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Chapter 4: Stylistic, Cultural and
Chronological Information (Style/Culture/Date)
4.1.1 Discussion
This chapter introduces the Style, Culture, and Date
elements that refer to a work's stylistic characteristics,
cultural origins, and date of design or creation.
Style
The Style element identifies the named, defined style,
historical or artistic period, movement, group, or school
whose characteristics are represented in the work being
cataloged. Designations of style, period, group, or
movement are derived from scholarly tradition within
given fields of expertise. The terminology places the
work in the context of other works created in the same
or a similar style.
Often styles or periods take their names from a technique
used in a particular place at a certain time. Terms
such as Red-figure, Black-figure, and
Pointillist are examples of styles based on technique.
Some terms, such as Surrealist, may refer to
a style or artistic movement not necessarily tied to
a particular period or a single technique. Stylistic
similarities may be the basis for the concept of school,
which can refer to movements such as the American Ashcan
School or to artistic families or groups such as
the Japanese Kano School.
Terms referring to style or period may be based on
historical eras and thus have a chronological reference;
for example, periods may be delimited by dates associated
with certain rulers or governments. The names of dynasties,
such as Ming, are used for artistic periods in
China, Japan, and Egypt. Ruling families provide names
for periods and styles such as Tudor or Stuart.
A style term may refer to the reign of a specific monarch,
such as Louis XIV, Napoleonic, Victorian,
or Ptolemaic. Certain broad terms, such as Ancient
Greek, Medieval, or Renaissance, have
generally accepted chronological boundaries; they may
be subdivided into well-known secondary eras, for example,
Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic.
For further discussion of style, see Categories
for the Description of Works of Art: Styles/Periods/Groups/Movements.
Culture
The Culture element contains the name of the culture,
people, or nationality from which the work originated.
This element is useful to institutions that wish to
note the culture associated with the work in order to
place the work in the context of other works created
in the same culture.
Nationality and culture are also included in elements
of creator information, detailed in Chapter 2: Creator
Information and in Part 3: Personal and Corporate Name
Authority. If you wish to avoid the redundancy of recording
culture-nationality with both the creator and the work,
record the nationality or culture with the creator information
(instead of in the Culture element discussed in this
chapter), even when the creator is unknown. Unknown
creators are discussed in Chapter 2: Creator Information.
Given that the culture that produced the work is nearly
always the same as the creator's culture, the Culture
element in this chapter may seem redundant; however,
it may be a necessary element for some institutions.
It is recognized that, for unknown creators, some institutions
may choose to leave the creator fields blank and construct
headings for display, for example, unknown Italian
or Italian. Where such local practice exists,
this Culture element becomes critical for works with
unknown creators. It is generally not necessary to enter
a value in the Culture element when the work has a known
creator, such as Matisse, who was French (because the
nationality/culture of Matisse would be recorded in
the authority).
Date
The Date element records the date or range of dates
associated with the creation, design, production, presentation,
performance, construction, or alteration of the work
or its components. This chapter does not deal with the
date of the surrogate visual image, although it is recognized
that visual resources collections will typically require
fields to document dates for images. See also Part 1:
Works and Images and Chapter 9: View Information: View
Date.
The Creation Date for a work of art may simply be
a single year. In other cases, a work of art or architecture
may have more complex dates. It may have been created
over a span of time or may have multiple dates associated
with phases or activities surrounding its creation.
For example, a manuscript may have been illuminated
in one century and bound in another. Architectural structures
may have been created over a period of years, decades,
or centuries, often completed in multiple building campaigns
during different periods of time. Other types of works
may have been completed in several separate and discrete
stages. For example, the dates of a photographic negative
and the prints made from it can differ widely (for example,
negatives, such as those of Ansel Adams, are often reprinted).
Some types of works, such as ephemeral street art or
installations, may have a finite range of dates associated
with their existence. Performance art or happenings
may require a date more specific than the year; they
may have taken place on a specific day and time of day.
Uncertainty will often be a factor in recording a date.
Approximate dates may represent a range of a few years
or a broad range of a century or more. Dates may be
qualified with terms such as circa (ca.), about,
before, or after (for example, after
1611 or ca. 830 BCE). Dates may also be recorded
by century (for example, 12th century).
Specificity
Style and culture should be recorded at the most specific
level appropriate, keeping in mind the scope of the
collection, available information, and the expertise
of the cataloger and intended users; a hierarchical
authority file should be used to provide access through
broader concepts. For example, if a narrow, specific
term such as Hadrianic or Norse is used
for style/period, the concept authority would provide
access to the broader terms such as Roman or
Scandinavian to facilitate retrieval and understanding
of context.
In the free-text date field, the date of the work should
be recorded with the greatest level of specificity known,
but expressed in a way that conveys the correct level
of uncertainty or ambiguity to the end user (for example,
ca. 1820). The indexing fields, earliest and
latest dates, should indicate the broadest span relevant
for the free-text date (for example, Earliest: 1815
and Latest: 1825). The Earliest and Latest Dates
should not be visible to the end user, but should be
used only in record retrieval.
Organization of the Data
Style and culture should be recorded in repeatable
controlled fields. Terminology for both should be controlled
by an authority file or controlled list. See Part 3:
Concept Authority, which could be used to control the
terms for style and culture. Style is not a required
element. Culture is not required, except in the situation
discussed above, where an institution does not record
creator information for unknown creators, but instead
wishes to construct displays for unknown creators by
using culture and other elements.
Date of Creation is a required element. It is recommended
that both display and indexing fields be included. Dates
can be recorded in a free-text field, which should then
be indexed using two numbers to delimit the beginning
and end of the implied date span.
Example
Display
Date: late 14th century
Earliest:
1375; Latest: 1399
Sets of dates should be repeatable (for example, some
institutions will differentiate dates of design, construction,
and so forth in separate sets).
Recommended Elements
A list of the elements discussed in this chapter appears
below. Required elements are noted. Display may be a
free-text field or concatenated from controlled fields.
Style
Style Qualifier
Culture
Display Date (required)
Earliest Date
Latest Date
Date Qualifier
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