Editing Masterpiece (section)

{{Short description|Creation that has been given much critical praise}}
{{Redirect-several|Masterwork|Magnum opus|Masterpiece}}
{{Redirect|Opus magnum|the video game|Opus Magnum{{!}}''Opus Magnum'' (video game)|the album|Opus Magnum (album){{!}}''Opus Magnum'' (album)}}
[[Image:Mona Lisa, by Leonardo da Vinci, from C2RMF retouched.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|In painting, [[Leonardo da Vinci]]'s ''[[Mona Lisa]]'' ({{Circa}} 1503–06) is considered an archetypal masterpiece,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/2011/07/30/138800110/the-theft-that-made-the-mona-lisa-a-masterpiece |title=The Theft That Made Mona Lisa a Masterpiece |date=July 30, 2011 |access-date=February 15, 2019 |work=NPR }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/why-i-think-mona-lisa-became-an-icon/164983.article |title=Why Mona Lisa Became An Icon |date=21 September 2001 |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=John|last= Lichfield|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/the-moving-of-the-mona-lisa-530771.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220512/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/the-moving-of-the-mona-lisa-530771.html |archive-date=2022-05-12 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=The Moving of the Mona Lisa|quote=the best known, the most visited, the most written about, the most sung about, the most parodied work of art in the world |newspaper= The Independent |date=April 2, 2005}}</ref> although it was not produced for admission to a guild or academy.]]

A '''masterpiece''', {{lang|la|'''magnum opus'''}}, or {{langnf|fr|'''chef-d'œuvre'''|master of work|paren=left}}; {{plural form|{{lang|fr|chefs-d'œuvre}}}}; {{IPA|fr|ʃɛ.d‿œvʁ|lang}})  is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding [[creativity]], skill, profundity, or [[workmanship]].

Historically, a "masterpiece" was a work of a very high standard produced by an apprentice to obtain full membership, as a "master", of a guild or academy in various areas of the visual arts and crafts.