CONA: Subject Access
for Art Works
Overview and the CONA Depicted Subject
Patricia Harpring
Managing Editor
Getty Vocabulary Program
Revised April 2016
Patricia Harpring
CONA and Subject Access
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Table of Contents
Part 1: Overview 3
Introduction 4
...What Is CONA 5
...CONA in context 10
...Depicted subjects 12
...Getty Iconography Authority 18
...Repositories and subjects 21
What Is Subject 27
...General and specific subject 31
...What if there is no subject? 43
...Subject or Associative Rel. 47
...Controlled by Getty vocabs. 55
For full rules see the CONA Editorial Guidelines
Part 2: Subject in Detail 56
Subject Analysis and Indexing 57
...Levels of analysis 63
...Subject fields 67
...General Subject 68
..Subjects from ULAN 71
...Subjects from TGN 74
...Subjects from AAT 76
...Subjects from IA 79
...Subjects are another work 84
...Subjects from other sources 87
Issues in subject analysis 88
...Non-narrative works 93
...Specificity and exhaustivity 100
...Uncertain subjects 104
...Subject of the work at hand 108
http://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabularies/guidelines/index.html#cona
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Part 1: Overview
Patricia Harpring
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Introduction
What is CONA?
Introduction to Depicted Subjects in CONA
Patricia Harpring
CONA and Subject Access
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What is CONA?
Enabling digital art history
• Currently in development, CONA compiles titles, attributions,
depicted subjects, and other metadata about works of art,
architecture, and cultural heritage, both extant and historical
• Metadata is gathered and linked from museum collections,
special collections, archives, libraries, scholarly research, and
many other sources
• CONA is multicultural and multilingual
®
• CONA is linked to images
• CONA is linked to the AAT, TGN, and ULAN
• Through this rich metadata and links, CONA may provide a
powerful conduit for research and discovery for digital art history
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What is CONA?
• CONA contains links to artists and patrons, style, dates, locations,
studies and other related works, bibliography, and the subjects
depicted in the works
• CONA can merge information from various sources and contributors
about a given architectural or movable work, whether data is
contributed or linked
• Information from the repository of a work will be preferred
(e.g., attribution), but other opinions and additional information
of scholars could be included
®
• CONA can facilitate linking between works, including works held in
different repositories but having historical relationships (e.g.,
studies, disassembled manuscripts, etc.)
• CONA can provide a record for lost and destroyed works
• CONA provides unique, persistent numeric identifiers for the work
and all of its associated information, allowing disambiguation
between similar works and authoritative identification of the work in
a linked environment
• CONA is considered authoritative because all information is derived
from authoritative sources
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What is CONA?
•
•
•
®
•
In the new realm of digital art history, CONA brings the three
Getty vocabularies together as it focuses on the works
themselves, whether built works or movable works, whether
extant or historical
Even works that are destroyed, disassembled, or planned but
not constructed may be included
For example, if an altarpiece or manuscript has been
disassembled and the parts reside at multiple repositories, a
CONA record may link all the pertinent information to
virtually reconstruct the lost work from the dispersed pieces
Series of works and archival groups may be included.
Multiples, such as prints, may be linked and described as
separate states for research and discovery
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What is CONA?
•
While the information provided by the repository or
owner of the work is considered most authoritative
in a CONA record
•
Other scholarly opinions and historical information
about the work may be included to reflect and link
the full history and scholarly discussion about a
given work over time
®
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http://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabularies/index.html
CONA in context
•
• CONA is linked to the other
Getty vocabularies and the
Iconography Authority
Art & Architecture Thesaurus ®
AAT = terms for generic concepts, relationships, other data
• (e.g., watercolors, 玉器, amphora, asa-no-ha-toji)
•
Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names ®
TGN = names for administrative, physical places, relationships, historical information, coordinates, other data
• (e.g., Diospolis, Acalán, Ottoman Empire, Ganges River)
•
Union List of Artist Names ®
ULAN = names for people, corporate bodies, biography, relationships, other data
•
•
(e.g., Christopher Wren, Altobelli & Molins, Anp'yŏng Taegun)
[Cultural Objects Name Authority ®]
CONA = not only titles/names of art and architecture
•
(e.g., Mona Lisa, Livre de la Chasse, Chayasomesvara Temple)
•
In development: CONA links rich metadata for works to allow a conduit for research and discovery
in the broader, ever expanding arena of digital art history
•
[Getty Iconography Authority]
•
•
(e.g., Adoration of the Magi, Zeus, French Revolution, Der Ring des Nibelungen, Reclining Buddha)
In development: Now a module of CONA, includes names for iconographic narratives, religious or fictional characters, historical
events, names of literary works and performing arts
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Entity Relationship Diagram for CONA
• Same
diagram
as used for
CDWA and
CCO
ULAN
Person /
Corporate Body
Geographic
Places
TGN
Image Records
CONA
Work Records
Source Records
AAT
Generic Terms
Iconography
Authority Getty IA
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CONA, the Cultural Objects
Name Authority®
Titles, attributions, styles, locations, other information for
moveable works (paintings, sculpture, prints, drawings,
photographs, ceramics, etc.) and architecture (buildings,
bridges, etc.) (e.g., Hagia Sophia, Mona Lisa, Fantastic
Landscape with a Pavilion).
Current totals: [in development]
• It includes works executed or designed (e.g., a built work for which only design
drawings exist); extant or destroyed, lost
• It is linked to AAT, TGN, and ULAN; same core structure as these vocabularies
• CONA is a resource containing and linking to metadata about works
• It is mapped to or expressed as CDWA, CCO, LIDO, and CIDOC CRM
• CONA grows through contributions from repositories of art, the expert cataloging
community, and the scholarly community
• Through rich metadata and links, it is hoped that CONA will provide a powerful conduit
for research and discovery for digital art history and related disciplines
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• Instructions are available to
contributors for defaults when
core data is unavailable
• The CONA ID is supplied by CONA
What is CONA?
What is a minimum record for contribution?
Core elements
Catalog Level
Classification
Work Type
Title
Creator
Creation Date
Subject
Current Location
Dimensions
Materials &
Techniques
CONA ID 70000285
Catalog Level item
Classification paintings
Work Type painting (visual work)
scroll (information artifact)
Title Scene of Early Spring
宋郭熙早春圖 軸
Creator Guo Xi (Chinese painter, 1023 - ca.1085 CE)
Creation Date 1072 CE
General Subject landscapes
Specific | spring (season) | trees | Pinus (genus) |
streams
Current Location National Palace Museum (Taipei,
Taiwan) Repository Number 000053N000000000
Dimensions 158.3 x 108.1 cm
Mat & Tech painted scroll Index ink | silk | paper
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Images may be under additional copyright
12
What is CONA? Subjects
• CONA can provide access
by depicted subjects
• Currently, a huge void
in work records is subject access
CONA could fill a void, linking depicted subjects
•
Titles are free text; cannot reliably indicate subject content
•
Linking to designated, controlled Subject terminology allows the variant terms
and other information about the subject to be retrieved, regardless of how it is
spelled in the title
(e.g., Hercules, Heracles, Herakles, Ercole, Ἡρακλῆς, Херкул)
•
Allows research queries such as
“return all works with the subject Irises that were Japanese and available in the
Netherlands or France during the years when Vincent van Gogh was working”
•
The word “irises” is not necessarily in the Title
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What is CONA? Subjects
• CONA can provide access
by depicted subjects
• Currently, a huge void
in work records is subject access
CONA could fill a void, linking depicted subjects
•
•
•
What do end-users want? Subject access is among their
top requirements
Whereas libraries have a tradition of cataloging the subjects of works
Many art museums typically do not index subject matter depicted in /
represented by works
•
[sitters, places, events, iconographic themes, dedication of certain buildings,
etc.]
•
In a survey conducted of American art museums’ data, of the core fields (agreed
by consensus in CDWA, CCO, etc.), all museums included all core fields except
the depicted subject [survey by OCLC (Online Computer Library Center, a nonprofit computer
library service and research organization); core fields per CCO and CDWA (Categories for the
Description of Works of Art)]
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• CONA can provide subject terms
• To provide access
through Depicted Subjects
What is CONA?
Depicted Subjects
Class: photograph
Work Type: albumen print
Title: Lincoln on the Battlefield of
Antietam, Maryland, October 2, 1862
Creator/Role: Alexander Gardner (American
photographer, 1821-1882)
Creation-Date: 1862
Current Location: J. Paul Getty Museum
(Los Angeles, CA), 84.xm.482.1
Measurements: 8 5/8 x 7 3/4 in.
Mat & Tech: and Techniques: albumen
print
Descriptive Note: Twenty-six thousand
soldiers were killed or wounded in the
Battle of Antietam on September 17,
1862, after which Confederate General
Robert E. Lee was forced to retreat to
Virginia. Lincoln stands tall, front and
center in his stovepipe hat, his erect and
commanding posture emphasized by the
tent pole that seems to be an extension
of his spine...
CONA ID: 700008509 Class: photographs Work Type: photograph
Title: Lincoln on the Battlefield of Antietam
Creator: Alexander Gardner (American photographer, 1821-1882)
Date: 1862
Material: albumen print
Dimensions: 8 5/8 x 7 3/4 inches
Location: J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles, CA); 84.xm.482.1
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CONA and Subject Access
General
portraits
history and legend
Specific
Antietam National Battlefield
(Sharpsburg, Maryland, United
States) .
American Civil War (event) . . . .
...
Abraham Lincoln (American
president, 1809-1865) . . . . . . . .
..............
John McClernand (American
Union General, 1812-1900) . . . .
...........
Allan Pinkerton (American
Secret Service agent, detective,
1819-1884) .
army camp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
...
tents (portable buildings) . . . . . .
...
TGN
Getty
IA
TGN
ULAN
IA
ULAN
ULAN
ULAN
ULAN
ULAN
AAT
AAT
AAT
AAT
Images may be under additional copyright
15
• CONA can provide subject
terms
• To provide access
through Depicted Subjects
What is CONA?
Depicted Subjects
General
architecture
Class: prints and drawings
Object Type: record drawing
Title: Plan and Elevation of the left side of the façade of San Lorenzo, and various other details
Creator: Aristotile da Sangallo (Italian) after Michelangelo
[link] Sangallo, Aristotile da Role: draftsman
Date: late 15th century
Subject*:
architecture
San Lorenzo (Florence, Italy)
church
façade
elevation
plan
Measurements: 32.0 x 21.5 cm (12 1/2 x 8 3/8 inches)
Material and Technique: pen and sepia ink
Inscription: Upper center: chiosi grande achoperatione; el tondo tanto grande che / vengha al pari de nichi;
Descriptive Note: This is a copy of a design by Michelangelo for the façade.
Current Location: Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, Munich, Germany; #33258
CONA ID: 700008510 Class: drawings Work Type: drawing
Title: Plan and Elevation of the façade of San Lorenzo
Creator: Aristotile da Sangallo after Michelangelo
Date: late 15th century
Measurements: 32.0 x 21.5 cm (12 1/2 x 8 3/8 inches)
Mat & Tech: pen and sepia ink
Location: Staatliche Graphische Sammlung (Munich, Germany) #33258.
Specific
San Lorenzo
(built work,
Florence, Italy) .
.......
CONA
church . . . . . . . .
.....
AAT
façade . . . . . . . .
.....
AAT
elevation . . . . . .
.....
AAT
plan . . . . . . . . . .
....
AAT
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• CONA can provide subject terms
• To provide access
through Depicted Subjects
Depicted Subjects
General
religion
and mythology
religion and
human
figure
mythology
human
figure(s)
Specific
Bodhisattva . . .
.
AAT
Avalokiteshvar
IA
a.
Getty IA
Maitreya . . . . .
..
Getty IAIA
Compassion . .
..
AAT AAT
Avalokiteshvara
CONA ID: 700008511
Class: Asian art sculpture Work Type: sculpture
Title: Bodhisattva, probably Avalokiteshvara (Guanyin),
Creator: unknown Chinese
Culture: Northern Qi dynasty (550-577)
Date: ca. 550–560
Creation Locatiom” Shanxi Province, China
Mat & Tech: sandstone with pigments
Dimensions: height 13 3/4 ft. (419.1 cm)
Current Location: Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York);
The Sackler Fund, 1965 (65.29.4).
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Maitreya
bodhisattva
compassion
AAT
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What is the
Getty Iconography Authority?
•
The IA includes proper names and other information for named
events, themes and stories from religion/mythology, fictional
characters, themes from literature, works of literature and
performing arts, and fictional places
•
For subjects not described by AAT (generic terms), TGN
(geographic names), ULAN (names of people and corporate body),
or CONA works
•
The IA is linked to other iconography sources,
e.g., LOC authorities or Iconclass
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The Getty Iconography Authority
Named events, religious/mythological
iconography, fictional characters and places,
themes from literature
 Includes the proper names of subjects not covered
by other Getty vocabularies
 The Getty Iconography Authority (IA) is a module
within CONA; over time, it could become a standalone authority through contributions
 Includes links to other sources, such as Iconclass
and the US Library of Congress subject authorities
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Iconography Authority
Sample record
AAT links
AAT
role/characteristic is ... bodhisattva
TGN
symbolic attribute is ... lotus
ULAN
culture/religion is ... Mahayana (Buddhism)
CONA
culture/religion is ... Theravada (Buddhism)
Associative Relationships
associated with .... Krishna (Hindu iconography)
counterpart is …. Guanyin (Buddhist iconography)
Names in
multiple
languages
Users may
choose the
name
appropriate
for their
needs
Note The bodhisattva of infinite compassion and mercy;
embodies the compassion of all Buddhas. This
bodhisattva is portrayed in different cultures as either
female or male…
Hierarchical Relationships
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Contributors & sources
[VP] Encyclopedia Britannica Online
(2002-); Bowker, Oxford Dictionary
of World Religions (1997);
Huntington, Art of Ancient India
(1985); LC: LC control no.: sh
85010492
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20
Do repositories record subject?
▪ Issue: One of the primary ways by which users want
to retrieve information and images of art is by
subject content
▪ However, few repositories of art or of images record
subject terms
How does the community overcome this problem?
• We all recognize the problem; but there is no easy
solution
•
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Do repositories record subject?
▪ Repositories of objects would be
best source of current data for
objects; but do they index subject
content?
▪ OCLC study in 2009
▪ Cataloging data from 9 art museums
was analyzed for compatibility to CCO
and CDWA
▪ See D-Lib Magazine for article on the
project
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15. Subject Term
▪ Results of analysis show the percentages of records that have correctly
included data for core CCO/CDWA fields
▪ Most museums generally are compliant with most of the core fields
▪ Some are missing data due to incorrect parsing (e.g., work type, role
creator, which can be extrapolated and inserted globally in export)
▪ Exception: Only one of the nine museums had subject indexing
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▪ However, subject
may often be
found in title or
work type
▪ but how to index
it as subject?
▪ Automated
parsing (matched
against controlled
subject lists) or
entered by hand
as subject?
Title: Modern Rome–Campo Vaccino
CONA ID: 700008295 Work Type: painting
Creator: Joseph Mallord William Turner (English, 1775–1851)
Date: 1839
Mat & Tech: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 36 1/8 x 48 1/4 in. (unframed), 48 1/4 x 60 3/8 x 4 3/8 (framed)
Current Repository: J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles, California); 2016.6
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CONA and Subject Access
▪ Combination of
auto parsing and
human editing
would be best
solution
24
▪ Using organizational categories for online data to extrapolate that
subject = “cityscape”
▪ Example from Getty museum Web site; JPGM is a contributor to CONA
▪ We will try to map this category label to the controlled CCO/CDWA/CONA
general subject terms to provide minimum subject access
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▪ Works in art libraries &
special collections often
have subject access
▪ In this example, subject
access is through the
group, not item-level
Work Type: photograph CONA ID 700008639
Title: Portrait of Li Hongzhang in Tianjin
Date: 1878
Creator: Liang Shitai (also known as See Tay) (Chinese, active in Hong Kong,
Shanghai, and Tianjin, 1870s–1880s) Mat & Tech: albumen silver print
Location:Getty Research Institute, 2006.R.1.4
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What Is Subject?
Description, Identification, Interpretation
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What Is Subject?
• The subject matter of a work
of art (sometimes referred to
as its content)
• is the narrative, iconic, or
non-objective meaning
conveyed by a figurative or an
abstract 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.
• In CONA (per CCO
and CDWA) it is
broadly defined
• “Core” information
• For all objects, even
those that have no
“subject” in the
traditional sense
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What Is Subject?
 The subject matter of a work of
art (sometimes referred to as
its content)
 is the narrative, iconic, or nonobjective meaning conveyed
by a figurative or an abstract
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.
•
Using fields specifically
dedicated to subject
assures that subject
matter is consistently
recorded and indexed in
the same place using the
same conventions for
every object represented
in the database
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What Is Subject?
You are
probably
accustomed to
thinking of
subject in
these ways:
But these may
also be
“subject”:
Quick overview
▪ Representational, narrative
– Tells a story
▪ Representational, not a story
– Portraits, landscapes, still lifes, genre
scenes, architectural drawings, allegories
•
Nonrepresentational
• Abstract
• Decoration
• Function
• Implied themes or attributes
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General Subject and
Specific Subject
• General Subject: Required to include one general subject
• Controlled by an extensible list, not linked to Getty vocabularies
• Purpose is to place the depicted subject in a broad category; count nouns are plural
• Specific Subject: Optional but highly recommended
• Add terms to describe subject as specifically as possible
However, index only the most important characteristics or topics
• Controlled by AAT, TGN, ULAN, and the Getty IA
• Purpose is to index subject and allow retrieval using Getty vocabularies
• May repeat same concept as in General Subject, but more specifically if possible
• Avoid repeating the Work Type
• Contributors may instead link to Iconclass, LOC Authorities, etc., if these terms are
already incorporated in their local data
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• Required to include one general
subject terms from the extensible
list, see CONA Guidelines
General Subject and
Specific Subject
Extensible list of General Subjects: for full list see CONA editorial guidelines
advertising and commercial
allegory
animals
apparel
architecture
botanical
cartographic
ceremonial object
cityscapes
didactic and propaganda
funerary art
genre
history and legend
human figures
interior architecture
landscapes
literary theme
machines and equipment
military
mixed motifs
nonrepresentational art
utilitarian objects
performance art
portraits
religion and mythology
seascapes
still lifes
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General Subject and
Specific Subject
• Description, identification, interpretation
• What the work is “of” and “about”
• Common iconographic themes, stories and
characters
• General subject controlled by extensible list
• Specific by AAT, TGN, ULAN, CONA, and Getty IA
CONA ID 700008606 Class: sculpture *Work Type: statue
*Title: Guanyin
*Creator Display: unknown Chinese
*Current Location*: Museum of Fine Arts (Boston,
Massachusetts, USA) 20.590
*Role: sculptor Person: unknown Chinese
*Creation Date: 12th century
*Subject: religion and mythology
Guanyin royal ease compassion
Style: Song Dynasty
[General ID
*Dimensions: 141 x 88 x 88 cm (55 1/2 x 34 5/8 x 34 5/8
31801]
inches)
*Mat & Tech: and Techniques: lacquered wood with painting
and gilding
[IAis1000085]
Description: Guanyin
the Bodhisattva of Compassion,
represented in the pose of “royal ease” and richly
[AAT
ornamented. A Bodhisattva is one who
has300025928]
attained
enlightenment, but chooses
to
remain
among
[AAT 300393159]humankind to
help others achieve it ...
General Subject:
•religion and mythology
Specific Subject:
•Guanyin
•man (male human)
•compassion
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General Subject and
Specific Subject
• Description, identification,
interpretation
• What the work is “of” and “about”
• Architectural drawings, prints
CONA ID 700008607 Catalog Level: item Class:
prints
Work Type: engraving
Title: Capital and base of a column (Vitruvius II)
Creator: Hans Beham
Creation Date: 1543 Qualifier: publication
Current Location: Auckland Art Museum (Auckland,
New Zealand);
Department
International
Art.ID 30105]
General
Subject:
architecture
[General
Credit Line Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki,
purchased 1981
Specific
Subject:
Mat & Tech:
engraving
column (architectural element) [AAT 300001571]
capital (column component) [AAT 300001662]
base (object component) [AAT 300001656]
acanthus
[AAT 300164902]
Inscriptions:(motif)
Signature/Marks
(within image) 1543
9u.l.) VITRVVIVS II (u.c.) HSB (monogram - u.r.); (verso
- pencil) C39014 H2 (l.c.); QVODLIBET HORVM CAPITVM PONI
POTEST / AD CORPVS COLVMNAE DORICAE; (left hand edge) DISSE HAVBTER MAG EIN IETLICHES GESECZ WERDEN/AVF DEN / LEIB DER SEVLN DORICA (right hand edge)
Measurements: 77 x 50mm
Subjects:
columns (architectural elements)
capitals
bases (object components)
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General Subject and
Specific Subject
• Description, identification,
interpretation
• What the work is “of” and “about”
• still lifes = fruit, flowers, objects
CONA ID 700002134 Class*: paintings
Work Type*:
painting
Title*: Still life with flowers and fruit
Creator/Role*: Claude Monet
Current Location*: J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles, CA),
83.PA.215
[link] unknown Monet, Claude Role: painter
Creation Date*: 1869
Measurements*: 39 3/8 x 31 3/4
 in.
Mat & Tech: and Techniques*: Oil on canvas
 Although painted
 in his studio, this still life
Descriptive Note:
shows the influence of the outdoor experiments that Claude

(genus
Monet undertook in the summer and fall of 1869, while he
was living at Bougival
on the Seine

 River. His exercises in
different painting techniques are seen in the way he softened

the outlines of forms and the manner
in which he explored
the descriptive possibilities of brushstrokes: broad and flat in
the tablecloth,
sketchy in the apples, and short and dense in
Patricia Harpring © 2016 J. Paul Getty Trust. For educational purposes only. Do not distribute.
the flower petals
General Subject:  still lifes
Specific Subject:
vase
apples
grapes
table
Patricia Harpring
flowers
Chrysanthemum
)
basket
cloth
CONA and Subject Access
35
General Subject and
Specific Subject
• Description, identification,
interpretation
• What the work is “of” and “about”
• Common iconographic themes,
stories and characters
• Allegory, symbolism (e.g., life’s
journey)
CONA ID 700000099 Classification: paintings
*Work Type: screen
*Title: Eight-Planked Bridge (Yatsuhashi)
*Creator Display: Ogata Korin (Japanese, 1658-1716)
*Creation Date: : probably done sometime between 1711 and 1716
*Current Location: Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York; New York, USA )
ID :53.7.1-2
*Dimensions: pair of six-panel folding screens; each 179.1 x 371.5 cm (5
General Subject:
feet 1 1/2 inches x 12 feet 2 1/4 inches)
 End: 1716
 Start: 1711
*Role: painter
 : Ogata Korin
*Subject:
landscape
bridge
irises
love
longing
journeying
Ise Monogatari (Japanese literature, poems)
[controlled] Extent: each part Value: 179.1 Unit: cm Type: height |
Value: 371.5 Unit: cm Type: width | Extent: components
Value: 2
Type: count
*Mat & Tech: and Techniques: ink, color, and gold-leaf on paper, using
tarashikomi (color blending technique)
Material [links]:  ink  paint  gold leaf  paper Technique [links]: 
tarashikomi
landscapes
Specific Subject:
bridge
irises
love
allegory
longing
journeying
Ise Monogatari
(Japanese literature)
Inscriptions: right hand screen: Korin's signature with honorary title "hokkyo“; round seals read "Masatoki"
Style: Edo (Japanese)
Culture: Japanese
Description: Represents a popular episode in the 10th-century "Ise Monogatari" (The Tales of Ise) series of poems on love and journeying; in this episode, a young aristocrat comes to a place called Eight Bridges (Yatsuhashi) where a river branched into eight
channels, each spanned by a bridge. He writes a poem of five lines about irises growing there. The poem expresses his longing for his wife left behind in the capital city.
Description Source [link] : Metropolitan Museum of Art online. www.metmuseum.org (accessed 1 February 2004)
Patricia Harpring © 2016 J. Paul Getty Trust. For educational purposes only. Do not distribute.
Patricia Harpring
CONA and Subject Access
36
General Subject and
Specific Subject
• For architecture, indicate architecture and also use
Indexing Type isness to clarify this is a built work,
not a representation of a built work (in sync with Work
Type)
• Use Specific Subject to index a dedication of
churches, temples, monuments (e.g., Notre Dame,
Lincoln Memorial)
• (For a simple dedication, for which the person is not a subject, use
Related People and Corporate Bodies with Role “dedicatee”)
CONA ID 700000158 Class:  Roman architecture
Work Type:  temple
 rotunda
 church
Title/Name: Pantheon Title Type: preferred
Title/Name: Santa Maria ad Martyres Title Type: alternate
Title/Name: Santa Maria Rotunda Title Type: alternate
Creator Display: unknown Roman, for the Emperor Hadrian
*Current Location: Rome (Italy)
*Role: architect [link]: unknown Roman
*Role: patron
[link]: Hadrian
*Creation Date Display: begun in 27 BCE, completely rebuilt 118/119-125/128
:  Start: 0118  End: 0128
Culture: Roman
*Dimensions: dome: 43 m (interior diameter and height) (141 feet); oculus: 8.9 m (diameter)
General Subject:  architecture Indexing Type: isness
Specific Subject:  worship
 planetary gods (Greek and Roman mythology)
(29 feet 2 inches)
: Qualifier: interior Extent: dome, Value: 43
Unit: m Type: height | Value: 43
Unit: m Type: diameter || Extent: oculus Value: 8.9
Unit: m Type: diameter
*Mat & Tech: and Techniques: constructed of stone, brick, concrete, and aggregate material;
the drum is strengthened by huge brick arches and piers set above one another inside the
walls
Material [links]:  concrete  stone  brick  concrete  aggregate
Technique [links]: 
rotunda
Description : The Pantheon was dedicated to the seven planetary gods in 128 CE. It was
consecrated as a church in the early seventh century. It is the major surviving example of
Roman concrete-vaulted architecture. It is composed of a domed rotunda attached to a
columned entrance portico. Now free-standing, it was originally the focal point of a long,
porticoed forecourt.
Extent: dedication
 Queen of Martyrs (Virgin Mary)
Extent: dedication
Description Source [links]:  Ward-Perkins, John B., Roman Architecture. New York: 1977.
M D
ld Willi
L Th P h
L d
P
i B k L d 1976
Patricia Harpring
CONA and Subject Access
37
General Subject and
Specific Subject
CONA ID 700008608 Catalog Level: item
 Class: sculpture costume African art
mask
• Subject may include function
• Avoid repeating the Work Type mask, which
is already captured in another field
*Work Type: 
*Title: Mask
*Creator Display: unknown Chokwe
Current Location: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian
Institution
(Washington,
DC, USA)
ID: 85-15-20
General
Subject:
*Creation Date: 20th century
:  Current
religion
andDemocratic
mythology
Discovery
Location:
Republic of the Congo
Creation
Location:
Angola
human
figures
Start: 1900
 End: 1999
Style: Muzamba style
Culture: Chokwe
*Dimensions: 39.1 cm (height) (15 3/8 inches)
: Value: 39.1 Unit: cm Type: height
*Mat & Tech: and Techniques: wood, raffia, metal, and kaolin
Material [links]:  wood
raffia
metal
kaolin
Description: Collected in Democratic Republic of the Congo; probably from Angola. In
apparel Extent: purpose
ceremonial objects Extent: purpose
Specific Subject:
Chokwe villages masks are worn by men in dances to invoke ancestral spirits, to
represent spirits found in nature, or to represent men and women or wild animals in a
narrative story. *Role: artist
[link]: unknown Chokwe
face
Patricia Harpring © 2016 J. Paul Getty Trust. For educational purposes only. Do not distribute.
Patricia Harpring
CONA and Subject Access
38
General Subject and
Specific Subject
• All works should be indexed with subject
• Even nonrepresentational works
and utilitarian objects
• Avoid repeating Work Type, bell
General
ceremonial objects
Indexing Type: isness
Specific
ceremonial sound device
Extent: purpose
AAT
unknown Chinese; Zong Zhou
Zhong; bell; bronze; ca. 857-842
BCE; 65.6 x 35.2 cm; National
Palace Museum (Taipei, Taiwan)
Patricia Harpring © 2016 J. Paul Getty Trust. For educational purposes only. Do not distribute.
Patricia Harpring
CONA and Subject Access
Images may be under additional copyright
39
General Subject and
Specific Subject
• Use of Extent
• Different parts of the work
have different subjects
CONA ID 700006921 Classification: antiquities Work Type: amphora
Title: Panathenaic Prize Amphora with Lid
Creator: attributed to the Painter of the Wedding Procession; signed by
Nikodemos
Location: J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles, California, USA) ID
93.AE.55
General
Date: 363 Subject:
- 362 BCE religion and mythology Extent: general
Creation Place(s):
Athens,
Greece Type: isness
Indexing
utilitarian
objects
Culture:
Greek
(Attic)
ceremonial objects Indexing Type: isness
Mat & Tech: Terracotta
Dimensions:
89.5 cm (35 1/4 inches)
Specific
Subject:
Inscription:Promachos
two kionedon (Greek
inscriptions
on the front: NIKODEMOS
Athena
iconography)
Extent: side A
EPOIESEN (Nikodemos made it); TON ATHENETHEN ATHLON ([Prize] of
woman
Extent:
side A
the Athenian
Games)
Nike Extent: side B
Victor Extent: side B
competition Extent: side B
women Extent: side B
prize Extent: side B
Patricia Harpring © 2016 J. Paul Getty Trust. For educational purposes only. Do not distribute.
Patricia Harpring
CONA and Subject Access
40
General Subject and
Specific Subject
• Subject may include design
elements, symbols of the patron
CONA ID 700008609 Class*: textiles Work Type*: carpet
Title*: Carpet
Creator/Role*: Savonnerie Manufactory
Current Location*: J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles;
70.DC.63
[link] General
SavonnerieSubject:
Manufactoryutiliatrian
Role: makerobjects
Creation-Date*: about 1666
Indexing Type: isness
Creation-Place: Paris (France)
Specific Subject:
Measurements*: L: 21 ft. 4/5 in.; W: 14 ft. 4/5 in.
fruitwool and linen
Mat &sunflower
Tech: and Techniques*:
Descriptive
Note: Strewn
flowers, vessels filled with
flowers
acanthus
leaf with
fruit and flowers, and large acanthus leaf scrolls, the
Louis XIV (French
scrolls
design of this large carpet centers around a prominent
king, 1638-1715)
sunflower, the symbol of the Sun King Louis XIV. Images of Chinese blue-and-white
porcelain bowls decorate the border; imported in large quantities to France through
European trading companies, Asian porcelain was avidly collected by the French king
and his court...
Patricia Harpring © 2016 J. Paul Getty Trust. For educational purposes only. Do not distribute.
Patricia Harpring
CONA and Subject Access
41
General Subject and
Specific Subject
• Subject may be historical
events
CONA ID 700008610 Class.: paintings Work Type: painting
Title: George Washington Crossing the Delaware
Creator display: Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze (AmericaN, 1816-1868)
Creation Date: 1851
Current Location: Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York,
New York) Gift of John S. Kennedy (97.34)
Subject: history and legend, military, Delaware River
General Subject: history and legend
(United States), Battle of Trenton (American
Specific Subject:
Revolutionary
War), George Washington (American
general and president, 1732-1799), river crossing,
• Battle of Trenton (American
troops, winter
Revolutionary
War)
Material/Technique:
oil on canvas
Measurements: 12 2/5 x 21 1/4 inches (378.5 x 647.7 cm)
• George Washington (American
general and president, 1732-1799)
• Delaware River (United States)
• river
• troops
• winter
• boat
• military
Patricia Harpring © 2016 J. Paul Getty Trust. For educational purposes only. Do not distribute.
Patricia Harpring
CONA and Subject Access
42
What if there is no subject?
Depicted Subject
• General Subject should be
included, even if there is no
figurative or narrative content
• Objects of cultural heritage, e.g.,
musical instruments, textiles,
ceramics, furniture, numismatics,
stained glass, tools, artifacts
CONA ID 700000119 Catalog Level: item Class:: musical
instruments
Work Type:  viola da gamba
*Title: Viola da Gamba
*Creator Display: Richard Meares (English, 17th century)
*Current Location: Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, New
York, USA) ID: 1982.324
Creation Location: London (England)
*Role: creator
[link]: Meares, Richard
*Creation Date: ca. 1680:  Start: 1675  End: 1685
*Subject
General Subject: utilitarian objects
Indexing Type: isness
 object (utilitarian)
 music
Culture: English
*Measurements: length of body: 65.3 cm (25 3/4 inches)
: Value: 65.3 Unit: cm Type: length
*Mat & Tech: and Techniques: wood Material [links]: wood
Inscriptions: marks, printed label: Richardus Meares / Instrument.Music.Fabric.in area /
Boreali.D. Pauli apud Londinates
Description: Viols, the most esteemed bowed instruments of the late Renaissance, were only gradually
displaced by the violin family. Viols differ from violins chiefly in shape, in number of strings and tuning, and in having fretted necks.
All viols are played in an upright position between the knees or on the legs ("gamba" means "leg"), and the bow is held palm
upward. Their sound is less brilliant and quieter than that of violin's. Chamber music for a consort of four to six viols was composed
during the Renaissance and Baroque eras, and solo works for the bass viol were being played until nearly the end of the eighteenth
century.
Patricia Harpring © 2016 J. Paul Getty Trust. For educational purposes only. Do not distribute.
Description Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art online. www.metmuseum.org (accessed 10 February 2004)
Patricia Harpring
CONA and Subject Access
43
What if there is no subject?
Depicted Subject
• General Subject should be
included, even if there is no
figurative or narrative content
• Nonrepresentational art
• May include design elements,
motifs
CONA ID 700008601 Catalog Level: item Class: prints and
drawings Work Type: lithograph
Title: White Line Square XII
Creator: Josef Albers
Creation Date: 1966
Current Location: National Gallery of Art (Washington, DC).
Catalogue Number 2.12; NGA Accession Number 1981.5.125; Gemini
Work Number JA66-1162 ; Old Gemini Catalogue Number 13
Relationship Type: Series
Related Work: White Line Squares
nonrepresentational art
Subject:
nonrepresentational art
square Specific Subject:
Mat & Tech: 3-color lithograph on Arches Cover
square
Facture: Colors
or Sequence (aluminum) 1. yellow-gold, 2. redorange, 3. vermilion
Extent: design element
Measurements: 53.3 x 53.3 cm (21 x 21 in.)
line
Description: Edition 125 plus 10 AP, 5 TP, RTP, PPII, 2 GEL, 5 PP;
design
element
Collaboration Extent:
and Supervision
Kenneth
Tyler; Processing and
Proofing Kenneth Tyler; Edition Printing James Webb, Fred Ganis,
Octavio Pereira Patricia Harpring © 2016 J. Paul Getty Trust. For educational purposes only. Do not distribute.
General Subject:
Patricia Harpring
CONA and Subject Access
44
What if there is no subject?
Depicted Subject
• General Subject should be included, even if
there is no figurative or
narrative content
• Nonrepresentational art
• May include design elements, motifs
CONA ID 70000009 Catalog Level: item Class: sculpture Modern art
*Work Type: sculpture
*Title: Unique Forms of Continuity in Space
Title: Abstract Bronze Sculpture Title Type: descriptive
*Creator Display: Umberto Boccioni, (Italian, 18821916_)
*Current Location: Museum of Modern Art (New York, New York, USA)
ID:unavailable
* Role: sculptor: Boccioni, Umberto
*Creation Date: designed in 1913, cast in 1931
[controlled]: Qualifier: design Start: 1913 End: 1913 | Qualifier: casting
Start: 1931 End:
1931
*Subject [links]: nonrepresentational art motion human figure female nude
space
striding
level
Style [link to authority]: Furturist
*Measurements: 111.2 x 88.5 x 40 cm (43 7/8
x 34 7/8 x 15
3/4 is
inches
of indexing
here
)
derived
an cm
[controlled]: Value: 111.2 Unit: cm Type: height
| Value:from
88.5 Unit:
Type: width
authoritative
Value: 40 Unit: cm Type: depth
General Subject:
nonrepresentational art
human figures
Specific Subject:
motion female
nude
space
striding
*Mat & Tech: and Techniques: cast and hammered bronze
Material [links]: bronze Technique [links]: casting hammering
interpretation
source
Description : The Futurist ideals were dynamism, progress, and motion in the new machine age. In this sculpture, the rush of air displaced by its forward
movement is represented as space in visible extensions sprouting like wings from the figure’s limbs. The primary subject is not the nude, but movement
itself. According to Boccioni, an invisible fourth dimension existed as a higher realm of existence where space and time merged.Description Source: Museum
of Modern Art online.
www.moma.org I accessed 23 January 2010
Patricia Harpring © 2016 J. Paul Getty Trust. For educational purposes only. Do not distribute.
Patricia Harpring
CONA and Subject Access
45
Depicted Subject
• Subject of the painting is a reference to
a literary work
• Although the visual work itself is not
part of a textual work
• Dante’s La Vita Nuova
CONA ID 700008611 Catalog Level: item Class: paintings Work Type: painting
Title: Dante and Beatrice
Creator: Henry Holiday (British, 1839 - 1927)
Current Location: Walker Art Gallery (Liverpool, England)
Creation Date: 1883
General
Description:
Dante seesSubject:
Beatrice at the Ponte Santa Trinità, Florence.The Ponte
Vecchio traverses the Arno in the distance. 'Dante and Beatrice' was the most
Specific Subject:
important painting by Henry Holiday. The theme of the painting is inspired by the
autobiography
Vita Nuova
of the medieval
poet Dante
(1265-1321).1295)
Dante concealed
La Vita
Nuova
(Dante
Alighieri,
his love for Beatrice by pretending to be attracted by other women. The scene
Vecchio
Italy)
depictedPonte
in the painting
is that of(Florence,
Beatrice refusing
to greet Dante because of the
gossip that
had reached
her. Trinità
Beatrice is the
woman dressed
Ponte
Santa
(Florence,
Italy)in white and she was
modelled by Eleanor Butcher. The woman next to Beatrice is Monna Vanna (or
Arno
Riverof (Tuscany,
Italy)
Giovanna)
a companion
Beatrice and the
mistress of Dante's friend Guido
Cavalcanti.
Monna
Vanna
was
modelled
by
Hughes.
Holiday was introduced to
Dante Alighieri (ItalianMilly
poet,
1265-1321)
both models through friends. In the painting the stern almost statuesque expression of
Beatrice Beatrice
contrasts with Portinari
the posture of (Florentine,
Monna Vanna who1266–1290)
not only appears to support
Beatrice's
decision but
looks back
to Dante's reaction.
maidservant behind
Monna
Vanna
(Florentine,
13thThe
century)
Beatrice was modelled from Kitty Lushington, the daughter of a well-known judge.
literary theme
Eleanor Butcher (British, 1844-1894)
Milly Hughes (British, 19th century)
Kitty Lushington (British, 1867-1922)
Patricia Harpring © 2016 J. Paul Getty Trust. For educational purposes only. Do not distribute.
Patricia Harpring
CONA and Subject Access
46
Depicted Subject
or Associative Relationship?
• Subject of a work is
another art work
• May also link to separate
record for a related work
CONA ID 700008612 Catalog Level: item
Class: prints and drawings Work Type: drawing
Title: Bulto Creator: rendered by Eldora P. Lorenzini Eldora
P. Lorenzini (American, 1910-1993)
Current Location: National Gallery of Art (Washington, DC).
1943.8.16638
Index
of American
Design;
General
Subject:
religion
and mythology
Mat & Tech: watercolor, pen and ink, and graphite on paper
Dimensions: overall: 55.9 x 40.2 cm (22 x 15 13/16 in.) Original IAD Object: 11" high;
10 3/4 wide
Subject:
still life
religion & mythology
bulto
St. Isadore
Source:: Folk Arts of the Spanish Southwest from the Index of American Design
Object 16 of 25
Description: Isidore, the patron saint of farmers and protector of crops, was a farm
laborer employed by a wealthy landowner near Madrid in the early twelfth century.
According to legend, Isidore spent so many hours in prayer that he was in danger of
falling behind with his farming chores. As a reward for his exceptional piety, divine
intervention dispatched an angel to help Isidore finish his plowing on schedule. This
miraculous event is the subject of an eighteenth-century New Mexican devotional
sculpture, or bulto. The most important figure in a bulto's composition was typically
represented as the largest, sacred hierarchy triumphing over naturalism. This is why
Isidore towers above the angel, who in turn outranks the oxen, surpassing them in
scale. Bultos such as this one were placed in both homes and churches to help enlist
another work
Specific Subject:
oxen
human figures
bulto
St. Isadore
farming plow
Andrés Garcia, Bulto
Relationship Type: depicts
Related Work: CONA ID 700008613
Bulto; Fray Andrés Garcia; 18th
century; Location Unknown
a saint's intercession on behalf of a prayerful supplicant. This sculpture of Saint Isidore is attributed to a Franciscan friar, Fray Andres Garcia. Unfortunately, the face of Saint
Isidore has been repainted at least once or twice, and a conclusive attribution is not possible. The Franciscans established missions in New Mexico, the northern frontier of Spanish
America, which was first settled at the end of the sixteenth century. Fray Andrés Garcia was a Franciscan friar born in la Puebla de los Angeles, Mexico.
Related Work: Bulto. Fray Andrés Garcia. 18th century.
Patricia Harpring
CONA and Subject Access
47
• When one work is depicted in
another work
• The other work may be linked in
Depicted Subject (preferred practice)
• And as a Related Work (optional);
recommended when one work is a work
in its own right, but it also documents
the other work
© 2009 J. Paul Getty Trust
Depicted Subject
or Associative Relationship?
CONA ID 700008614 Cat.Level: item 
Classification: photograph
Work Type:
link through
associative
relationship CONA ID: 1000000256 Cat.Level: item

Classification.:architecture
albumen print
*Title/Name: The Eiffel Tower: State of
the Construction
*Creator Display: photographer: LouisEmile Durandelle (French, 1832-1923)
*Current Location: J. Paul Getty Museum
(Los Angeles, California, USA);
87.XM.121.16
*Role [cont.] : photographer
depicts
depicted in
 : Durandelle, Louis-Emile
*Subject:  Eiffel Tower
*Measurements: 17 x 13 3/4 inches
link through
subject
[controlled] Value: 17 Unit: in Type: height
Value: 13.75 Unit: in Type: width
*
Mat & Tech: and Techniques [link to Concept Authority]:  albumin print
observation tower
*Title/Name: Eiffel Tower
*Creation Date *: photographed 23 November 1888
Related Works [link to work record]:
Relationship Type: depicts
[link to work record]: Eiffel Tower
Work Type:
Alternate Title/Name: Tour Eiffel
Former Title/Name: Three-HundredMetre Tower
*Creator Display: architect: Gustave Eiffel
(French, 1832-1923)
*Current Location: Paris (France)
*Role [cont.] : architect
 : Eiffel, Gustave
*Creation Date *: 1887 to 1889
 Start: 1887
 End: 1889
*Subject [link to authorities]:  industrial exposition
Exposition of 1889
*Measurements: height: 300 m (984 feet)
Value: 300 Unit: m Type: height
International
*Mat & Tech: and Techniques: wrought iron, exposed iron construction
[link to Concept Authority]:  wrought iron structural iron exposed construction
Style: Belle Époque
Description: Commission was awarded by competition; the competition sought a plan for a monument for the International Exposition of 1889, celebrating the centenary of the French Revolution. The tower is built almost entirely of open-lattice wrought iron. It was the entrance gateway to the exposition.
Style: Belle Époque
Description: This view was made about four months short of the tower's completion. Louis-Émile Durandelle photographed the tower from a low vantage point to emphasize its
Patricia Harpring
CONA and Subject Access
48
Depicted Subject
or Associative Relationship?
• Subject of a work is another
art work
• If the referenced work is not
actually depicted in the first work,
do not link as related works
(Associative Relationship); record
only as Depicted Subject
CONA ID 700008615 Catalog Level [cont.]: item  Class [cont.:print
Work Type: painting
*Title/Name: Mona Lisa
*Creator Display: Jean-Michel Basquiat
*Creation Date *: 1983
Current Location: Collection Ambrous T. Young. The Estate of JeanMichel Basquiat
* Subject: human figure allegory
Mona Lisa (Leonardo da Vinci, ca. 1503-1506) dollar bill value of art profit
General
Subject: human figures satire
greed
Related Work: Relationship Type: depicts
Specific
Subject:
[link to work
record]: Mona Lisa (Leonardo da Vinci, ca. 1503-1506)
*Measurements: 169,5 x 154,5 cm
Mona
Lisa
(Leonardo da Vinci, Louvre)
*Mat & Tech: and Techniques:
acrylic and oil stick on canvas
dollar
profit
greed
Description:valuation
This work seems to be
Basquiat's answer
to Warhol's Dollar Bill and
Mona Lisa paintings. Basquiat usually paints large fields of colour by applying broad
brush strokes with acrylic paint, while drawing and writing in oil stick. This pattern
applies to the orange top part of this painting. The portrait at centre, however, has
hair, skin and parts of the bust filled-in with repeated oil stick lines. Leonardo's Mona
Lisa seems to grow into the dollar note at top, obscuring what would be the face of
George Washington. Art and money are two different currencies, even different
worlds, which can be converted only with difficulty. The uncompromising and urgent
way the artist spent the money he made is legend. In this painting he lets us know
that although he loved money his ultimate faith lay in art.
Source: Museo d’Arte Modena [online] (2000-)
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CONA and Subject Access
49
Description, Identification,
Interpretation
Depicted Subject
• Description, Identification,
Interpretation may be
flagged
CONA ID 700000096 Class:  paintings  American art *Work
Type:  painting
*Title: Autumn: On the Hudson River
*Creator Display: Jasper Francis Cropsey (American painter, 1823-1900)
*Current Location : National Gallery of Art (Washington, DC, USA)
ID: 1963.9.1
 landscapes
description
Creation Location: London (England)
*Role: painter
[link]: Cropsey, Jasper Francis
*Creation Date Display: 1860
:  Start: 1860

 hunters
description
End:
1860
Culture:
American
 autumn
description
*Measurements: 151.8 x 274.9 cm (59 3/4 x 108 1/4 inches)
:Value
: 151.8 Unit: cm Type: height
| Value: 274.9 2 Unit: cm
description
dawn
Type: width
*Mat
& Tech: andRiver
Techniques:
oil on canvas
identification
 Hudson
(United
States)
Material [links]:  oil paint  canvas
Technique [links]:  painting
 Storm This
King
Mountain
(Orange
county,
Description:
monumental
view of the
Hudson River
Valley wasNew York,
General Subject
Specific Subject
Type:
Type:
Type:
Type:
Type:
USA) Type:
identification
painted from memory in the artist's London studio. Cropsey adopted a
high vantage point, looking southeast toward the distant Hudson River
and the flank of Storm King Mountain. A small stream leads from the
foreground, where three hunters and their dogs gaze into the sunlight. All
along the meandering tributary there are signs of man's peaceful
coexistence with nature.
Description Source: National Gallery of Art online. (accessed 29 July
2009)
 peace
Type: interpretation
 harmony Type: interpretation
 nature
Type: interpretation
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Specificity and Exhaustivity
Depicted Subject
• As with any other data, do not guess
when identifying Subject; only verified identification
• Broad and accurate is better than specific but incorrect
• e.g., “butterfly” is better than incorrectly
labeling it “Blue Morpho”
CONA ID 700008616 Catalog Level: item
Class: prints and drawings Work Type: print
Title: Pomegranate with Blue Morpho Butterflies
Creator: Maria Sibylla Merian
Creation Date: ca. 1705
Current Location: The Royal Collection (London, England)
General Subject:
Mat & Tech: watercolor and gum arabic over partial transfer print on
vellum
Dimensions: 14 5.8 x 11 7/8 inches (37.2 x 30.2 cm)
Subject:
animal
botanical
pomegranate (Punica granatum)
Blue Morpho (Morpho menelaus)
Banded Sphinx Moth (Eumorph fasciatus)
Description: Pomegranate with Blue Morpho Butterflies and Banded Sphinx
Moth Caterpillar (Punica granatum with Morpho menelaus and Eumorph
fasciatus).
Relationship Type: part of
Related Work: The Insects of Suriname (plate 0)
Specific Subject:





animals
botanical
• In this case, the
repository has
identified the
species in the
title and
elsewhere
pomegranate (Punica granatum)
Blue Morpho (Morpho menelaus)
Banded Sphinx Moth (Eumorph fasciatus)
Patricia Harpring © 2016 J. Paul Getty Trust. For educational purposes only. Do not distribute.
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CONA and Subject Access
51
Specificity and Exhaustivity
Depicted Subject
General Subject:
religion and mythology
allegory
Specific Subject:
description identification
men
women
peacock
dog
apple tree
Judgment of Paris
(Greek mythology)
contest
Trojan War (Greek
legends)
Aphrodite (Greek
goddess)
Athena (Greek
goddess)
Hera (Greek goddess)
interpretation
• Specificity: Index identified or interpreted
subjects as specifically as possible given
authoritative information
• Exhaustivity: Index only significant aspects
of the subject or prominent visual features;
only one term, General Subject, is required
CONA ID 700008551 Class: paintings
Work Type: painting
Title: Judgement of the Goddesses
Creator: Peter Paul Rubens
Current Location: National Gallery of Art (London, England)
Creation Date: probably 1632/1635
Dimensions: 144.8 × 193.7 cm (57.0 in × 76.3 inches)
Mat & Tech: oil on panel
triumph of love
beauty
love
marriage
Paris (Greek legendary character)
Helen (Greek legendary character)
Mars (Greek god)
Patricia Harpring
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52
Controlled by
AAT, ULAN, TGN, CONA, and Getty IA
Depicted Subject
ULAN ID 500312828
Names
• Pinceloup de la Grange,
Magdaleine
• Parseval, Magdaleine
AAT ID 300265960
Terms
• Felis domesticus
(species)
• domestic cat
(species)
• house cat (species)
• Felis catus (species)
Patricia Harpring
• Link to ULAN for all people and corporate bodies who
are the subject of the work
• Link to AAT for all generic terms that are the subjects
of the work, including species
• For subjects that are geographic places, link to TGN
• For subjects that are architecture or other works, link
to another CONA record
CONA ID 70000215 Catalog Level: item Class:
paintings
Work Type: painting
Title: Magdaleine Pinceloup de la Grange
Creator Display: Jean-Baptiste Perroneau (French
painter, ca. 1715-1783)
*Current Location: J. Paul Getty Museum (Los
Angeles, California, USA) ID: 84.PA.664
General
Subject:
* Role [cont.]:
painterportraits
: Perroneau, JeanSpecific
Baptiste Subject:
Date:de
1747
[cont.]: Start:
1747 End:
*Creation
Pinceloup
la Grange,
Magdaleine
1747
(French aristocrat,
*Subjects: [link to Personal/Corp. Name Authority]
18th century)
Pinceloup de la Grange, Magdaleine (French
aristocrat,
Felis domesticus
18th century) (species)
[linksingle-sitter
portraitportrait
to Concept Authority]:
domestic cat (animal)
*Measurements: 65 x 54 cm (25 5/8 x 21 3/8 inches)
[controlled]
Value: 65 Unit: cm Type: height
Value: 54 Unit: cm Type: width
*Mat & Tech: and Techniques: oil on canvas
oil paint
canvas
Description: The sitter was from the provincial French region of Orléans, but the artist imbued her with Parisian sophistication. The cat she holds is known as a "Chartreux cat," descriptions of which first appeared in 18th-century France. While some at this
time valued this breed as a companion animal, it was primarily bred for its fur.
Note Source: J. Paul Getty Museum online. (accessed 10 February 2009)
Related Work: Relationship type [cont.]: pendant of
[link to work]: Charles-François Pinceloup de la Grange, Jean-Baptiste Perroneau, painting, 1747, 84.PA.664
CONA and Subject Access
53
Controlled by
AAT, ULAN, TGN, CONA, and Getty IA
Depicted Subject
TGN ID 7002473
Names
• Istanbul
• Constantinople
• Konstantinopel
CONA ID 700000141
Terms
• Hagia Sophia
• Ayasofya
• Αγία Σοφία
• Sancta Sophia
• Link to AAT for all generic terms that are the
subjects of the work, including species
• For subjects that are geographic places, link to
TGN
• For subjects that are architecture or other works,
link to another CONA record
CONA: ID 700008633 Class.: manuscripts
maps
Work Type: cityscape map
Title: Map of Constantinople
Title: Karte von Konstantinopel
Creator: Cristoforo Buondelmonti
Date: 1422
Current Location: Bibliothèque nationale de France
(Paris, France)
General
Subject: cityscapes architecture
Dimensions 25.4 x 16.4 cm, 66 leaves
Specific
Subject:
Tech & Mat:
ink and wash on vellum
Inscription:
Constantinople
(inhabited
place)
All folios inscribed;
author
page:
Bondeldont
dework)
Florencia presbiter nunc
Cristoforus
Hagia Sophia
(built
misit cardinali Iordano de Ursinis MCCCCXX
part of:
Liber insularum archipelagi CONA 700008634
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CONA and Subject Access
54
Controlled by
AAT, ULAN, TGN, CONA, and Getty IA
Depicted Subject
Getty IA ID 1000045
Names
• Xibalba
• Place of Fear
AAT ID 300191778
Terms
• skeleton [English]
• beendergestel [Dutch]
• esqueleto [Spanish]
• squelette [Italian]
• 骨架 [Chinese]
ULAN ID 500329587
Names
• Unen Bahlam
• Baby Jaguar
• The Getty Iconography Authority contains records
for subjects not in the AAT, ULAN, TGN, or CONA
• The Getty IA includes records for named events,
religious/mythological iconography, fictional
characters and places, themes from literature
CONA ID 70000012 Class: Precolombian art
Work Type: vessel
Title: Vessel with Mythological Scene
Creator Display: unknown Maya
Current Location: Metropolitan Museum of Art (New
York, New York, USA) ID: 1978.412.206
Role [cont.] : artist
: unknown Maya
*Creation Date: 8th century
[cont.]:
Start: 0700
End: 0799
*Subject display: Scene in the realm of the Lords of Death, with Baby
Jaguar and a skeleton
[link to authorities]: Xibalbá (Maya iconography) underworld
skeleton
death
ax
altar
celebration
Baby Jaguar
Creation Location: Petén Department (Guatemala)
*Measurements: height: 14 cm (5 ½ inches)
[contr.
Value: 14 Unit: cm Type: height
*Mat & Tech: and Techniques: terracotta : terracotta
vase
painting
Description: Straight-sided ceramic vessels with painted decoration
comprising complex scenes were common in eighth-century Maya art.
The "codex-style" painting depicts a scene in the realm of the Lords of
Death, where a dancing figure holds a long-handled axe and a
handstone. On a monster-head altar lies Baby Jaguar, a deity figure,
and beside the altar is a dancing, a skeletal death figure. The meaning
has been variously interpreted as depicting either sacrifice or celebration.
General Subject: religion and
mythology
Specific Subject:
Xibalba (Maya iconography)
skeleton underworld death ax altar
Baby Jaguar (Mayan king)
celebration
Note Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art on line
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CONA and Subject Access
55
Part 2: Subject in More Detail
Patricia Harpring
CONA and Subject Access
56
Subject Analysis and Indexing
More on Description, Identification, Interpretation
Patricia Harpring
CONA and Subject Access
57
Analyzing the subject
• Editors: Never
index beyond
what is provided
by the
contributor or
evident in the
associated
documentation
• Your goal is
minimal
indexing and
basic-access
indexing
▪ Three levels of analysis
(“indexing type” in CONA)
description
– Identification of named subject
– Interpretation of the meaning or theme
– Objective
Description, Identification, Interpretation are based loosely on
Panofsky, Erwin. Studies in Iconology: Humanistic Themes in the Art
of the Renaissance. New York, Oxford University Press, 1939.
© 2016 J. Paul Getty Trust, author: Patricia Harpring. Do not distribute. For educational purposes only.
Patricia Harpring
CONA and Subject Access
58
Analyzing the subject
another way of considering subject,
according to what the subject is of, what it is about, or what it is
▪ ofness = what a work depicts
▪ aboutness = what a work conveys
▪ isness = what a work is, what class
it belongs to
For aboutness, ofness, isness, see
Zeng, Marcia Lei, Athena Salaba and Maja Zumer. FRSAD: Conceptual Modeling of Aboutness.
Third Millennium Cataloging. Santa Barbara, California: Libraries Unlimited, 2012.
© 2016 J. Paul Getty Trust, author: Patricia Harpring. Do not distribute. For educational purposes only.
Patricia Harpring
CONA and Subject Access
59
General Subject:
religion and mythology
▪ Three levels of analysis
– Objective description
– Identification of named subject
– Interpretation of meaning or theme
Specific Subject:
woman
 baby
 men
 vessels

description
Ttile: Adoration of the Magi
Creator: Mantegna; Italian;
Date: 1495-1505
Mat & Tech: distemper on linen
Dimensions: sight size: 19 1/8 x 25 7/8 inches
Location: J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. 85.PA.417
© 2016 J. Paul Getty Trust, author: Patricia Harpring. Do not distribute. For educational purposes only.
Patricia Harpring
CONA and Subject Access
60
General Subject:
religion and mythology












Specific Subject:
Adoration of the Magi
Mary
Jesus
Joseph
Magi
Melchior
Caspar
Balthasar
gifts
gold
frankincense
myrrh
identification
▪ Three levels of analysis
– Objective description
– Identification of named subject
– Interpretation of meaning or theme
Ttile: Adoration of the Magi
Creator: Mantegna; Italian;
Date: 1495-1505
Mat & Tech: distemper on linen
Dimensions: sight size: 19 1/8 x 25 7/8 inches
Location: J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. 85.PA.417
© 2016 J. Paul Getty Trust, author: Patricia Harpring. Do not distribute. For educational purposes only.
Patricia Harpring
CONA and Subject Access
61
General Subject:
religion and mythology
▪ Three levels of analysis
– Objective description
– Identification of named subject
– Interpretation of meaning or theme
Specific Subject:
Epiphany
 Races of Man
 Ages of Man
 kings
 magi
 deity
 death

interpretation
Ttile: Adoration of the Magi
Creator: Mantegna; Italian;
Date: 1495-1505
Mat & Tech: distemper on linen
Dimensions: sight size: 19 1/8 x 25 7/8 inches
Location: J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. 85.PA.417
© 2016 J. Paul Getty Trust, author: Patricia Harpring. Do not distribute. For educational purposes only.
Patricia Harpring
CONA and Subject Access
62
▪ Three levels of analysis
General Subject
human figures
Specific Subject
Description
Identification
Interpretation
May be used as a systematic
method for analysis, even if the
three levels are not labeled
women
nudes
fruit
mask
African
Iberian
Carrer d'Avinyó (Barcelona,
Spain)
brothel
prostitution
CONA ID 700000104
Class Paintings
Work Type painting
Title Les Demoiselles d’Avignon
Creator Display Pablo Picasso (Spanish,
1881-1973)
Creation Date 1907
Style: Cubist
Dimensions 243.84 x 236.22 cm
(8 feet x
7 feet 8 inches)
Materials and Techniques oil on canvas
Description In this epoch-making work,
which prefigured Cubism, Picasso
amalgamated the simplified iconic forms
with Cézanne's reduction of the underlying
structure of natural forms. The artist
modeled several faces on African masks
and iconic Iberian forms.
Current Location Museum of Modern Art
(New York, New York, USA)
© 2016 J. Paul Getty Trust, author: Patricia Harpring. Do not distribute. For educational purposes only.
Patricia Harpring
CONA and Subject Access
63
▪ Three levels of analysis
CONA ID 700008641 Class.: Manuscripts Work
Type: folio
Creator: unknown Franco-Flemish
Role: illuminator
Current Location: J. Paul Getty Museum (Los
Angeles, California, USA)
Repository Number: 83.MR.173.72
General
Subject:
Culture:
Franco-Flemish
Placeanimals
Created: Thérouanne ?, France (formerly
Flanders)
religion and Type:
mythology
Classification/Object
Manuscripts/Folio=
Mat & Tech: Tempera colors, gold leaf, and ink
literary theme
on parchment
Date: allegory
about 1270
Dimensions: Leaf: 19.1 x 14.3 cm (7 1/2 x 5 5/8
in.) Specific: Subject
Broader Context:
Part Pelecanus
of 83.MR.173 (genus)
Repository Number: ObjectID: 5459
blood
feeding
Hugh of Fouilloy, De Avibus
Psalms: 102:6
Holy Eucharist
Resurrection of Christ
Patricia Harpring
CONA and Subject Access
Description
Identification
Interpretation
• Issue: But if you do not label
indexing type, identification
and interpretation, you
cannot reliably distinguish a
portrayal of the
religious/mythological event
“Resurrection” from this
allegory for the
“Resurrection”
• If this distinction is important
to your project, label it
• For CONA, normally it is okay
if overall is not labeled, as
users can easily assume this
in retrieval lists
64
• In the CONA Work
Record, linking to terms
for Depicted Subject
CONA Work: Depicted Subject fields
Links to General Subject extensible list and Specific Subject links to CONA, ULAN, TGN, AAT, and CONA
Detail of Work
Record
CONA ID
700000178
References to Iconclass, Library of Congress Authorities, or other published authorities are possible
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CONA and Subject Access
65
Iconography Authority
• The Getty Iconography Authority contains records for
subjects not in the AAT, ULAN, TGN, or CONA
• The Getty IA includes records for named events,
religious/mythological iconography, fictional characters and
places, themes from literature
• Includes variant names, sources, hierarchical and associative
relationships; links to AAT, TGN, ULAN, and CONA
Detail of Getty IA
record
IA ID 1000021
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66
Iconography Authority
• The Getty Iconography Authority contains records for
subjects not in the AAT, ULAN, TGN, or CONA
• The Getty IA includes records for named events,
religious/mythological iconography, fictional characters and
places, themes from literature
• Includes variant names, sources, hierarchical and associative
relationships; links to AAT, TGN, ULAN, and CONA
Associative relationships in I.A., also links to AAT, TGN, and ULAN
Detail of Getty IA
record
IA ID 1000021
Hierarchical relationships
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CONA and Subject Access
67
General Subject
• General Depicted Subject chosen from
controlled list in CONA
Patricia Harpring
CONA and Subject Access
68
General Subject
•An extensible
list
•New terms are
added if
necessary
based on
contributions
Patricia Harpring
CONA and Subject Access
69
General Subject
isness
• CONA allows you to list Indexing Type and Subject Extent, if
applicable and supported by incoming data
• [Editors: Generally, do not take time for this]
© 2016 J. Paul Getty Trust, author: Patricia Harpring. Do not distribute. For educational purposes only.
Patricia Harpring
CONA and Subject Access
70
Subjects from ULAN
▪ ULAN is used to record artist and repository of the CONA
object
▪ But is also linked to Depicted Subject, in order to control
names of any person or corporate body that is a subject of
the work
© 2016 J. Paul Getty Trust, author: Patricia Harpring. Do not distribute. For educational purposes only.
Patricia Harpring
CONA and Subject Access
71
CONA ID 700000138 Work Type: sculpture
Title: Bust of Jacob van Reygersberg
Creator: Rombout Verhulst Date: 1671
Mat & Tech: marble; height: 24 3/4 inches
Location: J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles,
California); 84.SA.743
• Subjects that are historical
people (vs. fictional) are
controlled by ULAN
• Issue: Scope of ULAN was originally artists, architectural firms, repositories
• Facet for non-artists has been added in ULAN, to record patrons and sitters, etc.; legacy
ULAN had already included many patrons, rulers, etc., so precedent existed
Patricia Harpring
CONA and Subject Access
72
Subjects from TGN
▪ TGN is used to record the geographic location of
a work in CONA
▪ But is also linked to Depicted Subject, to control names of any
existing or historical place depicted in the work
© 2016 J. Paul Getty Trust, author: Patricia Harpring. Do not distribute. For educational purposes only.
Patricia Harpring
CONA and Subject Access
73
Title: Boy Viewing Mount Fuji
CONA ID 700008643 Work Type: painting
Creator: Katsushika Hokusai, (Japanese, 1760-1849)
Date: 1839, Edo period
Mat & Tech: ink and color on silk
Dimensions: height: 127.0 width: 69.2 cm
Location: Freer Sackler Museums, Smithsonian
Institution; Washington (DC); Gift of Charles Lang
Freer; F1898.110
• Physical features (e.g., mountains) and administrative places (e.g., cities,
empires) are controlled by TGN
© 2016 J. Paul Getty Trust, author: Patricia Harpring. Do not distribute. For educational purposes only.
Patricia Harpring
CONA and Subject Access
74
Subjects from AAT
▪ AAT is used to record the work type, materials, style, etc. of a
work in CONA
▪ But is also linked to Depicted Subject, to control generic terms
describing the subject
▪ AAT and all of the Getty vocabularies are thesauri; the variant
terms and hierarchical links may be used in retrieval of the
works
© 2016 J. Paul Getty Trust, author: Patricia Harpring. Do not distribute. For educational purposes only.
Patricia Harpring
CONA and Subject Access
75
AAT record
© 2016 J. Paul Getty Trust, author: Patricia Harpring. Do not distribute. For educational purposes only.
Patricia Harpring
CONA and Subject Access
• Terms in other
languages and
hierarchy of
“Nature” in the
AAT may be
used to retrieve
van Gogh’s Irises
in CONA
76
• Issue: Are required
generic subject terms (i.e.,
non-proper names) within
scope of AAT?
• Yes. The scope of AAT
allows generic terms for
subject access
• For example, physical
activities
• This is an example of how
adding works to CONA requires
adding new terms/names to
AAT, TGN, and ULAN, as well as
to the Getty IA
Patricia Harpring
CONA and Subject Access
77
Subjects from the Getty Iconography Authority
The Getty Iconography Authority (IA), 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, and fictional
places
•
•
E.g., mythological and fictional places (e.g, Xibalba),
characters (e.g., Zeus), the names of specific events,
(e.g., American Civil War), or iconographic themes
(e.g., the Adoration of the Magi)
© 2016 J. Paul Getty Trust, author: Patricia Harpring. Do not distribute. For educational purposes only.
Patricia Harpring
CONA and Subject Access
78
Named Events (1000001)
American history (1000029)
American Civil War (1000030)
Battle of Bull Run (1000098
Plains Wars (1000068)
Battle of Little Bighorn (1000
Vietnam War(1000043)
Ancient Greek history (1000067)
Battle of Salamis (1000068)
• Getty Iconography Authority is a
thesaurus in structure
• Includes equivalence, hierarchical, and
associative relationships
• Links to AAT, ULAN, TGN, other Getty
IA records
© 2016 J. Paul Getty Trust, author: Patricia Harpring. Do not distribute. For educational purposes only.
Patricia Harpring
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79
• Includes basic searching capabilities
© 2016 J. Paul Getty Trust, author: Patricia Harpring. Do not distribute. For educational purposes only.
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CONA and Subject Access
80
Herod Antipas in ULAN is linked to John the Baptist in Getty IA
• In Getty IA, links are made to
ULAN and other vocabs.
© 2016 J. Paul Getty Trust, author: Patricia Harpring. Do not distribute. For educational purposes only.
Patricia Harpring
CONA and Subject Access
81
unique ID of record
type
descriptive note
date for subject
names
multiple languages
qualifier
unique ID of name
languages
source
links to sources
to AAT, TGN, ULAN, CONA IA
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Subject may be
another art work in CONA
CONA Depicted Subject fields link to
other CONA records
• (separately from Associative
Relationships, which are also links
between CONA records)
•
© 2016 J. Paul Getty Trust, author: Patricia Harpring. Do not distribute. For educational purposes only.
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CONA and Subject Access
83
• Subject for this photograph of
the Eiffel Tower under
construction is the built work,
Eiffel Tower
Work Record:
Record Type [cont.]: item  Class [cont.:photograph
*Work Type [link]: Albumen print
*Title/Name: The Eiffel Tower: State of the Construction
*Creator Display: photographer: Louis-Emile Durandelle (French,
1832-1923)
*Role [cont.] : photographer  [link]: Durandelle, Louis-Emile
*Creation Date *: photographed 23 November 1888
*Subject :  architecture  Eiffel Tower
Related Works [link to work record]:

Relationship Type: depicts

[link to work record]: Eiffel Tower
*Current Location [link]: J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles,
California, USA); 87.XM.121.16
*Measurements: 17 x 13 3/4 inches
[controlled] Value: 17 Unit: in Type: height
Value: 13.75 Unit: in Type: width
*Materials and Techniques [link to Concept Authority]:  albumin
print
 Style [link]: Belle Époque
 Description: This view was made about four months short of the
tower's completion. Louis-Émile Durandelle photographed the
tower from a low vantage point to emphasize its monumentality.
The massive building barely visible in the far distance is dwarfed
under the tower's arches...
 Source: Getty Museum, Collections [online] (2000-)
Eiffel Tower (built work)
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CONA and Subject Access
84
CONA built work record
• Variant names for the built work can
now be used to retrieve the record for
the photograph through the link
CONA movable work record for the photograph
Eiffel Tower (built work)
construction (assembling), <(assembling (additive
300054608
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Subjects from other sources
▪ CONA allows references to other sources of
subject, such as Iconclass or LC subject
headings
▪ For contributors who are already using these
sources for subject indexing
▪ These references are in the Depicted Subject
of the Work record (not in the Getty IA)
© 2016 J. Paul Getty Trust, author: Patricia Harpring. Do not distribute. For educational purposes only.
Patricia Harpring
CONA and Subject Access
86
Iconclass
LC subject headings
© 2016 J. Paul Getty Trust, author: Patricia Harpring. Do not distribute. For educational purposes only.
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Issues in
Subject Analysis and Indexing
Problems and solutions
Patricia Harpring
CONA and Subject Access
88
Subjects in which authority?
• Issue:
Where to place subjects that conceptually could belong to multiple
vocabularies/authorities? Examples:
• What if a place is known in literature, but exact location is unknown?
• TGN = “lost settlement”
• but a mythical place is in Getty Iconography Authority
• What if a person is probably historical, but a large legend and iconography
surrounds the person?
• John the Baptist in Getty IA “Christian iconography”
• but Herod Antipas in ULAN non-artists as a ruler
© 2016 J. Paul Getty Trust, author: Patricia Harpring. Do not distribute. For educational purposes only.
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Issue: This façade was never
constructed. Link to built work?
Issue: As a design drawing, link also
as an Associative Relationship to the
actual built work?
CONA ID: 700008510 Class: drawings
Work Type: drawing
Title: Plan and Elevation of the façade of San Lorenzo
Creator: Aristotile da Sangallo after Michelangelo
Location: Staatliche Graphische Sammlung (Munich,
Germany) #33258.
Date: late 15th century
Measurements: 32.0 x 21.5 cm (12 1/2 x 8 3/8 inches)
Mat & Tech: pen and sepia ink
General Subject: architecture
Specific Subject:
San Lorenzo (Florence, Italy) (built work)
church
façade
elevation
plan
• Combine a link to the
CONA record with
links to AAT and
other vocabularies
for thorough
indexing of subject
• Use Subject to
record method of
representation and
purpose for
architectural
drawings
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CONA and Subject Access
90
Linked as
Related Works
(Associative
Rel.)
• Issue: In this case,
the painting is not
the Subject of the
drawing
• The drawing is part
of the creative
process in creating
the painting, thus
linked as a Related
Work
• The Subject of both
the drawing and
the painting is
Madame Moitessier
study for
study is
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres; Study for the Dress and the Hands of
Madame Moitessier; 1851; graphite on tracing paper, squared in black
chalk; 13 15/16 x 6 5/8 inches; J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles,
California); 91.GG.79
Patricia Harpring
CONA and Subject Access
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres; Madame Moitessier; 1851; Samuel H. Kress
Collection, National Gallery of Art (Washington, DC); 1946.7.18
91
For non-narrative works
Works without narrative subject content
should also have subject term
• General subject term could be, for
example, “architecture” or “object
(utilitarian),” extrapolated from object
type
•
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CONA and Subject Access
92
•General Subject may be “architecture”
•Specific Subject is not required
for Case Study House 21, architect: Pierre Koenig
isness
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93
• Dedication of a church or temple may be
indexed in Subject
•E.g., “Holy Wisdom”
for Hagia Sophia
isness
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94
Is there a subject?
• Subject for
•
Record Type [controlled]: item
Class [link]:
decorative arts
furniture
scientific instruments
European art
*Work Type [link]: globe
*Title: Terrestrial Globe
*Creator Display: globe made by Jean-Antoine Nollet (French,
1700-1770); map engraved by Louis Borde (French, active 1730s1740s); wood stand painted with vernis Martin (possibly applied by
the Martin brothers’ studio)
Extent [cont]: globe * Role [link]: creator
[link]: Nollet , JeanAntoine
Extent [cont]: map * Role [link]: engraver
[link]: Borde, Louis
Extent [cont]: stand Qualifier: possibly by * Role [link]: painters
[link]: Martin brothers
*Creation Date: 1728
[controlled]:
Start: 1728
End: 1728
*Subjects:
object (utilitarian)
Earth
geography
cartography
Culture [link]: French
*Current Location [link]: J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles,
California, USA) ID:86.DH.705.1
*Measurements: 109.9 (height) x 44.5 (diameter of globe) x 31.8 cm
(depth of the stand) (43 1/4 x 17 1/2 x 12 1/2 inches)
[controlled]
Value: 109.9 Unit: cm Type: height |
Value: 44.5
Unit: cm Type: diameter |
Value: 31.8 Unit: cm Type: depth
*Materials and Techniques: papier mâché, printed paper, and gilt
bronze on a wooden (poplar, spruce, and alder) stand painted with
vernis Martin
Material [links]:
papier mâché
paper
bronze
poplar
General Subject:
utilitarian objects
Indexing Type: isness
Specific Subject:
Earth
geography
cartography
spruce
alder
Technique [link]: vernis Martin
Inscriptions: dedication to duchesse du Maine, wife of
Description: The globe and its pendant were designed
the libraries of the aristocracy.
Description Source [link]: J. Paul Getty Museum online.
Related Work:
Relationship type [controlled]: pendant of
[link to Work Record]: Celestial Globe, Nicolas Bailleul
•
furniture and
decorative arts
function of
musical
instruments,
textiles,
ceramics,
furniture,
numismatics,
stained glass,
tools, artifacts
what is it “of” or
“about
Louis XIV’s first illegitimate child
by the popular scientist who taught physics to the royal children. Owning a globe was very fashionable in the 18th century, and globes were considered essential for
www.getty.edu (accessed 10 February 2004)
le jeune (French, active 1740-1750); 1730; J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles, California, USA); ID:86.DH.705.2
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95
Is there a subject?
▪ Subject should be
included even if there is
no figurative or
narrative content
▪ what is it “of” or
“about
CONA ID 700008644 Work Type: stained glass
window
Title: Stained–glass window
Date: 1912
Creator: Frank Lloyd Wright (American, 1867–1959)
Mat & Tech: glass, zinc; 86 1/4 x 28 x 2 in. (219.1 x 71.1 x 5.1 cm)
Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, New York)
Purchase, Edgar J. Kaufmann Foundation and Edward C. Moore Jr.
Gifts, 1967 (67.231.1)
Subject: interior
Descriptive Note:
The playhouse, an addition to the Avery Coonley estate, designed by
Frank Lloyd Wright in 1907, was the architect's first commission
following his return from Europe in 1911. As was most of Wright's
early ornament, the glass designs were usually derived from natural
forms. The Coonley windows, however, are purely geometric, recalling
the abstract compositions of contemporary European painters. The use
of primary instead of earth tones was also unusual for Wright at that
time. The so-called playhouse was actually a kindergarten run by Mrs.
Coonley, and Wright undoubtedly had children in mind when he chose
to use these festive shapes and colors.
General Subject:
furnishings Indexing Type: isness
nonrepresentational art
▪ Nonrepresentational art
▪ Specific Subject is not
required; in this case, the
repository notes it as
‘interior design’ as
subject, indicating
purpose, of sorts
Specific Subject:
interior design
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96
CONA ID 700008645 Work Type: folio
Title: Folio from Sloane 1975 f. 10 r-v
Creator: Unknown N. England or N. France
Location: British Library (London)
Broader context: Title: Medical and herbal collection,
including Pseudo-Apuleius, Herbarius; Pseudo-Dioscorides,
De herbis femininis (ff. 49v-73); Sextus Placitus, De
medicina ex animalibus
Origin:
England, N.? or France, N.?
Date: last quarter of the 12th century
Language: Latin
Script: Protogothic
Decoration: Numerous miniatures (over 200) of plants and
animals with medicinal properties in colours and gold and
silver. 3 large initials in colours with zoomorphic and
foliate decoration on gold grounds (ff. 1v, 7v, 8). Large
and small initials in blue, green, or red, a few with
penwork decoration.
Dimensions: 300 x 200 mm (215 x 150) in two columns
Official foliation: ff. 95 (+ 5 unfoliated paper flyleaves at
the beginning and 4 at the end)
Collation: i-xii8 (ff. 1-94), xiii1 (f. 95).
Form: Parchment codex
Binding: Post-1600. Marbled endpapers.
Provenance: ? The Cistercian abbey of St Mary,
Ourscamps, Picardy: effaced 14th-century ownership
inscription (f. 91) see Schneider 1962.
Added text in cursive script (f. 95).
Sir Hans Sloane (b. 1660, d. 1753), baronet, physician and
collector.
Purchased as part of the Sloane collection from Sloane's
executors and incorporated into the newly founded British
Museum in 1753.
Notes
Minta 2003 p. 205 suggests that this
manuscripts is a direct copy of Harley 1585.
Morgan 1982 states that it is from the same workshop as
Oxford, Bodleian Library MS Ashmole 1462.
Quire signatures in roman numerals.
General Subject:
•botanical
•literary theme
Specific Subject:
•herbal (reference source)
•De medicina ex animalibus,
Sextus Placitus of Papyra
(active ca. 370 CE)
•Stachys (genus)
•remedy
Inscriptions: Discussion of the plant
betony (vetonica, genus Stachys), which,
according to the text, has a wide variety
of uses, including curing nightmares,
sore eyes, toothaches, stomachaches,
nosebleeds, and constipation.
• Subject may
include the
content of the
text in addition
to the visual
subject content
• Transcribe or
describe the
text in the
Inscriptions
field
• For physical
form of the
work, book,
use Work
Type field
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97
Is there a subject?
CONA ID 700000114 Record Type [controlled]: item
Class [controlled]: performance and installation art Modern art
*Work Type [link]:
performance art
*Title: Angels//Anvils
*Creator Display: Sean Kilcoyne (American, contemporary) and
Daniel Reeves (American, born 1948)
* Role [link]: performance artist
[link]: Kilcoyne, Sean
* Role [link]: performance artist
[link]: Reeves, Daniel
*Subject:
performance human males Vietnam War
death
remorse
*Creation Date: 1989
[controlled]:
Start: 1989
End: 1989
*Current Location [link]: not applicable
Creation Location [link]: unavailable
*Measurements: 90 minute installation / performance
[controlled]: Value: 90 Unit: minutes Type: performance time
*Materials and Techniques:
multimedia installation/performance
Material [links]:
multimedia work
Technique
[links]:
installation
performance art
Description: A collage of video and film projections are the
background for four performers who move around the stage carrying
out movement sequences. Images of nature give way to images of
war, including helicopters, troops marching and in combat. CreatorStatement:[…] Who holds the patent on the black disposable bags
worn home by some of your closest friends that year? Who named
Napalm? This example is for educational purposes and may not
actually represent a scene from the work cited.
General Subject:
performance art
• Performance art also
has Subject
• Objects, props, people,
function, as well as the
meaning or symbolism
of the performance
Specific Subject:
men
Vietnam War
death
remorse
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CONA and Subject Access
98
Specificity and
Exhaustivity
What are they?
 Refers
thethe
precision
and quantity
of termsof
applied
a particular
Referstoto
precision
and quantity
termstoapplied
to
element
particular element




a
Specificity refers to the degree of precision or granularity
Specificity
refers to (e.g.,
the degree
of precision
granularity
used in description
campanile
rather or
tower)
used
(e.g., campanile
rather
tower)
Exhaustivity
refers to the
degree
of depth and breadth that
the catalogerrefers
uses to
in description,
often
expressed
by using
Exhaustivity
the degree of
depth
and breadth
that a
larger
numberuses,
of index
terms
or a more
detailed
description
the
cataloger
often
expressed
by using
a larger
number
of index terms or a more detailed description
 The greater the level of specificity and exhaustivity in
 The
greater
the level
of specificity
andrecords
exhaustivity
catalog
records,
the more
valuable the
will beinfor
catalog
records,
the more
valuable
the records often
will belimit
researchers;
however,
practical
considerations
 the
however,
considerations
often
limitthis
thisgoal
abilitypractical
of cataloging
institutions
to meet
 Cataloging institutions should establish local rules and guidelines
regarding
level oftospecificity
applied
by catalogers
for each
element
 Issue:
Is the
it useful
index every
item
in the scene?
If not,
where do you draw the limit?
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Patricia Harpring
CONA and Subject Access
99
Specificity and
Exhaustivity
How many terms are required?
•
For CONA, one subject term is required, a
general subject designation
• although it is strongly encouraged to include
specific subject terms too
• As a last resort, “undetermined” may be
sometimes allowed in if no subject can be
extrapolated
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Patricia Harpring
CONA and Subject Access
100
Specificity and
Exhaustivity
Cater your approach
• Consider the characteristics
of the collection
• Available human resources,
CONA ID 700008646 Work Type: painting
Title: Death and the Miser
Creator: Hieronymus Bosch (Netherlandish, ca. 1450-1516)
Current Location: National Gallery of Art (Washington),
Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.5.33
General
Subject: literary theme
Date:
ca. 1485/1490
MedSpecific
& Tech: oilSubject:
on panel
Dimensions:
.930
.310 Miser
m (36 5/8
x 12 3/16 inches)
• Death andx the
• skeleton
• death • man • miser • angel
• devils • sparver bed • deathbed
• greed
Why index “sparver bed”? True, not important to the
iconography; but a) it is such an excellent depiction
of this type of Medieval bed in use, that it may be of
interest to furniture historians, and b) it is an
important (not trivial) element of the composition
time, available technology
• Needs of end-users in
retrieval
• Accommodate expert and
non-expert alike
• Indexing every minor
object in a work is not
helpful
•
Establish rules regarding the
number of terms to assign
and method of analyzing
•
•
•
description – identification –
interpretation
major elements to minor
ones, etc.
foreground to background,
top to bottom
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101
Specificity and
Exhaustivity
• For a collection or group
• General Subject includes
various subjects
• For Specific Subject,
CONA ID 70000859 Record Type: collection
Class: photographs European art
Work Type: albumen prints
Title: Views of Paris and Environs and the Exposition
Universelle
Current Location Getty Research Institute, Research
Library, Special Collections (Los Angeles, California,
USA)
ID: 93-F101
General
Subject: views
*Subject: architecture
Paris (France)
International
Exposition
of
1889
(Paris,
architecture various subjects France)
Versailles Palace (Versailles, France)
Parc de
Specific
Saint-CloudSubject:
(Paris, France) Parc du Champ de Mars
(Paris,
viewsFrance)
 Paristravel
(France)
*Creator Display: Neurdein Frères (French, active
late
International
Exposition of 1889 (Paris,
19th-early 20th centuries)
Palace
(Versailles,
France)
* France)
Role [link]: Versailles
photographers
[link]:
Neurdein Frères
*Creation
1888-1894
(inclusive
dates) Parc du
Parc deDate:
Saint-Cloud
(Paris,
France)
either record subjects of
all or the most important
works in the group
• In addition, or instead, if
there will be item-level
records, include subjects
for items in works for
individual works
[controlled]:
Qualifier: inclusive
Start: 1888
End: 1894
*Materials and Techniques: albumen prints
Technique [links]:
albumen prints
* Measurements: 37 photographic prints; images 13 x 19 cm (5 1/8 x 7 1/2 inches), on sheets 19 x 25 cm (7 1/2 x 9 7/8 inches)
[controlled] Extent items
Value: 37 Type: count ||
Extent: image Value: 13 Unit: cm Type: height |
Value: 19 Unit: cm Type: width || Extent: sheet
Value: 19 Unit: cm Type: height |
Value: 25 Unit: cm Type: width
Inscriptions: captions in French, printed on mount above and below image.
Description Note: Mounted souvenir views of Paris and environs issued by Neurdein Frères for visitors to the 1889 Exposition universelle. Collection includes panoramas of Paris and views of its main
avenues and monuments as well as views of Versailles and the Parc de Saint-Cloud. These images were probably printed from existing ones in the Neurdein Frères inventory. Six views of the Exposition
universelle include a panoramic view taken from the Trocadero, a view of the Parc du Champ de Mars, and an exterior view of the Algerian pavilion.
Champ de Mars (Paris, France)  travel
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CONA and Subject Access
102
What if subject is
unknown or uncertain?
▪ As with all indexing, better to be accurate and broad than
incorrect and specific
▪ May index multiple subjects if scholarly opinion is divided
▪ If authoritative opinion on the subject content has changed
over time, list current and historical to allow retrieval
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103
Subject is unknown or uncertain
 Do not guess
 Broad and
CONA ID 700000118
Work Type: mola
Title: Kuni Mola
Creator: unknown Kuni
Date" ca. 1922
Location: National Museum of the American
Indian (Washington, DC) 19/8402
Dimensions: 52 x 69 cm
MatGeneral
& Tech: cotton
appliqué
Subject:
•apparel Indexing Type: isness
•animals
Specific Subject: •squirrels
(animals) •tree •branches •cages •
Usgwinni mor • nature •dreams •
creation myth •Tree of Life (Baluwala
legend, Kuna culture iconography)
•Olouaipipilele • Sun-God •tree
•cutting down (felling)
accurate is
better than
specific but
incorrect
 e.g., do not
identify the
abstract animals
as “squirrels”
unless you are
certain due to
authoritative
sources
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Subject is unknown or uncertain
CONA ID 70000851 Work Type: sculpture
Title: Bodhisattva, probably Avalokiteshvara (Guanyin)
Current Location: Metropolitan Museum of Art (New
Subject:
York); General
The Sackler Fund,
1965 (65.29.4).
Creator: unknown
religion and mythology
Style: Northern Qi dynasty (550-577)
human figure(s)
Date: ca. 550–560.
Specific
Creation
Location:Subject:
Shanxi Province, China
Materials: sandstone
Guanyinwith pigments
Dimensions: height 13 3/4 ft. (419.1 cm)
• When subject is
uncertain due to
scholarly debate, list
multiple possibilities
(Guanyin or Maitreya)
• Descriptive Note field
may be used to explain
the controversy
Avalokiteshvara
Maitreya
bodhisattva
compassion
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CONA and Subject Access
105
Former Subjects
CONA ID 700002210 Record Type [controlled]: item
Class
[controlled]: paintings
European art
*Work Type [link]:
painting
*Title:
Portrait of a Halberdier (Francesco Guardi?)
Title: Portrait of Cosimo I de’Medici Title Type: former
*Creator Display: Pontormo (Italian, 1494-1557)
* Role [link]: painter
[link]: Pontormo
*Creation Date: ca. 1528/1530
Start: 1523
End: 1535
*Subject:
portrait
Francesco Guardi (Italian nobleman, born 1514)
Cosimo I de‘Medici (Grand duke of Tuscany and patron of the arts,
1519-1574)
halberdier
nobleman
Culture [link]: Italian
*Current Location [link]: J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles, California,
USA) ID:89.PA.49
*Measurements: 123 x 161 cm (36 1/4 x 28 3/8 inches)
[controlled]: Value: 123 Unit: cm Type: height |
Value: 161
Unit: cm Type: width
*Materials and Techniques:
oil or oil and tempera on panel
transferred to canvas
Material [links]:
oil paint
tempera
panel (wood)
canvas
Description: Pontormo’s elongated, oval forms and refined play of
color is prototypical of Mannerist portraiture.
Description Source [link]: J. Paul Getty Museum. Handbook of the
Collections. 6th edition. Los Angeles: Christopher Hudson, 2001.
• A work may
have former
subject
designations
• Index all
General Subject: portraits
Specific Subject:
Francesco Guardi (Italian
nobleman, born 1514)
Cosimo I de‘Medici (Grand
duke of Tuscany and patron of
the arts, 1519-1574)
halberdier
nobleman
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CONA and Subject Access
106
How to index subject
of the work at hand
▪ Subject of the work at hand (vs. subject as a
topic as represented in the Iconography
Authority)
 Issue: In the Work record, do you need to include specific
topics related to the subject, if those specific topics are
already part of the authority record?
 Recommendation: Yes. For the work at hand, index those aspects
of the subject that are apparent or important
 Particularly where those terms represent aspects of the subject
that are unusual or particular for the work at hand
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107
• Issue: Not all aspects of a
subject topic are necessarily
portrayed in every work
having that subject
• E.g., Adoration of the Magi,
cast of characters, animals,
allegorical themes
Patricia Harpring
CONA and Subject Access
108
Iconography specific
to this work that is not standard for all
Adoration of the Magi depictions:
• Journey of the Magi at top
method of representation =
continuous representation
• Jerusalem = Siena
• horses as major compositional element
CONA ID 700000178
Bartolo di Fredi (Sienese, ca. 1330-1410);
Adoration of the Magi; altarpiece; ca. 1385;
Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena (Siena, Siena
province, Tuscany, Italy); no. 104.
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CONA and Subject Access
Bartolo di Fredi, ca. 1395, Pinatoceca Nazionale, Siena
109
•
Are the Three Ages of Man
portrayed in this work? Yes
• Are the Three Races of Man
portrayed? No
• Are they kings
or magi?
• Both kings
and
astrologers
with Phrygian
caps
• Unbeliever
rustic groom
contrasted
with believers
Magi and
retinue
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CONA and Subject Access
Bartolo di Fredi, ca. 1395, Pinatoceca Nazionale, Siena
110
• This later painting has
both
Three Ages of Man and
Three Races of Man
CONA ID 700008647
Work Type: painting
Creator: Benvenuto di
Giovanni (Sienese, 1436
- before 1517)
Title: The Adoration of
the Magi,
Date: ca. 1470/1475
Mat & Tech: tempera on
panel
Dimensions: 182 x 137
cm (71 5/8 x 53 15/16
in.)
Current Location:
National Gallery of Art
(Washington, DC);
Andrew W. Mellon
Collection; 1937.1.10
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Patricia Harpring
CONA and Subject Access
111
This one also has both
Three Ages of Man and
the Three Races of
Man
• Structure of the stable
(new order, the
Church) built upon
ancient ruins (the old
order, Paganism)
•
CONA ID 700008648
Work Type: painting
Creator: Peter Paul
Rubens
Title: Adoration of the
Magi
Date: 1624
Mat & Tech: oil on panel
Current Location:
Koninklijk Royal Museum
of Fine Arts (Antwerp,
Belgium)
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CONA and Subject Access
112
CONA ID 70000217
Work Type painting
Creator: Mantegna
Title: Adoration of
the Magi
Current Location: J.
Paul
Getty Museum
• This one also has both
Three Ages of Man and
the Three Races of Man
• Notably no animals, no
other elements of the
story other than the
figures and gifts
• Part of subject here is
method of
representation
= close-up view
is reference to
Roman reliefs
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Patricia Harpring
CONA and Subject Access
113
• This one has Adoration of the Magi and
the Journey of Magi
• Animals include not just ox, ass,
horses, camels, but a peacock
(incorruptible flesh, symbol
of eternal life)
CONA ID 700008649
Work Type: painting
Creator: Fra Angelico
and Fra Filippo Lippi
Title: Adoration of the Magi
Date: ca. 1440/1460
Current Location: National
Gallery of Art (Washington,
DC); Samuel H. Kress
Collection; 1952.2.2
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CONA and Subject Access
114
In brief:
 If you know it, include it
 But do not index specific subject data
unless you have authoritative sources for
the information
 Better to be general and correct
rather than specific and incorrect
CONA ID 700008651
CONA ID 700008651
Class.: Britain, Europe and Prehistory
Class.: Britain, Europe and Prehistory
Work Type: plaque
Work Type: plaque
Title: Ivory plaque with the Adoration of the MagiTitle: Ivory plaque with the Adoration
of the Magi
Current Location: British Museum (London,
Current Location: British Museum
England); 1904,0702.1; M&ME 1904,7-2,1
(London, England); 1904,0702.1;
Creation Location: Eastern Mediterranean regionM&ME 1904,7-2,1
Dimensions: 21.700 x 12.400 x 1.200 cm; from Creation Location: Eastern
the centre of a 5-part diptych
Mediterranean region
Date: Early Byzantine, early 6th century CE
Dimensions: 21.700 x 12.400 x 1.200
Mat & Tech: relief panel
cm; from the centre of a 5-part
diptych
Desc. Note: This panel presents a solemn
hieratic image of the Adoration of Christ. The Date: Early Byzantine, early 6th
Virgin Mary, shown with wide staring eyes and century CE
larger in scale than the other figures, dominatesMat & Tech: relief panel
the composition. The Christ child, held betweenDesc. Note: This panel presents a
solemn hieratic image of the
her legs, makes the gesture of blessing. Beside Adoration of Christ. The Virgin Mary,
the Virgin are an angel holding a cross-staff andshown with wide staring eyes and
the three Magi (Wise Men) dressed in Oriental larger in scale than the other figures,
costume – tight trousers, short tunics and
dominates the composition. The Christ
Phrygian caps. They present their gifts as sacred
child, held between her legs, makes
offerings with veiled hands.
the gesture of blessing. Beside the
© 2016
Patricia Harpring
Virgin are an angel holding a crossstaff and the three Magi (Wise Men)
dressed in Oriental costume – tight
trousers, short tunics and Phrygian
J. Paul Getty Trust, author: Patricia Harpring. Do not distribute. For educational purposes only.
caps. They present their gifts as
CONA and Subject Access
 Balthasar, Gaspar, Melchior are
characters in Western art, but not in all
Christian art
 Syrian Christians’ names for the Magi are
Larvandad, Gushnasaph, and Hormisdas
 Are you sure of which characters
are intended here?
 If not, better to index Adoration of the
Magi as a Specific Subject
 Do not name the Magi unless you are
certain, based on authoritative sources
115
Patricia Harpring
Vocabulary Program
Managing Editor
Getty Research Institute
1200 Getty Center Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90049
[email protected]
© 2016 J. Paul Getty Trust, author: Patricia Harpring. Do not distribute. For educational purposes only.
Patricia Harpring
CONA and Subject Access
116