is about the subject, which is a Type instance.
Example:
A visual content of a portrait of Lord Nelson has the conceptual subject of "war". It would also represent Lord Nelson, following the example above, however this is not included in the example.
{
"@context": "https://linked.art/ns/v1/linked-art.json",
"id": "https://linked.art/example/object/35",
"type": "HumanMadeObject",
"_label": "Portrait of Lord Nelson",
"classified_as": [
{
"id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300033618",
"type": "Type",
"_label": "Painting",
"classified_as": [
{
"id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300435443",
"type": "Type",
"_label": "Type of Work"
}
]
},
{
"id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300133025",
"type": "Type",
"_label": "Artwork"
}
],
"shows": [
{
"type": "VisualItem",
"about": [
{
"id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300055314",
"type": "Type",
"_label": "War"
}
]
}
]
}
Style Classification
Styles are a categorization of the aesthetic qualities of the work being described, and can come from important features, techniques, locations, times or artistic movements. Styles might include "geometric", "abstract", and "limited palette". It is considered that all styles are aesthetic rather than cultural, but the aesthetic style may be related to a particular culture.
The distinction that all styles are aesthetic is somewhat controversial, but simplifies the model significantly at very little cost. A clear example is a perfect imitation of a Navajo dream-catcher made by a factory in China cannot be said to be culturally Navajo as an object, but the image of the object can be said to have an aesthetic that is related to the Navajo culture.
The style is associated with the object using the classified_as property, and must be a reference to an appropriate vocabulary. It is associated with the VisualItem that is shown by the object, to reinforce that it is the way the object looks that determines the style, not the physicality of its production. The style property could be thought of as how the content is presented. In order to distinguish styles from other classifications, the style itself has a classified_as of aat:300015646.
Example:
An impressionist painting is classified as impressionism, which is classified as being a type of style.
{
"@context": "https://linked.art/ns/v1/linked-art.json",
"id": "https://linked.art/example/object/36",
"type": "HumanMadeObject",
"_label": "Impressionist Painting",
"classified_as": [
{
"id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300033618",
"type": "Type",
"_label": "Painting",
"classified_as": [
{
"id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300435443",
"type": "Type",
"_label": "Type of Work"
}
]
},
{
"id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300133025",
"type": "Type",
"_label": "Artwork"
}
],
"shows": [
{
"type": "VisualItem",
"classified_as": [
{
"id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300021503",
"type": "Type",
"_label": "Impressionism",
"classified_as": [
{
"id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300015646",
"type": "Type",
"_label": "Style"
}
]
}
]
}
]
}
Other Classifications
Other classifications can also be assigned to the object's content. If it is possible to say that "the artistic content of this object is an X", then X can be included in the set of classifications using the classified_as property on the VisualItem. This could include classifications such as "Landscape" or "Allusion", compared to classifications that are derived from the physical nature of the object such as a "Painting", "Photograph" or "Sculpture" which are associated with the object.
{
"@context": "https://linked.art/ns/v1/linked-art.json",
"id": "https://linked.art/example/object/37",
"type": "HumanMadeObject",
"_label": "Allusion Painting",
"classified_as": [
{
"id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300033618",
"type": "Type",
"_label": "Painting",
"classified_as": [
{
"id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300435443",
"type": "Type",
"_label": "Type of Work"
}
]
},
{
"id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300133025",
"type": "Type",
"_label": "Artwork"
}
],
"shows": [
{
"type": "VisualItem",
"classified_as": [
{
"id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300055815",
"type": "Type",
"_label": "Allusion"
}
]
}
]
}
Related Objects
A list of related objects is often known for any given object, however the reason for the relation is not recorded. These objects might be physically similar, they may have been created by the same artist, they might have been exhibited together or they might just be both highlights of the current institution and share no observable features. In this circumstance, the best that can be done is to record that there is some relationship without any specificity as to the details. If there are more details known about the relationship then more specific patterns should be used instead.
The model uses an AttributeAssignment activity to relate the two objects together. This allows additional information to be associated with the activity, such as a label, name or classification if known. The relationship has a direction, slightly paradoxically from the entity which has an attributed_by property to the AttributeAssignment, to the entity which is assigned. The property can be given using assigned_property, with the value being the name of the property.
Example:
Example Painting is related, in some unknown way, to Yet Another Example Painting. Perhaps the relationship is that they are both examples.
{
"@context": "https://linked.art/ns/v1/linked-art.json",
"id": "https://linked.art/example/object/38",
"type": "HumanMadeObject",
"_label": "Example Painting",
"classified_as": [
{
"id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300033618",
"type": "Type",
"_label": "Painting",
"classified_as": [
{
"id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300435443",
"type": "Type",
"_label": "Type of Work"
}
]
},
{
"id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300133025",
"type": "Type",
"_label": "Artwork"
}
],
"attributed_by": [
{
"type": "AttributeAssignment",
"assigned": [
{
"id": "https://linked.art/example/object/39",
"type": "HumanMadeObject",
"_label": "Yet Another Example Painting",
"classified_as": [
{
"id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300033618",
"type": "Type",
"_label": "Painting"
},
{
"id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300133025",
"type": "Type",
"_label": "Artwork"
}
]
}
]
}
]
}