Commons:WikiProject Arts/Manual of Style/Categories

Commons:WikiProject Arts/Manual of Style/Categories

Categories are currently the most popular way to explore conten t. Alternatives are gallery pages, search functions and software applications such as catscan.

Assignments edit

Drawings edit

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Prints (woodcuts, engravings, etchings) edit

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Paintings edit

(1) Categories and sorting

(a) artist (in case not automatically completed by the creator template; note that some creator templates do not automatically include an artist cat. due to noinclude of that category)
(b) institution, location and Category:Paintings by artist by museum / [[:Category:Paintings by <name of artist> by museum]], [[:Category:Paintings in the <name of museum> by artist]]
plus country of origin Category:Paintings by century by production area
(c) Year/decade/century of the production (e.g. 1520s frescos, if void, or this information may be retrieved in the future, set the maintenance category:Paintings not categorised by year and lower). It is an unsolved problem how to categorize artwork which states "produced c. 1847", "produced between 1612 and 1614", "produced c. 1720s" or "produced between 1575 and 1600". A temporary solution is to categorize such time ranges as narrow as necessary and as widely as possible:
(aa) "painted c. 1847" → Category:1846 paintings + Category:1847 paintings + Category:1848 paintings Category:1840s paintings
(bb) "painted between 1612 and 1614" → Category:1612 paintings + Category:1613 paintings + Category:1614 paintings Category:1610s paintings
(cc) "painted between 1480s and 1491" → Category:1480s paintings + Category:1490s paintings + Category:1491 paintings
(dd)"painted in the first half of the 17th century" → Category:1601-1650 paintings
(ee) "painted in the 1720s or 1730s" → Category:1720s paintings + Category:1730s paintings
(ff) "painted between 1575 and 1595" → Category:1570s paintings + Category:1580s paintings + Category:1590s paintings (we still do not have the perfect Category:3rd quarter of the 16th century paintings)
(gg) "painted between 1575 and 1601" → Category:1570s paintings + Category:1580s paintings + Category:1590s paintings + Category:1600 paintings + Category:1601 paintings Category:1570s paintings Category:1580s paintings Category:1590s paintings Category:1600s paintings
(ff) "painted c. 1690s" → Category:1690s paintings + Category:1680s paintings + Category:1700s paintings (we still do not have the perfect Category:c. 1690s paintings)
(gg) "painted c. 1690" → Category:1589 paintings + Category:1690 paintings + Category:1691 paintings (we still do not have the perfect Category:c. 1690 paintings)
(d) Motif/subject (portions of Category:Art by subject, e.g. Category:Paintings of musicians)
(aa) art period/style/movement (e.g. Category:Renaissance portraits of women)
(bb) associations (e.g. Category:males with hats in art)
(e) genre
(aa) Technique (e.g. Category:Frescos or {{Fresco}}), oil paintings, oil on panel paintings, unknown
(bb) inscription(s) (e.g. Category:Paintings with inscriptions)
(cc) Year of acclomplishement given by the artist and written on the artwork (e.g. Category:Paintings with years of production (artist)) QP571 (QP571)
(dd) signature (e.g. Category:Paintings with signatures (with 15-20th c. sub-categories)
(f) other (e.g. Category:Paintings with inscribed scrolls
(aa) Shape (e.g. Category:Tondo)
(bb) location by city if not already covered otherwise and country (e.g. Category:Paintings in Hungary)
(cc) status of existence, e.g. Category:Lost paintings
(g) image source (if applicable, e.g. Category:Images from Web Gallery of Art)
(h) maintenance (if applicable) such as Category:Paintings not categorised by year, Category:Location of museum or gallery missing, Category:Template:painting possible , Category:Paintings lacking painting technique information
  • Sorting
    • name of the artist <last name> <first name>; title; museum (place,name); year/decade/century? unsolved

Sculptures edit

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Other edit

(e.g. mosaics, tapestries)
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  Info Policies/Help pages: Commons:First steps/Sorting — external: en:Wikipedia:Manual of Style (visual arts)

Category content edit

Piece of art categories edit

There is no consent about the content of category pages. unsolved

Here is an example of a new approach: Category:The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia dy Sébastien Bourdon (Orléans)

There is no consent about the style of category pages. unsolved

Include the creator template? unsolved
Proposal: All individual artwork categories should include all the details (technique, collection, etc.) unsolved
examples:
  1. Category:Entombment of Christ by Caravaggio: include Category:Females looking down in art as in File:Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio - The Entombment (detail) - WGA04150.jpg?
if WD is implemented in a file, then this is obsolete

Individual artwork edit

One artwork of a painter
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Series of artwork edit

 
Example: Category:Eleanor of Toledo with her son Giovanni de' Medici by Angelo Bronzino (missing a description that this category covers several pieces of art)

Several pieces of a painter with a common motif ("Package category" Motifs by painters), may be misleading if not marked in the category text or in the category description.
Examples: Category:Madonnas by Raffaello SanzioCategory:Saint Jerome in his study by Marinus van ReymerswaleCategory:Eleanor of Toledo with her son Giovanni de' Medici by Angelo BronzinoCategory:Paintings of Adam and Eve by Lucas Cranach the ElderCategory:Annunciation by Fra AngelicoCategory:Madonnas by Giovanni Bellini

Flat categories edit

Intentional hierarchy interferences (category names sometimes include "...(flat category)")
There is no consolidation
(a) if flat categories should exist at all unsolved (or limited to the visual arts)
(b) which categories should be considered to be a flat category unsolved

Examples:

(1) File:Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot - The Reader Wreathed with Flowers (Virgil's Muse) - WGA5288.jpg is member of Category:Portrait paintings by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot + Category:Paintings by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot in the Louvre + Category:Females reading in Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot's paintings just for artist related assignments
(2) Category:Paintings by Lucas Cranach (I) contains
  • categories related to museum or gallery:
    • Paintings by Lucas Cranach the Elder in the Kunsthistorisches Museum‎ (39 F)
    • Paintings by Lucas Cranach in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (18 F)
    • Paintings by Lucas Cranach the Elder in the National Museum in Warsaw‎ (5 F)
  • categories related to piece of art:
    • Altars by Lucas Cranach the Elder‎ (3 C, 7 F)
  • categories related to series:
    • Christ blessing the Children by Lucas Cranach the Elder‎ (3 F)
    • Paintings of Adam and Eve by Lucas Cranach the Elder‎‎ (1 K, 52 D)
    • Paintings of the Judgement of Paris by Lucas Cranach the Elder‎ (18 D)
    • Judith and Holofernes by Lucas Cranach (I)‎ (1 K, 2 D)
      • Paintings of Judith with the head of Holofernes by Lucas Cranach the Elder‎ (15 D)
    • Last Judgement by Lucas Cranach the Elder‎ (5 F)
    • Law and Grace by Lucas Cranach the Elder‎ (9 F)
    • Lot and his daughters by Lucas Cranach the Elder‎ (6 F)
    • Lucretia by Lucas Cranach the Elder‎ (14 F)
    • Martin Luther by Cranach‎ (39 F)
    • Madonna and Child by Lucas Cranach the Elder‎ (3 C, 44 F)
    • Philipp Melanchthon by Lucas Cranach the Elder‎ (7 F)
  • categories related to clothing:
    • Paintings by Lucas Cranach d. Ä. with fur‎ (2 C, 109 F)
  • categories related to type:
    • Portraits by Lucas Cranach (I)‎ (3 C, 168 F)
  • categories related to genre:
    • Hunting scenes by Lucas Cranach (I)‎ (12 F)
    • The Three Graces by Lucas Cranach (I) (1 C, 5 F)
    • Venuses by Lucas Cranach the Elder‎ (1 C, 6 F)
    • Venus and Cupid by Lucas Cranach the Elder‎ (1 C, 11 F)
  • category related to detail/fragments

Details could be also be one part of a polyptych or of the predella as well as further details. If there is a category by title of the painting, files of details should be kept also in this main category for visualization of the details in the painting, a sort key (see below) to sort the details from left to right is very helpful for orientation within the details.

    • Details of paintings by Lucas Cranach d. Ä.‎ (16 F)

plus 325 files directly under the painter categ.; no gallery page

as of 2013-05-03

Usability should be our concern, too.

Status quo flat categories edit

Group A: Time and location versus decade and location edit
Example:
Group B: Country of origin (artist) v. country of colletion edit
Example:
Group C: Subjects/Sujets v. time of production edit
  • Members of [[:Category:]] interacting with members of [[:Category:]]
Example: Category:1660s still life paintings and Category:17th-century still life paintings in Poland
Group D: Origin of painter and location v. location edit
  • Members of [[:Category:]] interacting with members of [[:Category:]]
Example:
Group E: Subjects and motifs v. subjects and location edit
Example:
Group F: Subjects and time of production v. motifs of a painter edit
  • Members of [[:Category:]] interacting with members of [[:Category:]]
Example: Category:Paintings by Anthony van Dyck in the National Gallery of Art and Category:Henrietta Maria of France by Anthony van Dyck
Group G: Image donor v. location edit
Example: Category:Google Art Project works in The National Museum of Western Art and Category:Paintings in the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo
Group H: Techniques v. Technique of painter's œuvre edit
  • Members of [[:Category:]] interacting with members of [[:Category:]]
Example: [[:Category:]] interacting with members of [[:Category:]]

Future action edit

Members of Category:Paintings of Judith with the head of Holofernes by Lucas Cranach the Elder, Category:Venus with organist in the Prado Museum - two versions do indicate, that it is a motif category of a painter (with possible scattered locations of galleries), not a single artwork, so correctly naming of categories indicates that Average Joe knows what the category is about.

While doing sorting work, editors must check what "Category:Judgement of Paris by Lucas Cranach the Elder" means. Actually, it covers several artwork with the same motif (Metropolitan Museum of Art, Kimbell Art Museum etc.). In order to make a future policy standarized, there should be dogmatic approach: Categories must be as specific as possible, e.g. include further information, such as "... (motif)" or "... (MMA)".

Discussion edit

Suggestion by Mattes: Until an agreement has been achieved: Any artwork must be (also) attached to a premier artist category, except if a category depicts the indiviudal artwork or a motif-and-painter category exists (Category:Mary Tudor by Antonis Mor paintings; no extra painter category to any of those artworks). Example: How should "Average Joe" find a painting by H.Holbein II. when it is attached to Category:Religious paintings by Hans Holbein der Jüngere and Category:Paintings by Hans Holbein der Jüngere in the Kunstmuseum Basel artist-wise? Exhibit #1 so Category:Paintings by Hans Holbein der Jüngere has been added by me. Reason: Users are not amused to look for the artist's work through his entire religious work or his work exhibited in some museum.
I agree concerning cats...in museum. Religous paintings .. does not prevent to find, instead even helps, as in e.g. Category:Paintings by Lucas Cranach (I) with 312 files, you better find your way in categories dealing with the artworks content (Religious..). This cat needs to be further sorted. Categorization in subcategories should be: History.., Religious ... example Category:Paintings by Peter Paul Rubens,Category:Paintings by Rembrandt.Oursana (talk) 00:54, 5 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Example for high-level artist category assignment (plural): Category:Venus and Adonis by Titian was artist-categorized with Category:Titian Venuses, Category:Poesie by Titian and Category:Paintings by Titian in the Prado Museum. Mattes added Category:Paintings by Titian for usability reasons.

Commons talk:WikiProject Arts/Manual of Style/Policies and guidelines/CAT

Sort keys edit

Done by the parameter

  • after the colon in {{DEFAULTSORT:SORTKEY}} or
  • after the "Pipe-separator" in[[Category:Foo|SORTKEY]] (| ← "Pipe-separator", a MediaWiki term)

Usage for artwork:

(a) Artist (last name, and first name if necessary to distinguish)
(b) Original title (if not given, the common name) (or English title, examples)
(c) Date of work or year of completion (does it really work?)
unsolved
Further reading: meta:Categories#Sort_key ·meta:Help:Piped link · Category:Pages with DEFAULTSORT conflicts · meta:CatScan

Further reading edit

Commons:Categories (does not even has a section about flat categories)

Painters edit

Flat categories edit

Status quo

Examples:

Further reading edit

Commons:Categories (does not even has a section about flat categories)


Task force: WikiProject Arts/Groups/Categorization
Help: meta:Help:Categories · Commons:Categories · Commons:Naming_categories · Commons:First steps/Quality and description

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