Editing Iconclass

{{Short description|Classification for visual elements in artworks}}
[[File:De bedreigde zwaan Rijksmuseum SK-A-4.jpeg|thumb|''[[The Threatened Swan]]'' ,c. 1650, [[Jan Asselijn]], Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Classed as:<br /> 
45A10 = 'symbols, allegories of war; 'Guerra' (Ripa)'<br />
25F36(SWAN) = 'water-birds'<br />
34B11 = 'dog'<br />
41C642 = 'eggs, egg-dishes']]
'''Iconclass''' is a specialized [[library classification]] designed for classifying the subjects and content of images in [[art]] (their [[iconography]]). It was originally conceived by the Dutch art historian [[Henri van de Waal]] in the 1970s, and was further developed by a group of scholars after his death.

It is one of the largest classification systems for cultural content and probably the largest for visual arts content. Initially designed for historical imagery, it is now also used to create subject access to texts and to classify a wide range of images, including modern photography. At the moment it contains over 28,000 unique concepts (classification types) and has an entry vocabulary of 14,000 keywords. Like the [[Dewey Decimal Classification]] and [[Universal Decimal Classification]] systems, it has 10 main "divisions" or points of entry:

*0 Abstract, Non-representational Art
*1 Religion and Magic
*2 Nature
*3 Human being, Man in general
*4 Society, Civilization, Culture
*5 Abstract Ideas and Concepts
*6 History
*7 Bible
*8 Literature
*9 Classical Mythology and Ancient History

Each division has 9 or 10 subdivisions, and so on. It can be consulted with the help of the freely available [http://www.iconclass.org/ Iconclass 2100 browser]. Iconclass was developed in the Netherlands as a standard classification for recording collections, with the idea of assembling huge databases that will allow the retrieval of images featuring particular details, subjects or other common factors.  It was developed in the 1970s and was loosely based on the Dewey Decimal System because it was meant to be used in art library [[card catalog]]s.

The content of Iconclass is maintained by the Henri van de Waal Foundation.

==Usage in data records==
The iconclass code represents a concept and objects can be assigned a code indicating that the object depicts that concept. For example, the iconclass code "71H7131" is for the subject of "[[Bathsheba]] (alone) with David's letter". The code is built from "7" for bible, "71" for "[[Old Testament]]", "71H" the "story of [[David]]", "71H7" for "David and Bathsheba", "71H71" for "David observing Bathsheba bathing",  "71H713" for "Bathsheba receiving a letter from David"<ref name="IC 71H713">{{cite web |title=Iconclass 71H713 |url=http://www.iconclass.org/rkd/71H713/ |website=www.iconclass.org |publisher= |accessdate=8 July 2020}}</ref> and "71H7131" for "Bathsheba alone with David's letter"<ref name="IC 71H7131">{{cite web |title=Iconclass 71H7131 |url=http://www.iconclass.org/rkd/71H7131/ |website=www.iconclass.org |publisher=Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie / Netherlands Institute for Art History |accessdate=8 July 2020}}</ref>
<gallery>
File:Peter Paul Rubens - Bathsheba at the Fountain - WGA20270.jpg|71H713
File:Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn 016.jpg|71H7131
</gallery>

===Depicting the iconclass concept===
To see all images in the [[RKD]]images database that depict "Bathsheba receiving a letter from David", the associated iconclass code 71H713 can be used as a special search term.<ref>[https://rkd.nl/en/explore/images#filters%5Biconclass_code%5D=71H713  All available records for iconclass code "71H713"] in RKDimages</ref> On selecting [[:File:Peter Paul Rubens - Bathsheba at the Fountain - WGA20270.jpg|one of these paintings]] and viewing its record in RKDimages, the code 71H713 can be seen under two sections; under the section for "subject" and under the section for "suggested searches".<ref>[https://rkd.nl/explore/images/28726 Example for record 28726] for [[Pieter Paul Rubens]] version of Bathsheba receiving David's Letter ( 2 Samuel 11: 1-27), Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, c. 1635</ref>

==== More examples ====
{| class="toccolours"
|-
! Image !!  !! Iconclass-code with title
|-
| [[File:Workshop of Lucas van Leyden 001.jpg|170px|left]] || ''St. Jerome in the Desert'', c. 1520, workshop of [[Lucas van Leyden]], [[Gemäldegalerie Berlin]] || 11H(JEROME)36 = 'St. Jerome as penitent in the desert, half naked, kneeling before a crucifix and holding a stone in his hand to beat his breast; a skull (and other 'Vanitas' symbols), sometimes a scorpion and a snake beside him'
|-
| [[File:Johannes Vermeer - Lady at the Virginal with a Gentleman, 'The Music Lesson' - Google Art Project.jpg|170px|left]] || ''[[The Music Lesson]]'', c. 1662–1664, by [[Johannes Vermeer]], [[Royal Collection]] || 
48C7211 = 'musician training pupils, music-lesson'<br />
48C7523 = 'one person playing keyboard instrument'<br />
48C7331 = 'spinet, virginal'<br />
48C7315(VIOLA DA GAMBA) = 'viola da gamba (sizes: pardessus de viole, treble, alto, tenor, bass, and contrabass (violone))'
|-
| [[File:Rivierlandschap Rijksmuseum SK-A-1970.jpeg|170px|left]] || ''River Landscape'', c. 1640, by [[Pieter Jansz. van Asch]], [[Rijksmuseum]], Amsterdam || 25H2 = 'landscapes with waters, waterscapes, seascapes (in the temperate zone)'
|-
| [[File:Gustave Caillebotte - The Yellow Fields at Gennevilliers.JPG|170px|left]] || ''The Yellow Fields at Gennevilliers'', 1884, by [[Gustave Caillebotte]], [[Wallraf-Richartz-Museum]], Cologne || 
25H16 = 'plain'<br />
61D(GENNEVILLIERS) = 'geographical names of countries, regions, mountains, rivers, etc.'
|}

===The iconclass concept as a subject===
Everyone with an account can add to the iconclass hierarchy. Some of these hierarchies are quite detailed, such as for stories of the Old Testament that were popular in the arts during the 17th-century. The problems of using iconclass codes for concepts is that they are a bit too precise. In the previous search example for 71H713 in the RKDimages database, the painting record for [[Bathsheba at Her Bath (Rembrandt)|Rembrandt's Bathsheba in the Louvre]] was excluded from the search, because the iconclass code assigned to that painting in the RKDimages database is not 71H713, but 71H7131, and searching for that code will result in other images to be returned.<ref>[https://rkd.nl/en/explore/images#filters%5Biconclass_code%5D=71H7131  All available records for iconclass code "71H7131"] in RKDimages</ref>

==Usage by organizations==
A number of collections of different types have been classified using Iconclass, notably many types of [[old master print]], the collections of the [[Gemäldegalerie, Berlin]] and the German [[Marburger Index]]. These can be matched to each other through the iconclass "hierarchy of somethings" to the current classification structure of the holder's collection. Completed iconclass projects are available, often online, but also published on [[DVD]].<ref>Iconclass website</ref><ref>[http://www.rosspub.com/iconclass.htm Ross Publishing – examples for sale] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080220200839/http://www.kb.nl/manuscripts/browser/index.html |date=2008-02-20 }}</ref> Ideally however, iconclass coding is never finished, as it is also possible to keep adding codes to the system to identify more concepts. The system can also be used outside pure art history, though it is most often used in museum websites.

==References==
{{Reflist}}
See also www.foleorpublishers.com.
See also R. van Straten, Iconography – Indexing – ICONCLASS. A Handbook, Leiden 1994.

==External links==
{{Wikidata property|P1256|P1257}}
*{{Official website|http://www.iconclass.org/}}
*[http://www.mnemosyne.org/ MNEMOSYNE], a semantic web company that specializes in all things Iconclass
*[http://www.arkyves.org/ Arkyves], a website showcasing Iconclass as a subject retrieval system (a login is needed)

[[Category:Iconography]]
[[Category:Library cataloging and classification]]