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Introduction to
Art Image Access
Issues, Tools, Standards, Strategies
Edited by Murtha Baca
Getty Research Institute

The Getty Research Institute Publications Program
Thomas Crow, Director, Getty ResearchInstitute
Gail Feigenbaum,Associate Director, Programs
Julia Bloomfield, Head, Publications Program
Introduction to Art Image Access: Issues, Tools,
Standards, Strategies
Beverly Godwin, Manuscript Editor
Michelle Bonnice, Production Editor
Elizabeth Zozom, Production Coordinator
Designed by Hespenheide Design, Westlake Village,
California
Printed byTypecraft, Inc., Pasadena, California
Bound by Roswell Bookbinding, Phoenix,Arizona
Published by the Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles
Getty Publications
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 500
Los Angeles, CA 90049-1682
www.getty.edu
© 2002 The J. Paul Getty Trust
06 05 04 03 02 5 4 3 2 1
Cover images: See figure 17 (pp. 36-37)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Introduction to art image access : issues, tools, standards,
strategies / edited by Murtha Baca
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical referencesand index.
ISBN 0-89236-666-4
1. Cataloging of pictures. 2. Subject headings—Pictures.
3. Pictures—Computer network resources. 4. World Wide
Web—Subject access. 5. Internet searching. I. Title: Art
image access. II. Baca, Murtha.
Z695.718.167 2002
025.4'9—dc21
2
0
0
2
0
0
2
7
9
0

Contents
V Introduction
1 Subject Access to Art Images
Sara Shatford Layne
20 The Language of Images: Enhancing Access to
Images by Applying Metadata Schemas and
Structured Vocabularies
Patricia Harpring
40 It Begins with the Cataloguer: Subject Access to
Images and the Cataloguer's Perspective
Colum Hourihane
59 Plates
67 The Image User and the Search for Images
Christine L. Sundt
86 Annotated List of Tools
88 Glossary
93 Selected Bibliography
96 Contributors
97 Illustration Credits

This page intentionally left blank

Introduction
The impetus for this book is the art information community's very real
need for practical guidelines on how to lead end-users to relevant images
of art and architecture online.
The authors of the four chapters are professionalswhose daily
work and long-term research focus on providing access to art. Sara
Shatford Layne gives a definition and overview of subject access to images
of works of art and discusses related issues and solutions. Patricia Harpring
addresses practical implementations of metadata schemas and controlled
vocabularies, as well as specific problems and decisions that are part of
building efficient, usable, and useful art information systems. Colum
Hourihane stresses the key role played by those who analyze and index
images of works of art, focusing on tools and methods for iconographic
analysis and description. Christine Sundt discusses some of the major
complexities of art information beyond and in combination with subject
analysis, exploring the challenges faced both by searchers for art images
and by those who wish to assist those searchers.
Just as every viewer brings a distinctive perspective to the viewing
of works of art, so each author brings his or her own expertise, experience,
and opinions to bear in the individual essays in this book. My own per-
spective is that the informed use of appropriate metadata schemas and
controlled vocabularies is essential for the creation of good art information
systems. But I also know from experience that information systems and
the methods of populating them must be kept both practical and as simple
as possible if they are going to have any degree of success, or even be
implemented at all. Individual institutions and projects must do what is
practical and achievable with the resources available to them, always with
the goal of serving their various user groups. In building information sys-
tems, projects and institutions should create a data structure in which
information is atomized to the degree that it is compliant with relevant
standards and will enable good end-user retrieval. When systems become
overly complex, cataloguing becomes more difficult and inefficient, and
v

vi Introduction
usability both for those who are populating the system and for those who
are its intended users declines. Practical considerations should take prece-
dence over theoretical analysis. Checklists, local authorities, and any other
tools that can facilitate cataloguing and indexing should be used as much
as possible. And the importance of training cannot be stressed enough.
The annotated list of tools, glossary, and selected bibliography
in this volume are the result of a collaborative effort on the part of the
authors and myself. We hope they provide both useful reference tools and
a common language for discussing issues and strategies that provide access
to images.
The images included in this book are taken, for the most part,
from the collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum and reflect to a great
degree our own research interests; therefore, visual examples of non-
Western art are lacking. But the standards, tools, and methods we discuss
can be used to describe any type of art, architecture, or material culture.
Finally, I would like to stress the human element in the work of
describing and providing access to images of works of art. Information
technology is an integral part of the way in which we work today, but
without the art-historical knowledge, intelligence, and experience of art
information professionals, it would be impossible to enable users to find
the images they seek.
Murtha Baca

Subject Access to Art Images
Sara Shatford Layne
Heady Cataloging Division, Science and Engineering Library
University of California, Los Angeles
One of the most important means of enabling users to locate art images
is subject access, but providing such access is a complex and sometimes
messy process. To clarify the issues, I begin by exploring two questions:
What is subject access?What is an art image? During this exploration, I
hope to show how the answers to these questions can affect the ways in
which the subjects of art images are analyzed and access is provided to
them. Then, I look at the steps involved in analyzing subjects and provid-
ing access through them to art images. Finally, I summarize the decisions
that need to be made when providing subject access to art images.
What is subject access? What is an art image? The answers to
these questions may seem at first to be as simple as the questions them-
selves, but they become complex as one considers them in depth. Let us
begin by considering subject access. Subject access is access to an art image
by means of the subject of that image or, more precisely, the subject of the
work or works of art that image represents. The questions then become:
What is the subject of a work of art? How should that subject be described
in order to provide access to it?
The Subject of a Work of Art
Perhaps the most obvious aspect of the subject of a work of art is what
that work depicts, what it is of. Looking at Edward Sheriff Curtis s photo-
graph The Eclipse Dance (fig. 1), one might say that it is of a. dance, of
people, and even, although very faintly, of a solar eclipse. Although it may
be obvious, the of aspect of a work of art is not necessarily simple. People
and objects may be the first kind of of-ness that comes to mind, but a work
of art may also depict activities or events (as, for example, a dance or a
solar eclipse), places, and times. It can be useful to consider these various
kinds of of-ness when thinking about the subject of a work of art.
Furthermore, what a work of art is of may be described in a
variety of ways. One way is to describe what the work of art is of in
1

2 Layne
Fig. I.Edward Sheriff Curtis
(American, 1868-1952). The
Eclipse Dance. 1910-14,
gelatin silver print, 14.15 x
20.3cm(59
/i6x8in.).J. Paul
Getty Museum, Los Angeles
generic terms. In Categoriesfor the Description of Works ofArt (CDWA),1
this way is called Description, a subcategory under the category Subject
Matter. A second way is to give a specific name to what the work of art
is of— a subcategory called Identification under the category Subject
Matter in CDWA. Any one subject of a work of art can be described
with a range of terms, from the broadly generic to the highly specific.
For example, we can describe one of the subjects of Curtiss photograph
as "dance" or less broadly as "ceremonial dance," and we can also
identify it specificallyas "Eclipse Dance." We see "people" who can be
identified as "Native Americans" (or, in Canada, "First Nations") but
who can also be identified more specifically as "Kwakuitl," and, if
information were available, could be still more specifically identified by
their personal names. As we can see, the range from generic to specific,
from description to identification, can be more of a continuum than a
dichotomy.
As another example, the subject of Frederick Henry Evans's
photograph Across the West End of Nave, Wells Cathedral (fig. 2) could be
described using terms such as "architecture," "religious buildings," "cathe-
drals," and "Wells Cathedral." Describing or identifying a particular sub-
ject at just one point in this range of terms will not necessarily meet the
needs of all searchers for an image. One can easily imagine a set of circum-
stances in which describing the subject of this last image as "religious
buildings" would best meet one searchers needs, but a different set in
which describing the subject as "cathedrals" would meet another searchers
needs. And, of course, one can imagine a third searcher who would best
be served by identifying the subject as "Wells Cathedral."

Subject Access to Art Images 3
Although any subject, whether of a text or an image, can be
described in both broad and narrow terms, images are different from text
in that they are always of a specific instance of something. Unlike a text
about religious buildings, an image cannot be a purely generic depiction of
"religious buildings." An image must necessarily be, if not of a particular
known and named building, at least of a particular type of building or
construction. It may be a church or a monastery, a nave or a cloister, but it
must be something more specific than "religious buildings." This charac-
teristic of images makes it particularly important to provide access to a
subject of an image at as many points as possible within the range of terms
that can describe or identify that subject.
The three subjects I have just mentioned—"Eclipse Dance,"
"Kwakuitl," and "Wells Cathedral"—show that activities or events, per-
sons, and objects can be described using a continuum of terms from the
broadly generic to the relatively specific. It is useful to recognize that place
and time can also be described in generic terms or identified with specific
terms. For time, the difference between generic and specific is between
description of cyclical time and identification of a chronological time,
while for place it is the difference between description of a kind of space
and identification of a geographic place. The place of Evans's photograph
Fig. 2. Frederick Henry Evans
(British, 1853-1943). Across
the West End of Nave, Wells
Cathedral. 1890-1903, platinum
print, image: 15 x 10.5cm
(57
/ax41
/8 in.). J.Paul Getty
Museum, Los Angeles

4 Layne
is the town of "Wells," in the county "Avon," in the country "England."
Speaking descriptively or genetically, the place of the photograph is "inte-
rior." The time of Curtis's photograph is "1910—1914"; it is also "daytime."
If we knew more about the photograph we might be able to identify the
season; it might be, for example, "spring" or "summer." It is easy to
imagine circumstances in which a user would be interested in a generic
description of a place depicted (for example, interiors of churches) or the
identification of a particular place (for example, churches in England) or
a combination of the two (interiors of churches in England).
Why is it useful to think about the different kinds of of-ness? It is
useful because it gives us a checklist of the kinds of subject—persons,
objects, activities, places, times—to consider when describing or assigning
subject terms to art images. Thinking about the ways in which any single
subject may be described or identified within a range of generic and spe-
cific terms gives us another checklist to use when identifying possible
subjects; it may also affect the very structure of the information system
providing user access. For example, it seems reasonable to assume that any
image of "Wells Cathedral" is also an image of "cathedrals," an image of
"religious buildings," and an image of "architecture." Rather than having to
assign each of these terms to each image of Wells Cathedral, would it not
be preferable to assign just the specific identifying term and have a system
that inferred the generic descriptive terms from the specific identification?
This is what the ICONCLASS system does in assigning higher-level terms
for a specific description, as discussed by Colum Hourihane in his essay in
this volume. But a local authority file could also be designed to carry the
broader or more generic descriptive terms each time a specific term or set
of terms is applied. Patricia Harpring discusses the creation of a subject
authority in her essay in this volume.
Less obvious than the of-ness of a work of art, but often more
intriguing, is what the work of art is about, which corresponds to the sub-
category Interpretation under Subject Matter in CDWA. Sometimes the
about-ness of a work of art is relatively clear, as in Georg Pencz's Allegory of
Justice (fig. 3). This image is of a naked woman holding a sword and scales,
but the title tells us that the image is an allegorical figure representing jus-
tice or, in other words, that the image is aboutthe abstract concept "jus-
tice." In Goya's drawing Contemptuous of the Insults (fig.4), the about-ness
is slightly less obvious, but it is still clear that this work of art has some
meaning beyond simply what it is of Indeed, a description of what it is
of— a man, perhaps Goya himself, gesturing toward two dwarfs wearing
uniforms—is not really sufficient to make sense of this image; it symbolizes
something else, it is aboutsomething else: the relationship between Spain
and France at the beginning of the nineteenth century or, more specifically,
Goya's personal attitude toward the French occupation of Spain.

Fig. 3. GeorgPencz (German,
ca. 1500-50). Allegory of
Justice. 1533, pen and brown
ink over black chalk, 19.2 x
15cm(79
/i6x57
/8in.).J. Paul
Getty Museum, LosAngeles
Fig. 4. Francisco Josede
Goya y Lucientes (Spanish,
1746-1828). Contemptuous
of the Insults. 1803-12, brush
and India ink,29.5x 18.2cm
(101
/4x73
/ie in.). J.Paul Getty
Museum, LosAngeles

6 Layne
Let us look at a few more examples of ways in which both of-ness
and about-ness are present in an art image. In a death scene by Gerard
Horenbout (pi. 1) in a sixteenth-century Flemish book of hours, one part
of the image depicts a person dying, while another part shows a decaying
corpse on horseback, which symbolizes death. One could say that this
work of art is both 0/cleath (the man in the bed is experiencing death) and
about death (the corpse). In fact, this image is really aboutdeath in two
different senses: the figure of the corpse personifies or symbolizes death,
but the entire image or combination of scenes is about the omnipresence
and inescapability of death.
The Destruction of Jerusalem (pi. 2) by the fifteenth-century
Boucicaut Master reveals yet another kind of about-ness. In this image,
which ostensibly depicts the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans in the first
century, we see a somewhat stylized representation of a fifteenth-century
French city, not a realistic depiction of first-century Jerusalem. Similarly,
the people in the manuscript illumination appear to be fifteenth-century
French people, not Romans from the first century or the civilian inhabi-
tants of first-century Jerusalem. One could saythat this work of art is 0/a
fifteenth-century French city and of fifteenth-century French people, but
it is about first-century Jerusalem and its inhabitants, aboutthe Roman
emperor Titus and his soldiers. Both the of-ness and the about-ness of this
work of art could be of interest to users. It could be of interest to one
researcher because of its depiction of& fifteenth-century city and to
another because it is aboutJerusalem. To still a third researcher, interested
perhaps in what the scenery for a medieval European mystery play might
have looked like, the fact that it depicts a fifteenth-century city as a repre-
sentation of first-century Jerusalem would in itself be valuable.
The Birth of Esau and Jacob by the fourteenth-century Master of
Jean de Mandeville (fig. 5) is similar to the previous example. This image
depicts fourteenth-century European people, clothing, furnishings, and
childbirth customs, but it is intended to represent an event that would
have occurred several thousand years earlier on a different continent. In
other words, it is of babies and midwives and baths and beds in medieval
Europe, but it is aboutthe biblical Esau and Jacob and their mother
Rebecca.
In these last five examples, the works of art were, one might say,
designed or intended as allegories or symbolic expressions, and their
about-ness can. perhaps be seen as an essential element of their subject
analysis. But there are other works of art in which about-ness may be more
tenuous, less clear, and perhaps even an unnecessary element of subject
analysis. Consider the photographs by Evans and Curtis. Are these works
of art aboutanything? Whether they are perceived as about something,

Fig. 5. Master of Jean de
Mandeville (French, act.
1350-70). TheBirth of Esau
and Jacob from Peter Comestor,
Bible Historiale (Vol. 1),trans.
GuiartdesMoulins,MS1,
fol.29v (detail). Ca.1360-70,
tempera colors, gold, and ink
on parchment, leaf: 35 x 26 cm
(133
/4x101
Museum, LosAngeles
and what they are perceived as being about, may depend to a great extent
on the background of the person beholding the work of art. IsEvans's
photograph aboutpeace or timelessness or oppressive severity? Is Curtiss
photograph aboutsuperstition or respect for nature?Is it aboutthe human
impulse to explain and control natural phenomena? When determination
of about-ness requires highly subjectivejudgment, should that determina-
tion be included in providing subject access to art images? Should the
inclusion of about-ness in subject analysis be limited to works of art that
are clearly allegorical or symbolic in nature?These questions need to be
considered when providing subject access to art images.
Why is it useful to identify the ways in which a work of art can
be of or abouta particular subject? It is useful because it leads us to con-
sider the various aspects of the subject of a work of art, to which aspects it
is worth providing access, and whether it is necessary to make distinctions
between and among these various aspects. Is it necessary or useful to make
a distinction between an image that is aboutdeath and one that is of
death? Is it appropriate to provide access to about-ness that is highly
subjective? If such access is provided, is it necessary or useful to make a
distinction between an image that contains an allegorical or symbolic
personification of death or justice and one that is aboutdeath or justice
in a more subjective sense? Is it necessary or useful to make a distinction
between historically accurate representations 0/Jerusalem and representa-
tions that are better described as being aboutJerusalem? These questions
also need to be considered when providing subject access to art images.

8 Layne
Some images, such as Horenbout s Death Scene, the Boucicaut
Master s The Destruction ofJerusalem, and the Master of Jean de
Mandeville's The Birth of Esau andJacob, accompany, illustrate, or are in
some way about literary works. Death Scene accompanies the Office of the
Dead,2
The Destruction ofJerusalem appears in the manuscript Des cas des
nobles hommes etfemmes? and The Birth of Esau and Jacob prefaces the
portion of the biblical Book of Genesis that describes that event. These lit-
erary works can be seen as another kind of description of the subject 0/*the
work of art, and therefore access to art images through the names of liter-
ary works may be considered, when appropriate, as providing an addi-
tional form of subject access.4
Although I am focusing on subject access to art images in this
essay, I think it is useful to discuss briefly a category of access that is not,
strictly speaking, subject access but is sometimes thought of in conjunc-
tion with, or even overlaps, subject access. This category of access, called
Object/Work-Type in CDWA, describes not what the work of art is of or
about but the kind of work that it is.The category Object/Work-Type can
overlap with Subject for two reasons. The first is that, in some cases, the
subject matter of an image can also be its Object/Work-Type. For example,
"landscape" describes subject matter in the painting Mythological Scene-by
Dosso Dossi (pi. 3), although this image is, however, not a "landscape" in
the Object/Work-Type sense. A painting from, say, the Barbizon School
(a group of mid-nineteenth-century landscape painters) is both "a land-
scape" in the Object/Work-Type sense and depicts a "landscape" in the
Subject sense.
The second reason that Object/Work-Type can overlap Subject
is that, in the case of one work of art being depicted in another work,
the term used to describe the Object/Work-Type of the depicted work
becomes the term used to describe a Subject of the work in which it is
depicted. In Evans's photograph of Wells Cathedral, "cathedral" is an
Object/Work-Type of the depicted building, but since the photograph is
0/a cathedral, "cathedral" becomes a Subject of the photograph, not its
Object/Work-Type; the Object/Work-Type of the artwork in hand is
"photograph." Or, one might have an etching that depicts an artist at work
in his studio surrounded by his paintings. Such an image would have
"etching" as its Object/Work-Type, but "paintings" as a Subject. One
searcher may want images that depict paintings; another searcher may want
artworks that arepaintings. Failing to distinguish between artworks that
are paintings and artworks that depict (that is, are of] paintings dimin-
ishes the potential for precision in retrieval: searchers looking for just those
images that are ^paintings or just those artworks that arepaintings will
not be able to specify or retrieve only those images they want.

What Is an Art Image?
The foregoing discussion of works of art depicted in other works of art
returns us to the big question: What is an art image? An art image may be
a work of art; it may be an image of a. work of art; or it may be both a
work of art andan image of a work of art.5
Pencz's Allegory of justice repre-
sents an image—a drawing—that isa work of art; Sarcophagus with Lid
(fig. 6) is an image—a photograph—0/a work of art—in this case, a
marble sarcophagus. The image itself—the photograph—is not a work of
art, although it depicts a work of art—the sarcophagus. The image that is
Evans's photograph Across the West End of Nave, Wells Cathedrals itself
work of art and in addition depicts the work of art that is Wells Cathedral.
It is both a work of art and an image of a work of art. Curtis's photograph
The Eclipse Danceis itself a work of art, but it is also an image of masks
that can be considered to be works of art in their own right. Although the
details of the masks cannot be seen in this image, the image does give use-
ful information regarding these masks, as it shows them in the context of
their use. An image that gives context to a work of art can be asvaluable
as an image that depicts the work more clearly—such as a photograph of
a mask in a museums collection that shows every detail precisely—but
lacks context.
Fig. 6. Attic Workshop.
Sarcophagus with Lid
(front). Ca. 180-220, marble,
body: 134x211 x 147cm
(53x831
/i6x58in.);lid:
100x218x95cm(391
/2x
86 x371
Museum, Malibu, California

10 Layne
Why is it important to note that an art image may be not only
a work of art itself but also an image of another work of art? First, the
name of a given work of art (for example, Wells Cathedral) or a term that
describes the type of work (for example, "masks") may become, as we have
seen, subject terms when that work is depicted or represented in another
work of art. It can be useful to consider whether one wishes to distinguish
between artworks that are depicted in other artworks and those same art-
works depicted in images that are not themselves generally regarded
as works of art. For example, in providing access to images of Wells
Cathedral, would one wish to try to distinguish between Evans's "artistic"
photograph and photographs taken merely to document what the cathe-
dral looks like? It seems doubtful that one would wish to make this dis-
tinction, although one would, of course, wish to provide access to Evans's
photograph itself as a work of art. And if one does not wish to make this
distinction, then the terminology and format of the access provided
should be the same, whether the image that represents the work of art
in question is simply recording that work or is a work of art in itself.
The situation in which a single term can describe Object/Work-
Type in one context and Subject in another context can be generalizedas
follows: the same term can, in certain circumstances, describe or identify
different aspects of works of art. For instance, "Goya" can identify a spe-
cific subject of a work of art, and "Goya" can also identify the creator of a
work of art. In the case of Contemptuous of the Insults, "Goya" is both
Subject and Creator of the work of art. One can easily imagine that a per-
son seeking images of Goya, would like to have them separated from works
of art created byGoya; however, someone seeking works byGoya might be
very pleased to be made aware of images that are 0/"Goya. The point is
that it may be useful to employ the same vocabulary to describe a person
or object, whatever the role of that person or object vis-a-vis the art image
may be, but it is at the same time necessary to provide a means for orga-
nizing such a retrieval based on metadata elements or categories of access.6
Using consistent vocabulary promotes recall of relevant images; providing
the means for organizing the retrieval based on category promotes preci-
sion. Categories can be differentiated from one another by placing them in
different fields in a database record or otherwise identifying them as differ-
ent metadata elements.
A second reason for pointing out that an art image may contain
representations of works within works is that it may be desirable to pro-
vide subject access to each separate work of art represented by a single
image and to associate the subject access for a particular work withjust
that work—not with a work that it represents or in which it is repre-
sented. Consider Sarcophagus with Lid. The sarcophagus can be considered
the Subject of the photograph, but it is also the Object/Work-Type of the

work of art represented. Depicted in the photograph is the side of the sar-
cophagus that representsan event from the Trojan War: Hektor's body
being dragged behind Achilles' chariot. But the sarcophagus is decorated
with subjects not shown in this particular photograph, so that "Odysseus,"
depicted on an unshown end, is a Subject of the sarcophagus but not of
this specific image of it. It may be desirable to provide access to all the
subjects of the sarcophagus, while making it clear which of these subjects
is actually depicted in this particular image of the sarcophagus. The desire
to provide thorough access to the subjects of a work of art, yet identifying
which subjects are actually depicted in a given image of that work of art,
can influence the choice of a structure or metadata schema for providing
subject access to art images. The VRA Core Categories, Version 3. ft provides
a category—Record Type—that "identifies the record as being either a
Work record, for the physical or created object, or an Image record, for the
visual surrogates of such objects."7
Identifyingrecords in this way could
make it possible to distinguish between the subjects of a work of art and
the subjects of an image of that work.
Providing Subject Access to Art Images
Next I discuss the four steps necessary to provide access to art images
through these subjects. Although these steps are listed separately and
sequentially, they are not independent of one another or even performed
in the order listed here. Choices made in one step influence the choices
made in another. In the first step, decisions are to be made regarding
which of the subject aspects discussed above should be used in providing
access to the art images, whether and which distinctions will be made
between and among these various aspects, and what the depth of the sub-
ject analysis should be. In the second step, someone or something must be
identified to provide the analysis of the subjects of the image. In the third
step, vocabulary and a metadata structure or format for recording that
analysis must be selected. In the fourth step, an information system must
be chosen or developed for providing access to the subjects that have been
analyzed and recorded.
Subject Aspect Decisions
How does one decide which subject aspects of art images should be used
to provide access to them? Although available resources are always a factor
in such a decision, the major factor should be what kinds of access are
most useful. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to design research to assess
accurately the usefulness of different kinds of access. Usefulness will
inevitably depend on who needs the access, as well as on the nature of the
art image.

12 Layne
Some researchers have analyzed queries made of large picture
or stock-shot files, queries made chiefly in support of illustration or
commerce.8
The items were not, for the most part, art images, and the
purpose of the queries was generally not the support of research. The
results showed that the queries tended to be satisfied by an analysis of
what an image is of not by what an image is about. My research suggests,
however, that about-ness is a determinant of relevance of art images in
approximately 20 percent of art history research.9
This means that approx-
imately 20 percent of art history research might benefit from providing
access by what a work of art isabout.
I also found that of-ness was a determinant of relevance of art
images in approximately 35 percent of art history research, suggesting that
providing access by the of-ness of an art image would be even more useful
than providing access by its about-ness. In addition, Lucinda Keister sug-
gested, because about-ness is subjective and someone interested in the
about-ness of an image can generally specify certain of-ness subjects that it
should contain, it is more useful to provide access by the of-ness of the
image. Then the researcher can browse through a retrieved group of images
and make his or her own determination of about-ness.10
In support of the
position that about-ness can be at least partly defined by of-ness, Laynes
analysis of research in art history suggests that in approximately half the
cases in which about-ness was a determinant of relevance, of-ness was also a
determinant.11
It might be possible to choose to index the about-ness of art
images that are clearly personifications or symbols, as for example "justice"
for Pencz's Allegory of Justice, "Spain—Relations—France" for Goya's
Contemptuous of the Insults, "death" for Horenbout s Death Scene, and
"Jerusalem" for The Destruction of Jerusalem, but not to index it for more
tenuous and subjective instances, such as Curtis s The Eclipse Dance.
With regard to the usefulness of another form of subject access
discussed earlier, namely, the literary work that an image is about,Layne s
analysis of research in art history suggests that such literary works are
determinants of relevance for approximately 15 percent of art history
research. This relatively small percentage may be more an indication of the
percentage of works of art that are about literary works than an indication
that it is of limited usefulness when providing access. Indeed, I would say
that whenever a work of art is about a literary work, it would be useful to
provide access through the name of that literary work.12
Once it has been decided to index different kinds of subjects, as
for example of-ness and about-ness, how does one decide whether the dis-
tinctions between or among these different kinds should be preserved and
codified for use in providing access? The disadvantage of codifying distinc-
tions is that a considerable amount of time and effort would be required,
and different people can come to different conclusions about borderline

cases. For example, is The Birth of Esau and Jacob an image of "childbirth,"
interpreting "childbirth" broadly as the activities that surround that event,
or is it really about "childbirth," since the actual emergence of a child into
this world is not depicted? Yet, there are advantages to codifying distinc-
tions. As mentioned earlier in a slightly different context, codifying dis-
tinctions increases precision in retrieval, as it makes it possible to retrieve,
for example, just those images that are of "death" and to exclude those
images that are about "death." It also permits the subdivision of large sets
of retrieved images based on these distinctions. For example, a search on
"death" as a subject could result in a retrieval of images subdivided into
groups based on whether the image explicitly depicts "death" or is about
the theme of "death."
There is still a decision to be made with respect to the depth of
subject analysis. Some images, for example The Destruction ofJerusalem
and Death Scene, are particularly rich in the number of people, objects,
and activities depicted. Other images, such as The Eclipse Dance, may
show people, objects, and activities, but not very distinctly or clearly. In
images such as these, does one provide subject access to every single per-
son, object, and activity depicted? Stated another way, how does one make
decisions regarding the depth of indexing? An image indexing project for
the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, now more than twenty years old,
developed guidelines that still seem valid today: index anything that is
clearly depicted; also index anything that is not clearly depicted if the
mere fact of its presence in the image is informative; do not index parts
of a whole if the whole is indexed and the parts are implicit in it.13
Let us look at how these recommendations regarding depth of
indexing might affect the subject analysis of a couple of art images. For
Allegory of Justice, it might mean that "naked woman" would be indexed,
as well as "sword" and "scales," but not "face" or "breast" or "arm" or "leg,"
as those body parts are implicit in "naked woman." For The Eclipse Dance,
it might mean that "masks" would be indexed, although they are not dis-
tinctly depicted, as their mere presence in the image is of interest. The
goals or focus of a particular institution can also affect depth of indexing.
An institution focusing on architecture might, for example, want to
provide more detailed indexing for Evans's Across the West End of Nave,
Wells Cathedral, than would an institution focusing on the history of
photography.
It may not, however, be necessary or even desirable to index at
a level of detail that narrows retrieval to a very few images. Browsing
through a set of possibly relevant images may be a better way for a searcher
to identify desired images than a highly specific search.14
For the art histo-
rian, for whom comparison is an essential method of research,15
providing
a larger set of possibly relevant images may lead to connections and

14 Layne
comparisons that otherwise might not have been made. In addition, prac-
tical factors—including time, money, and the knowledge and skills of the
staff performing the subject analysis—affect the depth of subject indexing
possible for a particular collection.
Performance of Subject Analysis
Who or what performs the analysis of the subject in a work of art? For
some years there has been strong interest in automated analysis of images,
and there have been various attempts to use pattern recognition tech-
niques and iterative methods to identify and retrieve relevant images. To
date, none of these efforts has been particularly successful in retrieving
images from heterogeneous groups or in identifying objects, such as
horses, that can be depicted in a variety of poses, from many different
angles, and under various lighting conditions.16
Automated systems are
most successful in analyzing homogeneous sets of images and in selecting
images based purely on color, composition, and texture. Such elements are
relatively easy to codify and therefore relatively easy for a computer to
identify.17
With what appears to be significant effort, some systems have
had some success in identifying image types such as landscapes that tend
to have certain common compositional and color characteristics.18
But it
is safe to say that content-based—that is, automated—image retrieval is
still far from being even remotely useful to art historians or art researchers.
A key to the possibly intractable problems involved in attempt-
ing to substitute computer analysis for human analysis may be found in an
unlikely source: an article by the neurologist Oliver Sacks concerning the
problems encountered by a man, blind almost from birth, whose physical
ability to seewas restored to him when he was middle-aged.19
This man
was unable to "see" properly, unable to distinguish, for example, his black-
and-white dog from his black-and-white cat. Sacks postulates that this dif-
ficulty occurred because the process by which humans learn to interpret
what their eyes see is a complex one that takes place as the brain develops
during childhood and involves senses other than sight.
Subject analysis by humans is expensive and time-consuming,
however, and studies have suggested that human indexers are not necessar-
ily consistent in their analysis of subjects.20
There are, however, various
methods by which consistency among humans can be promoted, includ-
ing the use of controlled vocabularies, guidelines for subject analysis, and
even checklists or picklists of possible subject aspects. The ideal at this
time would seem to be to let humans do what they do best and to let
computers do what they do best. In other words, let humans identify the
subjects of an art image and let computers identify color, shape, and
composition. For example, if human indexers were to identify the subjects
of art images, a computer could, if desired, then analyze a large retrieved

set of images with the same subject (for example, "cathedrals," "dance,"
"sarcophagi") for similarities in shape, color, or composition.21
Choice of Vocabularies and Format
To provide efficient, accurate subject access to images, vocabularies and a
metadata format must be selected, and decisions must be made regarding
the depth of the subject analysis.
The generally acknowledged advantages of controlled vocabular-
ies have been discussed elsewhere,22
and the specific vocabularies that may
be most appropriate for subject access to art images are discussed in the
other essays in this publication. There are, however, three aspects of sub-
ject access that are particularly important to vocabulary choice for art
images and should be kept in mind when deciding on vocabularies for
providing access to art images. The first aspect, discussed earlier, is that an
image ^/something is always of a particular instance of that something
(for example, "Wells Cathedral"), although it may be sought because it is
an image ^something that can be described more broadly or generically
(for example, "religious architecture" or "cathedrals"). Regarding vocabu-
lary choice, this means that to avoid indexing each subject of each image
with every possible broader term for that subject, it is important to have
a vocabulary with a syndetic structure that provides good links from the
broadest to the narrowest terms, links that lead from the generic to the
specific. This is why thesauri, which have an explicit syndetic structure, are
increasingly popular in projects that attempt to provide good user access
to visual materials.
The second aspect of vocabulary choice for art images is that
any given image may be of interest to different disciplines with different
vocabularies. For example, The Birth of Esau and Jacob might be of interest
to historians of medicine who might wish to use a medical vocabulary,
rather than a more general vocabulary, when searching for images. Clearly,
it is not practical to use all possible vocabularies when providing subject
access to art images, but if it is known or intended that a particular collec-
tion of art images will be used by a particular discipline, it may be worth
considering the use of a specialized vocabulary in addition to a general
vocabulary. For example, an image of tulips might be indexed as "tulips"
or even "flowers" for general users, but scientific species names such as
Tulipa turkestanica might be used as indexing terms if botanists are among
the intended users.
The third crucial aspect of vocabulary choice for art images is, as
discussed earlier, that the same term can describe or identify different
metadata categories or access points for works of art. "Goya," for example,
can identify a Creator or a Subject of a work of art or, in some cases, both.
The terms "painting" or "landscape" can describe an Object/Work-Type or

16 Layne
a Subject, as we have seen above. If different vocabularies are chosen for
each metadata category, the terms could be slightly different, depending
on the category of access, and this may not be desirable. So in choosing a
vocabulary for subject access it is important to coordinate this selection
with the choices of vocabulary for other categories of access in the same
information system.
The advantages and disadvantages of various formats for describ-
ing art images are discussed elsewhere in this book, as are specific vocabu-
laries and classification systems. There are, however, two previously
discussed aspects of the subjects of art images that affect the choice of for-
mat for providing access to these subjects. The first aspect is that different
kinds of subjects may exist in an image, which means that there is the pos-
sibility of distinguishing among them. If there is a desire to distinguish,
for example, between subjects that describe the about-ness of an art image
and those that describe or identify its of-ness, then the chosen format needs
to support that distinction. The second aspect is that a single image may
represent more than one work of art. In this situation there may be a need
to associate subjects with the appropriate work of art, and the format used
to describe the art image would have to make this association possible. As
mentioned earlier, the VRA Core Categories permits the distinction
between work and image. Conceivably, this distinction could be used to
associate one set of subjects with, for example, Wells Cathedral, and
another set of subjects with Evans's photograph of that cathedral.
Choice and Design of a System
The fourth step is the selection or design of an information system for
retrieving and displaying art images. What I mean here by "information
system" is software that stores, indexes, retrieves, and displays records, and
ideally, the images that these records describe.
What should a good information system do with respect to sub-
ject access to art images? It should take thorough advantage of the syndetic
structure of vocabularies to permit retrieval at varying levels or degrees of
specificity and to promote refinement of searches, broadening or narrow-
ing them as a searcher may require. A searcher looking for images of
"dances" should be able to retrieve the image The Eclipse Dance and should
also be able to refine the search so that it is limited to images of "ceremo-
nial dances." A searcher looking for images of Wells Cathedral should be
able to refine the search, broadening it to include "cathedrals" or "cathe-
drals in England."
A good information system should be able to take advantage of
distinctions among kinds of subjects and between subject and other cate-
gories of access, always assuming that these distinctions are present in the
metadata schema or format that has been chosen to describe the images,

but ideally without forcing the searcher to be aware of these distinctions in
advance. Although the information system should recognize the distinction
between the Creator and Subject categories of access, or between Subject
and Object/Work-Type, it should permit the searcher who has employed a
search term common to both categories to be made aware of that term's use
in both categories while still preserving the distinction between the cate-
gories. For example, consider a menu-based information system in which
the user of the system is given a list of categories of access from which to
choose, categories such asTitle, Object/Work-Type, and Subject. In such
a system it might be more useful to provide the user with the selection
"Persons" (which would include persons as subjects, as well as creators)
rather than "Creators." Once the search is performed, the results could be
grouped by the role the person had vis-a-vis a particular work of art: cre-
ator, subject, owner, and so on. In a system offering a search on "Persons,"
a search on "Goya" would retrieve both works by Goya and works of which
he was a subject, but the results of the search would be presented as two
separate groups, enabling the searcher to select either group or both. In a
system offering instead Creator and Subject as separate choices, the searcher
must first decide into which category "Goya" fits, and if Creator is chosen,
the searcher may remain unaware of images of which "Goya" is a subject.
Regarding the display of images retrieved by a search, a good
system should make it possible to view several images at the same time and
to browse among retrieved sets of images. Ideally, the searcher should be
able to rearrange retrieved images to enhance comparisons among images.
As I mentioned earlier, comparison is an essential element of art history
research. Ideally, the searcher should also be able to refine or reorganize
retrieved images based on characteristics other than subject, and analyses
of some of these characteristics, in particular color, composition, and tex-
ture, could be performed by the system itself at the time of need.
Conclusion
Let us review, in the form of questions to be answered, the decisions to be
made when providing subject access to art images.
• Having considered the various kinds of subjects—of, about(or
levels of description, identification, and interpretation), and liter-
ary works that an art image can be about—through which of
them will you provide access?
• If you are providing access to more than one kind of subject, do
you want to codify the distinctions between or among them?
• What level of analysis, or what depth of indexing, do you want
to provide?

18 Layne
• What vocabularies will you use to record your subject analysis?
• What metadata schema or format will you use to describe art
images?
• What type of information system will you use to retrieveand
display the art images?
I hope that this essay, together with the others in this volume, provides the
conceptual framework and informationnecessaryto answer these ques-
tions in ways that improve subject access to art images.
Notes
1. Categoriesfor the Description of Works of Art (CDWA), <http://www.getty.edu/
research/institute/standards/cdwa>, a metadata schema for art' objects and their
visual surrogates, outlines many metadata categories of which Subject Matter is
one. The Subject Matter category is subdivided into Description, Identification,
and Interpretation. In her essay in this volume, Patricia Harpring uses CDWA as
the metadata framework for cataloguing or indexing art images. For a fuller
discussion of the many aspects of the subject of an image, see Sara Shatford,
"Analyzing the Subject of a Picture: A Theoretical Approach," Cataloging and
Classification Quarterly 6, no. 3 (1986): 39-62.
2. A devotional service for the dead in the Roman Catholic liturgy, the Office of
the Dead is often included in books of hours.
3. An early fifteenth-century French translation of Giovanni Boccaccio's De casibus
virorum illustrium, a fourteenth-century collection of stories about exemplary
heroes and heroines from biblical, classical, and medieval history.
4. An example of providing access to images through related textual works is the
Princeton Index of Christian Art, which has for some time provided citations to
the biblical passages that are the source for many of its images.
5. Strictly speaking, one can say that any image that is not the physical original—
that is, any image that reproduces a work of art—is an image or visual surrogate of
that work. Useful as this concept of a reproduction is when describing the non-
subject attributes of a reproduction (for example, it permits description of the
medium of the reproduction as distinct from the medium of the original), it is of
limited usefulness when providing subject access. For further reading, see Sara
Shatford, "Describing a Picture: A Thousand Words Are Seldom Cost Effective,"
Cataloging and Classification Quarterly^, no. 4 (1984): 13-30.
6. See the glossary entry for accesspoint.
7. VRA Core Categories, Version 3.0, <http://www.vraweb.org/vracore3.htm>.
8. See for example, P.G. B. Enser, "Query Analysis in a Visual Information
Retrieval Context," Journalof Document and Text Management , no. 1 (1993):

25—62; and also James Turner, "Representing and Accessing Information in the
Stock-Shot Database of the National Film Board of Canada," CanadianJournal of
Information Science 15, no. 4 (1990): 1-22.
9. Sara Shatford Layne, Modelling Relevance in Art History: Identifying Attributes
that Determine the Relevance of Art Works, Images, and Primary Text toArt History
Research (Ann Arbor, Mich.: University Microfilms, 1998),235.
10. Lucinda Keister, "User Types and Queries: Impact on Image Access Systems,"
in Raya Fidel et al., Challenges in Indexing Electronic Text and Images (Medford,
N.J.: published for the American Society for Information Science by Learned
Information, 1994), 7-22.
11. Layne, Modelling Relevance in Art History, 235-36.
12. Layne, Modelling Relevance in Art History, 242.
13. Maxime Preaud and Michel Rio, "Images sans histoire: Methode de descrip-
tion des images et classement informatique," in Paola Barocchi, Fabio Bisogni, and
Laura Corti, eds., First International Conference onAutomatic Processing of Art
History Data and Documents, Pisa, Scuola Normale Superiore, 4—7September 1978:
Conference Transactions (n.p.: n.p.,[1978]), 2:256.
14. See Christine Sundt's essay in this volume, note 5.
15. Richard Brilliant, "How an Art Historian Connects Art Objects and Informa-
tion," Library Trends 37', no. 2 (1988): 120-29.
16. B. Holt and L. Hartwick, "Retrieving Images by Image Content, the UC
Davis QBIC Project," Aslib Proceedings 46, no. 10 (1994): 243-48.
17. R. Rickman and J. Stonham, "Similarity Retrieval from Image Databases—
Neural Networks Can Deliver," in Storage and Retrievalfor Image and Video
Databases, 2-3 February 1993, SanJose, California, Proceedings of SPIE, vol. 1908
(Bellingham, Wash.: SPIE, 1993), 85-94.
18. See, for example, D. A. Forsyth, "Computer Vision Tools for Finding Images
and Video Sequences," Library Trends^, no. 2 (1999): 326-55.
19. Oliver Sacks, "To See or Not to See: A Neurologists Notebook," New Yorker,
10 May 1993,59-73.
20. Karen Markey, Subject Access to Visual Resources Collections: A Model for
Computer Construction of Thematic Catalogs (New York: Greenwood, 1986),
61-66.
21. A prototype system of this sort is described in Yong Rui et al., "Information
Retrieval Beyond the Text Document," Library Trends 48, no. 2 (1999): 455-74.
22. See, for example, R. G. Henzler, "Free or Controlled Vocabularies,"
International Classification 5, no. 1 (1978): 21-28.

The Language of Images: Enhancing Access to Images by
Applying Metadata Schemas and Structured Vocabularies
Patricia Harpring
Managing Editor, Getty Vocabulary Program
Getty Research Institute
The appetite of end-users, hungry for images, is rarely sated. Images are
notoriously difficult to retrieve with accuracy, as is evident to anyone who
has searched for images on the World Wide Web. Retrieval of appropriate
images depends on intelligent indexing, which one might call the "lan-
guage" of retrieval; in turn, good indexing depends on proper methodol-
ogy and suitable terminology. In this essay, I address the underpinnings of
indexing by exploring the use of metadata schemas1
and controlled vocab-
ularies to describe, catalogue, and index works of art and architecture, and
images of them. I also discuss issues relating to data structure, cataloguing
rules, vocabulary control, and retrieval strategies, which are central com-
ponents of good subject access.
What Is "Subject"?
Categoriesfor the Description of Works of Art (CDWA) characterizes "sub-
ject" very broadly as follows:
The subject matter of a work of art (sometimes referred to as its
content) is the narrative, iconic, or non-objective meaning con-
veyed by an abstract or a figurative 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.
CDWA describes a metadata element set that can be used to describe or
catalogue many types of objects and works of architecture in a single infor-
mation system. In the interest of providing access across all catalogued
objects by all of the critical fields (the "core" categories), CDWA advises
that the Subject Matter category should always be indexed, even when the
object seems to have no "subject" in the traditional sense. In other words,
in CDWA all works of art and architecture have subject matter.
Even though the subject matter of a work of art may also be
referred to in the Titles or Names category of CDWA, a thorough descrip-
20

The Languageof Images 21
tion and indexing of the subject content should be done separately in the
Subject Matter category. A title does not always describe the subject of the
work. More importantly, noting the subject of a work of art in a set of
fieldsor metadata elements dedicated specifically to subject ensures that
the subject is consistently recorded and indexed in the same place, using
the same conventions for all objects in the database. The title of the pho-
tograph in figure 7, Chez Mondrian, Paris, does not convey a basic descrip-
tion of the subject of the photograph. Its subject could be described as "an
interior space with a stairway, doorway, table, and a vase withflowers."
The subject matter of a work may be narrative, but other types
of subjects may also be included. A narrative subject is one that comprises
a story or sequence of events. Examples of narrative subjects are The
Slaying of the Nemean Lion and The Capture of the Wild Boarof Mount
Erymanthus, which are both episodes in the Labors ofHerakles series.
Subject matter that does not tell a story could be, for example, a painting
or sculpture of a genre scene, such as a young woman bathing. For a por-
trait, the subject can be a named sitter; for a sketch, an elevation for the
facade of a building; for a pot or other vessel, its geometric decoration or
Fig. 7. Andre Kertesz
(American, born Hungary,
1894-1985). Chez Mondrian,
Paris. 1926, gelatin silver print,
10.9x7.9cm(45
/i6x31
/8in.).
J. Paul Getty Museum,
Los Angeles

22 Harpring
its function; for a mosque or synagogue, its function as a place of worship.
Subject matter can also take the form of implied themes or attributes that
come to light through interpretation. For example, a brass doorknob with
an embossed lions head can express meaning beyond the depiction of an
animal; it may suggest the householder's strength or confer protection on
the house.
In a scholarly discussion of subject matter, various areas of sub-
ject analysis are often woven together into a seamless whole. It is useful,
however, to consider them separately when indexing a work of art. One
level of subject analysis could include an objective description of what is
depicted; for example, in the Sodoma drawing in figure 8, the words
"human male," "nude," "drapery" describe the image in general terms. An
identification of the subject would be "resurrected Christ." The image
could be further analyzed, noting that the iconography represents "salva-
tion" and "rebirth."
Fig. 8. Sodoma (Italian,
1477-1549). TheResurrection.
Ca. 1535, pen and brown ink
and black chalk, heightened
with white bodycolor, on brown
paper, 21.5 x 18.7 cm (87
/iex
73
/s in.). J. Paul Getty Museum,
LosAngeles

The Language of Images 23
In CDWA, subject matter is analyzed according to a method
based on the work of Erwin Panofsky.2
Panofsky identified three main
levels of meaning in art: pre-iconographic description, iconographic identi-
fication, and iconographic interpretation or "iconology." Three sets of sub-
categories under the category Subject Matter in CDWA reflect this
traditional art-historical approach to subject analysis, but in a somewhat
simplified and more practical application of the principles, one better
suited to indexing subject matter for purposes of retrieval. (Panofskywas
writing decades before the advent of computer databases of art-historical
information and the proliferation of resources on the World Wide Web.)
The following three levels of subject analysis are defined in CDWA:
Subject Matter—Description. A description of the work in terms
of the generic elements of the image or images depicted in, on,
or by it.
Subject Matter—Identification. The name of the subject depicted
in or on a work of art: its iconography. Iconography is the named
mythological, fictional, religious, or historical narrativesubject
matter of a work of art, or its non-narrative content in the form
of persons, places, or things.
Subject Matter—Interpretation. The meaning or theme repre-
sented by the subject matter or iconography of a work of art.
These three levels of subject analysis can be illustrated in Andrea
Mantegna's Adorationof the Magi (pi. 4). A generic description of
Mantegna's painting would point out the elements recognizable to any
viewer, regardless of his or her level of expertise or knowledge: it depicts "a
woman holding a baby, with a man located behind her, and three men
located in front of her." Possible indexing terms to describe the scene could
be "woman," "baby," "men," "vessels," "porcelain vessel," "coins," "metal
vessel," "costumes," "turbans," "hats," "drapery," "fur," "brocade," "haloes."
The next level of subject analysis is identification, which is often the only
level of access cataloguing institutions routinely provide. The painting
depicts a known iconographic subject that is recognizable to someone
familiar with the tradition of Western art history: "Adoration of the Magi."
The iconography is based on the story recounted in the New Testament
(Matthew 2), with embellishments from other sources. The proper names
of the protagonists are Balthasar, Melchior, Caspar, Mary,Jesus, and
Joseph; these names should also be listed as part of the identifiable subject.
The third level of subject analysis is interpretation, where the
symbolic meaning of the iconography is discussed. For example, the Magi
represent the Three Ages of Man (Youth, Middle Age, Old Age), the Three
Races of Man, and the Three Parts of the World (as known in the fifteenth
century: Europe, Africa, Asia).The gifts of the Magi are symbolic of

24 Harpring
Christ's kingship (gold), divinity (frankincense), and death (myrrh, an
embalming spice). The older Magus kneels and has removed his crown,
representing the divine child's supremacy over earthly royalty. The journey
of the Magi symbolizes conversion to Christianity. Details related to the
subject, as depicted specifically in this painting, could include Mantegna's
composition of figures and objects, all compressed within a shallow space
in imitation of ancient Roman reliefs.
Even when a work of art or architecture has no overt figurative
or narrative content, aswith abstract art, architecture, or decorative arts,
subject matter should still be indexed in the appropriate metadata element
or database field. In the case of a work of abstract art, John M. Miller's
Prophecy (fig. 9), visual elements of the composition can be listed, includ-
ing the following: "abstract," "lines," "space," "diagonal." The symbolic
meaning, as stated by the artist, should also be included. In this case, the
artist's work was inspired by a fifteenth-century prayer book.3
This aspect
of the subject could be listed as follows: "Jean Fouquet," "Hours of Simon
de Varie," "Madonna and child," "patron," "kneeling," "inward reflection,"
"moment influx."
It may seem something of a stretch to designate subject matter
for decorative arts and architecture, where no recognizable figure or sym-
bolic interpretation is possible. For the sake of consistency, however, and
always keeping end-user retrieval in mind, it is useful to note subject mat-
ter for these types of objects as well. The subject of a carpet, such as the
one shown in figure 10, could be design elements and symbols of the
patron for whom it was made, such as "flowers," "fruit," "acanthus leaf
scrolls," "sunflower," "Sun King," "Louis XIV." The subject of a
Fig. 9. John M. Miller
(American, b. 1939).
Prophecy. 1999, acrylic resin
on canvas,228.6 x 350.5 cm
(90x138 in.). J.Paul Getty
Museum, Los Angeles

Fig. 10. Savonnerie
Manufactory (French, act.
1627-present). Carpet.
Ca. 1666, wool and linen,
670.6 x 440.1 cm (22 ft. x
14 ft. 51
Museum, Los Angeles;
Gift of J.Paul Getty
Renaissance drug jar, such as the one shown in figure 11, could be its
function, as well as its decoration which is intended to invoke the exotic
East, even though the characters of the script are invented and nonsensi-
cal: "drugs," "medicines," "pharmacy," "storage," "Middle East," "China,"
"Islamic knot work," "Kufic script," "Chinese calligraphy," "alphabet."
Indexing terms for describing the subject matter of the pair of globes in
figure 12 could be "Earth," "heavens," "geography." The subject of a build-
ing, such as the J. Paul Getty Museum (fig. 13), could be the buildings

26 Harpring
Fig. 11. CylindricalJar
(Albarello). Italy, mid-1400s,
tin-glazed earthenware,
H:18.1cm(71
/8in.);Diam.
(lip): 9.5 cm (33
/4 in.). J.Paul
Fig. 12. Designed and assembled by Jean-Antoine Nollet (French,
1700-70); maps engraved by Louis Borde and Nicolas Bailleul the
Younger. Pair of Terrestrial and Celestial Globes. 1728 and 1730,
printed paper; papier-mache; poplar, spruce, and alder painted with
vernis Martin; and bronze, each: 110 x 45 x 32 cm (431
/4 x 171
/2 x
121
/2 in.). J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Fig. 13. Richard Meier
(American, b. 1934), architect.
Museum Courtyard, The Getty
Center, Los Angeles. Completed
1997. Photo: Alex Vertikoff

function and critical design elements: "art museum," "space," "square,"
"axes," "reflection," "shadow."
Since information about art is often uncertain or ambiguous,
there may be multiple interpretations for the subject of a particular work.
Given that interpretations of subjects can change over time and that more
than one interpretation may exist at one time, the history of the interpre-
tation of the work should also be noted. For example, the sitter in Jacopo
Pontormo's Portrait of a Halberdier (fig. 14) is sometimes identified as the
Florentine duke Cosimo de' Medici, but he is more often considered to be
the young nobleman Francesco Guardi. An "unbiased," objective descrip-
tion would identify the sitter simply as a "halberdier" or "soldier." The
Fig. 14. Jacopo Pontormo
(Italian, 1494-1557). Portrait
of a Halberdier (Francesco
Guardi?).te. 1528-30, oil
(or oil and tempera) on panel
transferred to canvas, 92 x
72cm(361
/4x283
/8in.).
LosAngeles

28 Harpring
Fig. 15. Nikodemos(Greek,
act. ca. 362 B.C.E.); decoration
attributed to the Painter of
the Wedding Procession.
Panathenaic Prize Amphora
with Lid.363-362 B.C.E.,
terracotta, H (with lid): 89.5 cm
(351
/4 in.), Diam. (body):
38.3cm(151
/i6in.).
Malibu, California
subject matter of this painting should be accessible by any of these subject
designations. It is important to have a data structure that allows for this
kind of variety andflexibility.
Structure to Allow Subject Access
Among the key decisions that must be made to provide subject access to
images is selection of the appropriate format or metadata schema. Indeed,
a suitable data structure is essential for creating good end-user access to
images. The data structure must include all necessary fields; it must allow
repeating fields as appropriate; and it must include links or otherwise
accommodate the particular relationships that are inherent
between museum objects and works of architecture (or their
visual surrogates) and the subjects depicted in them.
The data structure for subject access must be
contained within an overall workable data structure for
the objects being described or catalogued. To success-
fully create a versatile, useful information system on
art and architecture, several critical issues must be
addressed. The institution or cataloguing project
must decide what is being catalogued: museum
objects, groups of objects, buildings, or visual
documents (surrogate images) of those objects or
buildings. Other decisions are critical to the for-
mat and structure of the system: Which meta-
data elements or fields are critical?Are there
additional optional fields that are desirable but
not necessary for retrieval? Which fields should
be repeating? Which fields should be populated
with controlled vocabulary terms? Should there
be linked authorities?
CDWA specifies fields for various
attributes of an object record, including a set of
fields for subject identification in the category
Subject Matter.4 This set of fields is repeatable,
and includes a field for a free-text description of
the subject, as well as fields for indexing terms. For
the fourth-century B.C.E. Greek amphora shown in
figure 15, the free-text description of the subject might
be the following: "Side A: Athena Promachos; Side B:
Nike crowning the victor, with the judge on the right and
the defeated opponent on the left." The important elements
of the subject are then indexed with controlled vocabulary

terms to provide reliable retrieval; for example, the indexing terms for this
object might be "human male," "human female," "nudes," "Greek mythol-
ogy," "Athena Promachos," "Nike, "judge," "competition," "game,"
"games," "athlete," "prize," "festival," "victory." Ideally, all three levels of
subject matter (description, identification, and interpretation) should be
analyzed and indexed for access, although the terms should be stored in
the same table for end-user retrieval.5
A sample descriptive record for the
amphora, formulated according to CDWA guidelines, is shown below
(core categories are indicated with asterisks).
Classification* antiquities vase painting
vessels decorative objects and vases
Object/Work-Type* Panathenaic amphora amphorae
Object/Work-Components amphora lid
Titles or Names* Panathenaic PrizeAmphora with Lid
Creation-Creator* Attributed to the Painter of the Wedding Procession (as painter); signed by Nikodemos
(as potter)
painter: Painter of the Wedding Procession (Athenian, 4th century B.C.E.)
potter: Nikodemos (Athenian, 4th century B.C.E.)
Creation-Date* 363/362 B.C.E.
earliest: -363 latest: -362
Styles/Periods Black-figure Attic
Aegean Archaistic
Subject Matter* Side A: Athena Promachos
Side B: Nike crowning the victor, with the judge on the right and the defeated opponent on
the left
Athena Promachos Minerva
Nike prize
judge festival
human male human female
nudes Greek mythology
victory competition
Measurements* Height with lid, 89.5cm (35 in.); circumference at shoulder, 1 15 cm (44 7
/s in.)
height: 89.5cm depth: 36.6cm
width: 36.6cm circumference: 115cm
Materials and Techniques* terracotta
wheel-turned
sintering
Descriptive Note Amphorae were typically used as storage and transport vessels but were also used as
funerary objects and prizes. Vessels such as this one were prizes in the Panathenaea, the
annual Greek religious festivals held in Athens and celebrated every fourth year with great
splendor, probably in deliberate rivalry to the Olympic Games. Therewere contests, such
as the recitation of rhapsodies (portions of epic poems), and various athletic contests.
Current Location-Repository Name J. Paul Getty Museum
Current Location-Repository Location Los Angeles (California, USA)
Current Location-Repository Number(s) 93.AE.55

30 Harpring
Display versus Indexing
For an information system to be effective, information for display and
information intended for search and retrieval must be distinguished. A
field for display is all that the end-user sees. Information critical for
research must, however, also be properly indexed in fields to allow adequate
retrieval. The field for description or display can provide a clear, coherent
text that identifies or explains the subject. As I have already pointed out,
art information can often be ambiguous or even seemingly contradictory.
In the display field, uncertainty and ambiguity can be expressed in away
that is intelligible to end-users; words such as "probably" and "possibly"
may be used. For example, the subject for one Dosso Dossi painting (see
pi. 3) could be described in a display field as follows: "Mythological scene,
uncertain subject; probably represents 'love' and 'lust,' personified with
central figures that are possibly Pan, Echo, Terra, and an unidentified
goddess." The indexing fields would use controlled vocabulary to ensure
reliable, consistent access to the same information. All terms representing
all possible interpretations should be included for access; for the Dossi
painting, the terms could include "Greek mythology," "love," "lust,"
"cupids," "landscape," "nude," "human female," "flowers," "Pan," "satyr,"
"nymph," "Echo," "Terra," "elderly female," "armor," "goddess."
Specificity versus Inclusivity
In the Dosso Dossi painting, the indexing terms include all likely interpre-
tations of the subject matter. This is the approach taken by a knowledge-
able cataloguer who can be specific in listing the possible subjects. A
different approach must be used when the cataloguer does not know the
subject due to lack of information—that is, if the information is possibly
"knowable," but simply "not known" because the particular cataloguer
does not have the time or means to do the research. In such cases, it is
advisable to list terms that are broad and accurate rather than to be specific
at the risk of being inaccurate. If the cataloguer is not familiar with the
scholarly literature addressing the likely purpose of the maiolica jar shown
in figure 11, the cataloguer is better off calling it a "vessel" or even a "con-
tainer" rather than guessing that it may be a "drug jar." For the eighteenth-
century French woodcarving shown in figure 16, the cataloguer should
not try to surmise the allegorical meaning of the work if he or she does
not have research or documentation to support the supposition. In such
a case, the cataloguer could resort to performing only the first level
(description) of subject analysis, naming the objects clearly seen in the
piece: "flowers," "medallion," "bird," "nest." Only if there is credible sup-
porting evidence should indexing terms relating to the allegory—for

The LanguageofImages 31
Fig. 16. Aubert-Henri-Joseph
Parent (French, 1753-1835).
Carved Relief. 1791, limewood,
58.75 x 39.75 x 5.7 cm (12 x
35
/s x 21
/t in.). J. Paul Getty
Museum, Los Angeles
example, "Constitution of 1791," "French Revolution," "French monar-
chy," "death," "National Assembly," "failure," "ending"—be added.
Repeating Fields
Repeating fields refers to a data structure in which there are multiple
occurrences of a given field, so that multiple terms or data values may be
recorded efficiently. CDWA suggestswhich fields or metadata elements
should be repeating. Obviously, the field for Subject Matter should be
repeatable. Repeating fields can store indexing terms for all three levels of
subject analysis; although these aspects of the subject are analyzed sepa-
rately, retrieval is more efficient if they are stored together. Multiple inter-
pretations of the subject can also be indexed and recorded in this set of
fields.
Authorities
CDWA describes a set of relational tables that includes information about
the object along with links to tables that hold information about the

32 Harpring
subject in a Subject Identification Authority. There are also links to other
authorities as well. In this context, an "authority" is a separate file in which
important information indirectly related to the objects being described
can be recorded. A "link" may be made between the appropriate field in
the object record and the relevant authority record. The relationship of
authorities to object records in an information system is presented in the
following entity-relationship diagram:
Links include
• main object/work to another object/work
• related authorities
• related images, texts, or other entities
An authority for subjects provides an efficient way to record
preferred and variant names, broader concepts, and related information
regarding subjects. The information need be entered only once in the
authority record rather than in each object record related to that subject.
For some subject information, authorities may be efficiently constructed
by using previously compiled data.6
The fields in the CDWAs Subject
Identification Authority are SubjectType, Preferred Subject Name, Variant
Subject Names, Dates, Earliest Date, Latest Date, Indexing Terms, Related
Subjects, Relationship Type, Name of Related Subject, Remarks, and
Citations.
The Subject Identification Authority7
contains fields for the
preferred, or most commonly known, name of the subject, as well asvari-
ant names by which the subject may also be known; variant names in mul-
tiple languages could also be included. Many subjects may be known by
multiple names, all of which are useful to include as access points for
search and retrieval. Using such a controlled vocabulary or classification
system ensures that synonyms are available for end-user access. For exam-
ple, "Three Kings" and "Three Wise Men" are variant names for the
"Magi"; "stag beetle" and "pinching bug" are synonyms for an insect of
the family "Lucanidae." Because the cataloguer or indexer has no way of
knowing which form or forms end-users will choose in searching, as
many variant forms as possible (or reasonable) should be included. The
RelatedWorks

following sample subject authority record offers several name variants
for the preferred name "Herakles": "Hercules," "Heracles," "Ercole"
"Hercule," "Hercules." Using an authority or controlled vocabulary
ensures that all these synonyms can be used in search andretrieval.
• Subject Type: mythological character, Greek andRoman
• Subject Name: HeMes
• Variant Subject Names: Hercules, Heracles, Ercole, Hercule, Hercules
• Display Dates: story developed in Argos, but wastaken over at early date by Thebes; literary sources are late, though earlier texts
may be surmised.
• Earliest: -1000 Latest: 9999 (date ranges for searching)
• Indexing terms: Greek hero, king, strength, fortitude, perseverance,labors, labours, Nemean lion, Argos,Thebes
• Related Subjects: Labors of Herakles, Zeus, Alcmene, Hera
• Remarks: Probably based on actual historical figure, a king of ancient Argos. The legendary figure wasthe son of Zeusand
Alcmene, granddaughter of Perseus. Often avictim of jealous Hera. Episodes in his story include the Labors of Herakles. In art and
literature Herakles is depicted as an enormously strong, muscular man, generally of moderate height. His characteristics include
being a huge eater and drinker, very amorous, generally kind, but with occasional outbursts of brutal rage. He is often depicted with
characteristic weapons, a bow or a club; he may wear or hold the skin of a lion. In Italy he may be portrayedas a god of merchants
and traders, related to his legendary good luck and ability to be rescued from danger.
• Citations: Grant, Michael, andJohn Hazel, Gods and Mortals in Classical Mythology (Springfield, Mass.: G& C Merriam, 1973);
Encyclopedia Britannica Online, "Heracles" (Accessed06/02/2001)
Other fields are also useful in providing access. In the sample
subject authority record for Herakles, a note (corresponding to the
Remarks category in CDWA) describes the iconography associated with
Herakles and some of the ways in which this figure may appear in works
of art. Terms that allow researchers to find all similar subjects must be
indexed as well; such indexing provides access to the record (and thus to
objects linked to it). In the sample record, examples for Herakles could
appear in the "indexing terms" field: "Greek hero," "king,""strength,"
"fortitude," "perseverance,""Labors,""Labours,""Nemean lion," "Argos,"
"Thebes." They include places, events, and characters related to the
iconography of Herakles, as well as abstract attributes symbolized by the
Greek hero (for example, "strength" and "fortitude"). The subject author-
ity can also contain a date field, noting the time frame when the subject
may have been developed or when it was first documented. In addition,
links to other subject authority records may be useful; the record for
Herakles is linked to the records of other protagonists related to the
iconography of this mythological figure, namely "Hera"and the "Nemean
lion." There can also be a field for listing sources for more information
about the subject.

34 Harpring
Hierarchical Relationships
Layne stresses in her essay in this volume the power that vocabularies and
classification systems with syndetic structures can have for indexing and
retrieval. Thus it may be desirable to design an information system that
allows for hierarchical relationships for subjects. One way to maintain dis-
tinctions among related iconographic themes efficiently is to create a data
structure that makes it possible to link records. For example, the episodes
of the Labors of Herakles could be linked hierarchically to the general
record for Herakles and to even broader concepts such as classical mythol-
ogy or Greek heroic legends,8
as shown in the following example from the
ICONCLASS system:
9 Classical Mythology and Ancient History
94 the Greek heroic legends (I)
94L (story of) Hercules (Heracles)
94L1 early life, prime youth of Hercules
94L2 love-affairs of Hercules
94L3 most important deeds of Hercules: the Twelve Labours
94L31 preliminaries to the Twelve Labours of Hercules
94L32 the Twelve Labours: first series
94L321 (1) Herculeschokes the Nemean lion with his arms
94L322 (2) the Hydra of Lerna is killed by Hercules
94L323 (3) the Ceryneianhind of Arcadia is captured by Hercules
94L324 (4) the Erymanthian boar is captured by Hercules
94L325 (5) Hercules cleansesthe stables of Augeas by diverting the rivers...
94L326 (6) the Stymphalian birds areshot by Hercules, or driven away with...
94L327 (7) the Cretan bull is captured by Hercules
94L328 (8) the four mares of King Diomedes arecaptured; when Diomedes...
94L329 (9) Hippolyte, the Amazon, offers her girdle to Hercules
94L33 the Twelve Labours of Hercules: second series
94L4 aggressive, unfriendly activities and relationships of Hercules
94L5 non-aggressive, friendly or neutral activities and relationships of Hercules
94L6 suffering, misfortune of Hercules
94L7 specific aspects, allegorical aspects of Hercules; Hercules as patron
94L8 attributes of Hercules
Vocabularies
Published controlled vocabularies that have gained a degree of acceptance
in the visual resources and art-historical communities can be used to
record terms for subject matter. If an authority for subject identification
is being created for a particular collection or body of material, such con-
trolled vocabularies can be used to "populate" the authority file.
No single authority can provide adequate subject access for most
collections. Typically, institutions will have to create an authority for local

use, one compiled, whenever possible, from existing controlled vocabularies.
A number of vocabularies are currently available for "populating" local
authority files. The ICONCLASS system has proven to be a powerful tool
for recording and providing access to iconographic themes, particularlyfor
Western art.9
This system, developed in the Netherlands and now in use in
many countries and institutions, contains textual descriptions of subject
matter in art, organized by alphanumeric codes that can be arranged in
hierarchies. The Art &Architecture Thesaurus (AAT) is a source of terms for
describing architectural subjects or objects (forexample, "onion dome,"
"cathedral," "columns"). The Library of Congress's Thesaurusfor Graphic
Materials (TGM), like the AAT,is useful for populating authority files for
object type or medium, but it can also provide terms for subject authorities.
The Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names (TGN) can provide the names
of places depicted in or symbolized by art objects, as can the Library of
Congress Subject Headings (LCSH). The Union List ofArtistNames (ULAN)
and the Library of Congress NameAuthority File (LCNAF) can provide pre-
ferred and variant names for portraits or self-portraits of artists, as well as
for the creators of works of art and architecture.
Other useful vocabularies or term lists could be added to local
authorities. Subjects that would be useful for many image collections
might include non-Western iconography, Latin names of plants and
animals, proper names of people who are not artists (for which the
LCNAF would be a good source), events, actions, and abstract concepts
(for example, emotions).
Conclusion: The Ultimate Goal Is Retrieval
Obviously, the reason for designing appropriate data structures and devot-
ing considerable time and labor to indexing subjects in visual works is to
provide good search and retrieval for the images being catalogued or
indexed. Therefore, it is crucial to consider current and future retrieval
needs of the particular institution and of its various types of users before
beginning a cataloguing or indexing project. It is important to keep in
mind that the system designed for cataloguing is unlikely to be the same
system that will be used for retrieval by the public, so the data created in
the editorial or cataloguing system must be exported or "published" to a
second system. A certain level of retrieval is required even within a cata-
loguing system, however, so that cataloguers and their supervisors can
check and organize their work. I think it is safe to say that if data iswell
organized and catalogued according to recognized standards and using the
appropriate vocabularies, "re-purposing" it for various projects and migrat-
ing it to new systems in the future (which is inevitable) can be relatively
routine tasks. People and institutions that are designing information

36 Harpring
systems should be aware that data can be compliant with multiple stan-
dards at the same time. Consulting a metadata standards crosswalk can aid
in designing appropriate data structures and cataloguing rules so that data
can be re-purposed and published in a variety of ways but recorded
only once.10
In providing retrieval, it is important to remember that subjects
are typically requested in combination with a variety of other elements,
including the date or date span of the creation of a work, an artist's name,
an artists nationality, the medium or material of a work of art, and the
type of object.11
Furthermore, multiple subjects may be requested at once.
Finally, end-users can range from the general public to art historians and
other experts. Information systems should allow versatile retrieval for vari-
ous audiences with different needs and levels of experience.
If Subject Matter and other core metadata elements are well
indexed, versatile retrieval is possible. If search is done on the icono-
graphical theme "Adoration of the Magi," the results are those in figure
17. The search could then be narrowed by adding another criterion: for
example, narrowing the results to only manuscript illuminations of this
Fig. 17. Sample search results

Top row: resultsfor a searchon "Adorationof the
Magi," which when narrowed to "manuscript
illuminations only" yields the last three images in
this row. Middle and top rows: results for asearch
on "Mary and Jesus." All rows: results for a search
on "mother and child."
Top row, left to right:
Andrea Mantegna (Italian, ca. 1431-1506).
Adoration of the Magi. Ca. 1495-1505, distemper
on linen, 48.5 x 65.6cm (191
/a x 257
/8 in.).
J. Paul Getty Museum, LosAngeles
Defendente Ferrari (Italian, act. ca. 1500-35).
Adoration of the Magi. Ca. 1520, oil on panel,
262 x 186 cm (1031
/4 x 731
/4 in.). J. PaulGetty
Museum, LosAngeles
GuillaumeCourtois (French, 1628-79). The
Adoration of the Magi. Ca. 1665, red chalk height-
ened with white, 29.7x 19.7cm(113
/4x 73
/4in.).
Jusepe de Ribera(Spanish/Italian, 1591-1652).
Adoration of the Magi. Spain, ca. 1620, pen and
brown ink with a wash over black chalk, height-
ened with white, 27.6x 21.8 cm (10% x
89
/ie in.). J. Paul Getty Museum, LosAngeles
Workshop of the Boucicaut Master (French, act.
ca. 1405-20) and Workshop of the RohanMaster
(French, act. ca. 1410-40). TheAdoration of the
Magifrom a Book of Hours, MS 22, fol. 72. Ca.
1415-20, temperacolors, gold paint, gold leaf,
and ink on parchment, leaf: 20.4x 14.9cm
(81
/ie x 513
/ie in.). J. Paul Getty Museum,
LosAngeles
Georges Trubert (French, act.1467-99) and
Workshop of Jean Bourdichon (French, act. early
1480s-ca. 1520). TheAdoration of the Magi from
a Book of Hours, MS 48, fol.59. Ca. 1480-90,
tempera colors, gold leaf, gold and silver paint,
and ink on parchment, leaf: 11.5 x 8.6 cm (41
/2 x
33
/s in.). J. Paul Getty Museum, LosAngeles
Simon Bening (Flemish, ca. 1483-1561). The
Adoration of the Magi bom the Prayer Book of
Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg, MS Ludwig IX
19, fol.36v.Ca. 1525-30, temperacolors, gold
paint, and gold leaf on parchment, leaf: 16.8 x
11.5 cm (65
/8 x 41
/2 in.). J. Paul Getty Museum,
LosAngeles
Middle row, left to right:
Martin Schongauer (German,ca. 1450-91).
Madonna and Child in a Window. Ca. 1485-90,
oil on panel, 16.5 x 11 cm (61
/2 x 43
/s in.).
J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Workshop of Paolo Uccello (Italian, 1397-1475).
Madonna and Child. Mid-1400s, tempera on
panel, 47 x 34 cm (181
/2 x 133
/s in.). J. PaulGetty
Museum, Los Angeles
Gherardo Stamina (Italian, act. 1378-ca. 1413).
Madonna and Child with Musical Angels. Ca.
1410, temperaand gold leaf on panel, 87.6 x
50.2 cm (341
/2 x 193
/4 in.). J. Paul Getty Museum,
LosAngeles
Domenico Piola (Italian, 1627-1703). Madonna
and ChiId Adored by Saint Francis. 1650-1700,
oil on canvas,24.4x 19.4 cm (95
/s x 75
/s in.).
Cenni di Francesco di Ser Cenni(Italian, act.
ca. 1369/70-1415). Polyptych with Coronationof the
Virgin and Saints. Ca. 1390s, temperaand gold leaf
on panel, 355.8 x 233 cm (140x 913
/4 in.). J. Paul
Circle of Fernando Gallego(Spanish,
ca. 1440/45-ca. 1507). Pieta. Ca. 1490-1500,
oil on panel, 49.8x 34.3cm (191
/2 x 131
/2 in.).
Attributed to FrancescoMochi (Italian,
1580-1654). Tabernacle Door with the Crucifixion.
Italy, ca. 1635-40, gilt bronze,54 x 26 cm (211
/4
x 10!/4 in.). J. Paul Getty Museum, LosAngeles
Bottom row, left to right:
JoaquinSorollayBastida (Spanish, 1863-1923).
Pepilla the Gypsyand Her Daughter.1910, oil on
canvas, 181.5 x 110.5 cm (711
/2 x 431
/2 in.).
Dorothea Lange (American, 1895-1956). Migrant
Mother, Nipomo, California. March 1936, gelatin
silver print, 34.1 x 26.8cm (137
/ie x 109
/ie in.).
Circle of Jacopo Sansovino (Italian, 1486-1570).
Venus and Cupid with a Dolphin. France,ca. 1550,
bronze, 89 x 35.5 x 30.5cm (35 x 14 x 12 in.).

38 Harpring
event—via the Object/Work-Type metadata element—would retrieve the
last three images in the top row. If the objects have also been indexed by
individual characters and elements of the scene and by broad themes,
users could ask numerous questions. If a user asked to see all images of
"Mary and Jesus," the images in the first and second rows would be
among the results, including scenes of "Madonna and Child," the
"Coronation of the Virgin," the "Pieta," and the "Crucifixion." If a user
asked to see images of "mother and child," the last row would be added to
the results.
As Colum Hourihane points out in the next essay, subject matter
is one of the two main criteria end-users employ in searching for images of
works of art. Careful consideration and application of standards and con-
trolled vocabularies are critical to success in providing good end-user
access to artworks via their subject matter.
Notes
1. The metadata element set I chose to use here is Categoriesfor the Description of
Works of Art (CDWA) because of its exhaustivity and focus on art-historical
research. But any appropriate metadata schema, such as the VRA Core Categories or
even the Dublin Core Categories, if consistently applied and properly populated
with controlled vocabulary values, could be used.
2. Erwin Panofsky, Studies in Iconology: Humanistic Themes in theArt of the
Renaissance (New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1939; New York: Harper & Row,
1962). Panofsky s discussion of iconology and iconography appears in the intro-
duction to this work. It is concerned with a philosophical distinction between the
references in art to literary sources and traditions of imagery, and the underlying
tendency of the human mind to interpret an image and its position in the "cultural
cosmos." Panofsky discussesprimary or natural subject matter, which can be fac-
tual or expressional; iconographic analysis, which deals with images and allegories
and requires a familiarity with known themes or concepts; and iconographical
interpretation or "iconology," which deals with intrinsic meaning or symbolic
values.
3. For more on artist John M. Millers interpretation of this work, see
<http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/past/departures/miller/index.htm>.
4. CDWA lays out 225 subcategories of information in thirty-one broad cate-
gories. Nine categories considered "core" information are recommended to allow
retrieval for scholarly research: Classification; Object/Work-Type; Titles or Names;
Measurements; Materials and Techniques; Creation Date; Creator; Current
Location; and Subject Matter.
5. Unless the decision is made to differentiate among the different levels of subject
to improve precision in retrieval. I believe, however, that in most cases this would

Another Random Scribd Document
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THE HILLSIDE AT TOULOUSE
ANTON attempts a more ambitious account of the battle of Toulouse
than of any other fight in which he was engaged; and there is some
reason for this. It was a cluster of Scottish regiments—the 42nd
conspicuous amongst them—which, by mere invincible and all-
enduring valour, saved Wellington from failure in that great fight.
Soult, it will be remembered, knew Toulouse almost with the
familiarity of a native. A strong place by nature, he had made it
almost impregnable by the energy and skill with which he had
multiplied its defences during the long pause before the British
advanced.
Wellington delivered his attack at three points. Hill assailed the west
front of the city; Picton the north; Beresford the east. The first two
attacks were, perhaps, not seriously meant, and certainly failed.
Freire, with his Spaniards, whose task it was to carry the northern
shoulder of Mont Rave, fell on gallantly, but was smitten into utter
rout, extorting from Wellington the grim comment, "Well, —— me, if
ever I saw ten thousand men run a race before!" Beresford's task
was perilous in the highest degree; to any other troops than those
he led, it might well have proved impossible. He had to toil for two
miles along a road which was little better than a strip of marsh, past
the flank of Mont Rave, strongly held by the French. On his left was
the river Ers. The road was so difficult that the guns were left
behind. There was deadly peril at every step that the French might
overwhelm the toiling column with a flank attack; or break through
betwixt it and the main body of the British army.
But Beresford—who had fought Albuera—was exactly the man for a
task which required blind and desperate valour. His men splashed
doggedly on their way; on their right the foe, tormenting their flank
with his fire; the fordless river to their left; their guns left behind
them. When they had reached the southern extremity of the ridge,
the regiments brought up their left shoulder, and proceeded to carry
the hill. It was seamed with trenches, and bristled with guns. Soult,
who saw that this was the one point of peril to his battle-line, had

brought up two divisions to the threatened point, and the French,
gallantly led, and confident in their numbers, in their advantage of
position, and in their success at the other attacked points, came
boldly down the hill to crush Beresford's slender and extended line.
Nothing, however—not the slippery hill-slope, the cruel fire of the
French guns, nor the onfall of the solid French battalions—could stay
Beresford's men. Soult's columns were smashed with rolling
musketry volleys. The batteries were carried with the bayonet, and
the hill was won. The 42nd played a most gallant part in this great
fight, and endured dreadful losses. Anton came through it all
untouched, and tells the whole story in a spirited fashion. He sees
nothing, however, and describes nothing, but what takes place
immediately about himself:—
"We broke up camp a little after midnight, on the morning of
Easter Sunday, April 10, and marched towards Toulouse. The
moon shone bright in the unclouded heavens, and reflected a
stream of light from the muskets of our advanced columns, for
our arms had not then received the brown varnish that now
'dims their shine.'
"General Pack's brigade was formed in contiguous columns of
regiments to the left of the road leading to Toulouse. At this
time the Spaniards, who were in advance and ascending the
heights, were attacked with such fury that they gave way in all
directions. It was apprehended that the enemy would have
borne down upon us in the impetuosity of the movement, and
we deployed into lines. The 79th Regiment was at this time in
front of the 42nd, and General Pack, anticipating a charge from
the enemy's victorious and elated infantry, after thus scattering
the Spaniards, gave orders to the 79th to receive them with a
volley, immediately form four deep, face about, and pass
through the ranks of the 42nd. The latter received orders to
form four deep, as soon as the former had given its fire; let the
line pass through, then form up, give a volley, and charge. This
was providing against what might have taken place, but did not,

for the enemy was recalled, and the Spaniards were afterwards
rallied.
"We now moved off to our left, along a green embankment, a
small lake or large pond [really a flooded river] on our left, and
a wet ditch and marshy meadow on the right. The shot and
shell were flying over our heads into the lake, but the range was
too elevated to hurt us, and we ran along the bank until we
came to a place where we could leap the ditch and form on the
swampy ground beyond it. We had scarcely formed, when a
strong column of the enemy, with drums beating a march,
descended the hill in our front, and thinking from the nature of
the ground that we should be neither able to advance nor
retreat, rushed down confident of success. For us to retire
would have been scarcely practicable; the bank from which we
had leaped down and over the ditch was too high in several
places for us to leap back from such uncertain footing, for we
were sinking to the ankles, and sometimes deeper at every
step; to advance was the only alternative, and it was taken.
"The light companies of the division were by this time in our
front, and without any hesitation dashed forward; we followed
fast, and the opposing column reascended the hill, and left us
the undisputed masters of the valley. We now ascended at
double quick time, and the whole of the division crowned the
eastern summit of the heights. Here we were exposed to a
destructive fire of round shot, shell, grape, and musketry, while
we had not as yet got up one gun, owing to the numerous
obstructions that lay in the way. The ground we occupied sloped
towards one of the main roads that run over the hill to the city,
and the fields on the opposite side of the road were in
possession of the enemy, and extremely broken and intersected
by deep cross-roads, breastworks, and redoubts, but could,
from our present position, have been commanded by artillery,
had it been practicable to bring a few guns forward; but this
required some time, and indefatigable labour.

"The light companies of the division advanced beyond the road,
and maintained a very unequal skirmish with the enemy, who
lay securely posted behind their breastworks and batteries, and
in their redoubts, from all of which they took the most deadly
aim. The 61st Regiment was ordered forward to support the
skirmishers, and became the marked object of the enemy's
batteries, from which incessant showers of grape cut down that
corps by sections, while Soult was, perhaps, not losing a man,
being so safely sheltered from our musketry; it was, therefore,
seen necessary to withdraw the skeleton of that regiment to the
road, on which we had taken post after its advance. It was now
warmly welcomed back, for its retreat was no defeat, and its
loss was scarcely equalled by any corps in the field. Not a
subaltern left the field without a wound, and the honour of the
colours was assigned to sergeants.
"The enemy, emboldened by this momentary success, on his
part, began to advance towards the road, and our regiment was
ordered to advance by wings and storm one of the redoubts.
"Our colonel was a brave man, but there are moments when a
well-timed manœuvre is of more advantage than courage. The
regiment stood on the road with its front exactly to the enemy,
and if the left wing had been ordered forward, it could have
sprung up the bank in line and dashed forward on the enemy at
once. Instead of this, the colonel faced the right wing to its
right, countermarched in rear of the left, and when the leading
rank cleared the left flank it was made to file up the bank, and
as soon as it made its appearance the shot, shell, and musketry
poured in with deadly destruction; and in this exposed position
we had to make a second countermarch, on purpose to bring
our front to the enemy. These movements consumed much
time, and by this unnecessary exposure exasperated the men to
madness.
"The word 'Forward—double quick!' dispelled the gloom, and
forward we drove, in the face of apparent destruction. The field

had been lately rough ploughed or under fallow, and when a
man fell he tripped the one behind, thus the ranks were opening
as we approached the point whence all this hostile vengeance
proceeded; but the rush forward had received an impulse from
desperation, 'the spring of the men's patience had been strained
until ready to snap, and when left to the freedom of its own
extension, ceased not to act until the point to which it was
directed was attained.' In a minute every obstacle was
surmounted; the enemy fled as we leaped over the trenches
and mounds like a pack of noisy hounds in pursuit, frightening
them more by our wild hurrahs than actually hurting them by
ball or bayonet.
"The redoubt thus obtained consisted of an old country farm
cottage, the lower part of its walls stone, the upper part mud or
clay. It stood in the corner of what had been a garden, having
one door to a road or broad lane, and another to the garden;
the whole forming a square which had been lately fortified on
three sides by a deep but dry trench, from which the earth had
been cast inwards, and formed a considerable bank, sloping
inwards, but presenting a perpendicular face of layers of green
turf outwards. The cottage served as a temporary magazine,
and the mound or embankment as a cover to the enemy from
the fire of our troops; and from this place our men had been
dreadfully cut down.
"It cannot be for an instant supposed that all this could have
been effected without very much deranging our ranks, and as
the enemy had still a powerful force, and other works
commanding this, time would not permit of particularity, and a
brisk independent fire was kept up with more noise than good
effect by our small groups upon our not yet defeated enemy.
Our muskets were getting useless by the frequent discharges,
and several of the men were having recourse to the French
pieces that lay scattered about, but they had been as freely
used as our own, and were equally unserviceable. Our number

of effective hands was also decreasing, and that of the again
approaching foe seemed irresistible.
"Two officers (Captain Campbell and Lieutenant Young) and
about sixty of inferior rank were all that now remained without a
wound of the right wing of the regiment that entered the field in
the morning. The flag was hanging in tatters, and stained with
the blood of those who had fallen over it. The standard cut in
two, had been successively placed in the hands of three officers,
who fell as we advanced; it was now borne by a sergeant, while
the few remaining soldiers who rallied around it, defiled with
mire, sweat, smoke, and blood, stood ready to oppose with the
bayonet the advancing column, the front files of which were
pouring in destructive showers of musketry among our confused
ranks. To have disputed the post with such overwhelming
numbers, would have been the hazarding the loss of our
colours, and could serve no general interest to our army, as we
stood between the front of our advancing support and the
enemy; we were therefore ordered to retire. The greater
number passed through the cottage, now filled with wounded
and dying, and leaped from the door that was over the road into
the trench of the redoubt, among the killed and wounded.
"We were now between two fires of musketry, the enemy to our
left and rear, the 79th and left wing of our own regiment in our
front. Fortunately, the intermediate space did not exceed a
hundred paces, and our safe retreat depended upon the speed
with which we could perform it. We rushed along like a crowd of
boys pursuing the bounding ball to its distant limit, and in an
instant plunged into a trench that had been cut across the road;
the balls were whistling amongst us and over us; while those in
front were struggling to get out, those behind were holding
them fast for assistance, and we became firmly wedged
together, until a horse without a rider came plunging down on
the heads and bayonets of those in his way; they on whom he
fell were drowned or smothered, and the gap thus made gave
way for the rest to get out.

"The right wing of the regiment, thus broken down and in
disorder, was rallied by Captain Campbell (afterwards brevet
lieutenant-colonel) and the adjutant (Lieutenant Young) on a
narrow road, the steep banks of which served as a cover from
the showers of grape that swept over our heads.
"In this contest, besides our colonel, who was wounded as he
gave the word of command, 'Forward,' the regiment lost, in
killed and wounded, twenty officers, one sergeant-major, and
four hundred and thirty-six of inferior rank.
"Meantime the Portuguese brigade was ordered to take
possession of the evacuated redoubt, which was accomplished
with little loss, for the enemy had been backward of entering,
lest we might have been drawing them into an ambush, or had
an intention of blowing up the cottage, in which a considerable
quantity of loose cartridges had been left near a large fire by
themselves when they were driven out, and most likely intended
for that purpose against us, but we had removed the whole to a
place of less danger.
"Thus far the left flank of our army was secured; the Spaniards,
farther to the right, were making good their advances, our
artillery was about getting posted on commanding eminences,
while only one battery remained on the western summit in the
enemy's possession, and before sunset it was stormed also, and
all the heights overlooking Toulouse remained in our
possession."
As soon as the fight is over Anton proceeds to mount the pulpit and
deliver himself of a homily on the night-scene after a battle, which
may be usefully abridged:—
"Night after battle is always glorious to the undisputed victors,
and whatever the loss may have been, the idea of it seems to
be banished from our thoughtless minds. Here, however, by the
first early dawning of the morning, let us more seriously cast
our eye over this scene of slaughter, where the blood of the

commander and the commanded mix indiscriminately together
over the field.
"Here lies many a gallant soldier, whose name or fame will
never pass to another generation; yet the annals of our country
will do justice to the general merit of the whole; from my feeble
pen no lasting fame can be expected; time blots it out as I
write; and even were I to attempt to pass an eulogy it might be
considered contemptible from so humble an individual, by those
who survive and witnessed the action.
"I trust I shall not be considered egotistical in saying that I had
some narrow escapes this day; but what soldier entered the
field and came safe out of it had not narrow escapes? A musket-
ball struck my halberd in line with my cheek, another passed
between my arm and my side, and lodged in my knapsack,
another struck the handle of my sword, and a fourth passed
through my bonnet and knocked it off my head; had the ball
been two inches lower, or I that much higher, the reader would
have been saved the trouble of perusing this narrative. The
company in which I was doing duty lost four officers, three
sergeants, and forty-seven rank and file, in killed and wounded.
The officers were:—Lieutenant D. M'Kenzie severely wounded,
Lieutenants Farquharson and Watson mortally wounded, and
Ensign Latta killed.
"There was one officer of the regiment taken prisoner this day:
he had lately joined us from the 1st Royals, in which he had
been cadet, and had not the uniform of the regiment; but his
deficiency of the uniform betrayed no lack of personal courage;
the charm of the bonnet and plume, though wanting, did not
make him less the soldier; he fell, wounded, near to Lieutenant
Farquharson, at the side of the redoubt, as we entered it, and
when we fell back he was made prisoner.
"I have already mentioned that before the regiment advanced to
storm the redoubt, we were posted on the main road that
passes over the heights. During the short time we were in that

position we had orders not to raise our heads above the bank,
nor let the enemy see where we were posted. Notwithstanding
this prohibition, our sergeant-major, as brave a man as ever
entered a field, was despatched from the right flank to warn
those on the left to comply with this order, for several were
rising up occasionally and sending a bullet at the enemy, and
thus, perhaps, defeating the intention of the order. He went, but
though cautioned to stoop as he proceeded, he considered this
unmanly, and never did he walk with a more upright dauntless
carriage of the body or a firmer step: it was his last march; a
bullet pierced his brain and stretched him lifeless, without a
sigh.
"There was a man of the name of Wighton in the regiment, a
grumbling, discontented, disaffected sort of a character. He was
one of the men attached to the tent placed under my charge on
joining the regiment. Some men take all for the best; not so
with Wighton, he took everything for the worst; indeed, his very
countenance indicated something malignant, misanthropical,
and even sottish in his disposition. He was a low, thick, squat
fellow, with a dark yellowish swarthy complexion, and his broad
face bore a strong resemblance to that of a Calmuc Tartar. As he
rushed along the field his front-rank man exclaimed, 'God
Almighty preserve us, this is dreadful!' 'You be d—d,' Wighton
replied, 'you have been importuning God Almighty this half-
dozen of years, and it would be no wonder although He were to
knock you down at last for troubling him so often; as for myself,
I do not believe there is one; if there were, He would never
have brought us here!' The last word hung unfinished on his
tongue; the messenger of death sealed his lips in everlasting
silence.
"The contest that raged upwards of an hour around the
redoubt, of which we had gained possession, was maintained
without much regard to order or strict discipline; in short, it was
rather tumultuary. Every man was sensible of the necessity of
having order restored, but thought himself the only orderly man

of all the rest, and his voice was heard over that of his
commander calling out 'Form up.' In the meantime, his own
attention was more engaged in keeping in the crowd, to load his
piece, and afterwards pushing forward, to send a bullet to the
enemy as often as he possibly could load and discharge, than
attending to formation.
"A Grenadier of the 79th Regiment, for both regiments (the
42nd and 79th) were somewhat intermixed, rushed forward,
discharged his piece with effect, and suddenly turning the
musket so as to grasp the muzzle, dealt deadly blows around
him; he fell, grasping one of the enemy in one hand, and the
broken firelock in the other. Another sprung up on the top of the
bank, called on his comrades to follow, and with a loud cheer, in
which many joined that did not follow, he rushed forward in the
same manner as his brave companion had done, and like him
shared a similar fate.
"It is only in this disorganised kind of conflict that individual
courage may best act and best be seen. In united, orderly
movements, the whole acquires the praise; and in this each
individual is comprised, and proud of contributing his part to the
honour of his corps, does his duty without attempting those
feats of romantic daring which ancient historians record, but
which modern tactics render nugatory or almost useless.
Individual daring is lost in orderly movements."
CHAPTER IV
THE 42ND AT QUATRE BRAS
THE return of Napoleon from Elba found the 42nd on duty in
Ireland. But when Great Britain was pouring her choicest troops into
the Netherlands, in readiness for the last great struggle, so famous a
regiment as the 42nd could not be left behind. The regiment

embarked at Cork on May 4, 1815, for Ostend, and thence marched
in leisurely fashion to Brussels.
Anton discovers quite a new justification for the Duchess of
Richmond's famous ball, which will live in history longer than any
other ball at which men and maidens ever danced. He says:—
"On the night of June 15, we were roused from our peaceful
slumbers by the sounding of bugles, the rolling of drums, and
the loud notes of our Highland bagpipes, which threw their wild,
warlike strains on the midnight breeze, to awaken the plaided
sons of Caledonia to arms. Until daybreak of the 16th we stood
to our arms on the streets of Brussels, and here we were served
out with four days' provisions for each man. The grand ball was
broken up, and our Highland dancers, who had been invited to
display their active movements before the assembled lords,
ladies, and military chieftains, were sent to their respective
regiments to prepare for other sport—that of glorious battle.
"I have heard some passing animadversions upon our great
commander, for thus passing away time upon the eve of so
momentous an affair as that about to take place. I think, as a
soldier, and one who was on the spot, I have as good a right to
give my opinion concerning it as any of those croaking
politicians who were hundreds of miles from the scene of
operations; and in giving my opinion, I give it as that of every
soldier who was in Brussels at the time, and I believe we are
not the worst judges of what is most likely to forward a ready
assembling, or a speedy concentration of the troops, in order to
attain the end in view.
"Owing to this general assembly of all our principal officers, the
Duke had not only all his personal staff about him, but that of
the generals under his command. They, again, had around them
all the commanding officers of corps, to whom they could
personally communicate their orders. The unusually late hour at
which the despatches from the scene of hostilities had arrived,

and the information respecting the intended movements of our
allies, in consequence of their having unexpectedly had to
retreat from the bravely contested field, might have changed all
our commander's plans. If this should have been the case, he
had all those about him to whom he could communicate his
designs, without passing hours at the desk, and sending
orderlies off to the quarters of officers in a city, the language of
whose inhabitants was foreign to us. All this trouble, happily for
us and for Britain, was saved by this fortunate ball."
Quatre Bras was not the least perilous of Wellington's battles. Ney's
onfall took the Iron Duke by surprise, and that Quatre Bras was not
a British defeat was due as much to Ney's blunders in attack as to
Wellington's fine skill in defence, and to the magnificent courage of
his troops. Ney could, with ease, have thrown 40,000 men into the
fight. Wellington, at the beginning of the battle, had in hand only
7000 Dutch-Belgian troops, with seventeen guns. Picton's division
only reached the field in the afternoon, having started on their long
march from Brussels at five o'clock in the morning. Later,
reinforcements came trickling in, till, just as night was darkening, the
Guards reached the scene of action.
But the British came up in fragments, and at remote intervals of
time. Wellington had very inefficient artillery, and no horsemen; and
a fight under such conditions might well have gone wrong.
Fortunately, Ney left half his forces out of the fight, and attacked
with 20,000 instead of overwhelming the British with 40,000.
The Highland regiments formed Pack's brigade. They came up
almost exhausted with their long march, and were flung hurriedly
into the strife. The 42nd, in particular, fared very badly. In the whirl
and passion of the fight it changed commanders no less than four
times in little more than as many minutes. But disaster itself could
hardly shake the ranks of the veterans of the Peninsula. Here is
Anton's description of Quatre Bras. It gives a most spirited account
of the struggle betwixt horsemen and infantry:—

"On the morning of June 16, before the sun rose over the dark
forest of Soignes, our brigade, consisting of the 1st, 44th, and
92nd Regiments, stood in column, Sir Denis Pack at its head,
waiting impatiently for the 42nd, the commanding officer of
which was chidden severely by Sir Denis for being so dilatory.
We took our place in the column, and the whole marched off to
the strains of martial music, and amidst the shouts of the
surrounding multitude. We passed through the ancient gate of
the city, and hundreds left it in health and high spirits who
before night were lifeless corpses on the field to which they
were hastening.
"As we entered the forest of Soignes, our stream of ranks
following ranks, in successive sections, moved on in silent but
speedy course, like some river confined between two equal
banks. The forest is of immense extent, and we continued to
move on under its welcome shade until we came to a small
hamlet, or auberge, embosomed in the wood to the right of the
road. Here we turned to our left, halted, and were in the act of
lighting fires on purpose to set about cooking. We were
flattering ourselves that we were to rest there until next day; for
whatever reports had reached the ears of our commanders, no
alarm had yet rung on ours. Some were stretched under the
shade to rest; others sat in groups draining the cup, and we
always loved a large one, and it was now almost emptied of
three days' allowance of spirits, a greater quantity than was
usually served out at once to us on a campaign; others were
busily occupied in bringing water and preparing the camp-
kettles, for we were of the opinion, as I have already said, that
we were to halt there for the day.
"But, 'Hark! a gun!' one exclaims; every ear is set to catch the
sound, and every mouth seems half opened, as if to supersede
the faithless ear that doubts of hearing. Again another and
another feebly floats through the forest. Every ear now catches
the sound, and every man grasps his musket. The distant report
of the guns becomes more loud, and our march is urged on with

greater speed. Quatre Bras appears in view; the frightened
peasantry come running breathless and panting along the way.
We move on to the left of the road, behind a gently rising
eminence, form column of companies, regardless of the growing
crop, and ascend the rising ground; a beautiful plain appears in
view, surrounded with belts of wood, and the main road from
Brussels runs through it.
"We now descended to the plain by an echelon movement
towards our right, halted on the road (from which we had lately
diverged to the left), formed in line, fronting a bank on the right
side, whilst the other regiments took up their position to right
and left, as directed by our general. A luxuriant crop of grain hid
from our view the contending skirmishers beyond, and
presented a considerable obstacle to our advance. We were in
the act of lying down by the side of the road, in our usual
careless manner, as we were wont when enjoying a rest on the
line of march, some throwing back their heads on their
knapsacks, intending to take a sleep, when General Pack came
galloping up, and chid the colonel for not having the bayonets
fixed. This roused our attention, and the bayonets were
instantly on the pieces.
"There is something animating to a soldier in the clash of the
fixing bayonet; more particularly so when it is thought that the
scabbard is not to receive it until it drinks the blood of its foe.
"Our pieces were loaded, and perhaps never did a regiment in
the field seem so short taken. We were all ready and in line
—'Forward!' was the word of command, and forward we
hastened, though we saw no enemy in front. The stalks of the
rye, like the reeds that grow on the margin of some swamp,
opposed our advance; the tops were up to our bonnets, and we
strode and groped our way through as fast as we could. By the
time we reached a field of clover on the other side we were very
much straggled; however, we united in line as fast as time and
our speedy advance would permit. The Belgic skirmishers

retired through our ranks, and in an instant we were on their
victorious pursuers.
"Our sudden appearance seemed to paralyse their advance. The
singular appearance of our dress, combined, no doubt, with our
sudden début, tended to stagger their resolution: we were on
them, our pieces were loaded, and our bayonets glittered,
impatient to drink their blood. Those who had so proudly driven
the Belgians before them, turned now to fly, whilst our loud
cheers made the fields echo to our wild hurrahs.
"We drove on so fast that we almost appeared like a mob
following the rout of some defeated faction. Marshal Ney, who
commanded the enemy, observed our wild unguarded zeal, and
ordered a regiment of lancers to bear down upon us. We saw
their approach at a distance, as they issued from a wood, and
took them for Brunswickers coming to cut up the flying infantry;
and as cavalry on all occasions have the advantage of retreating
foot, on a fair field, we were halted in order to let them take
their way; they were approaching our right flank, from which
our skirmishers were extended, and we were far from being in a
formation fit to repel an attack, if intended, or to afford regular
support to our friends if requiring our aid. I think we stood with
too much confidence, gazing towards them as if they had been
our friends, anticipating the gallant charge they would make on
the flying foe, and we were making no preparative movement to
receive them as enemies, further than the reloading of the
muskets, until a German orderly dragoon galloped up,
exclaiming, 'Franchee! Franchee!' and, wheeling about, galloped
off.
"We instantly formed a rallying square; no time for particularity;
every man's piece was loaded, and our enemies approached at
full charge; the feet of their horses seemed to tear up the
ground. Our skirmishers having been impressed with the same
opinion that these were Brunswick cavalry, fell beneath their
lances, and few escaped death or wounds; our brave colonel fell

at this time, pierced through the chin until the point of the lance
reached the brain. Captain (now Major) Menzies fell, covered
with wounds, and a momentary conflict took place over him; he
was a powerful man, and, hand to hand, more than a match for
six ordinary men. The Grenadiers, whom he commanded,
pressed round to save or avenge him, but fell beneath the
enemies' lances.
"Of all descriptions of cavalry, certainly the lancers seem the
most formidable to infantry, as the lance can be projected with
considerable precision, and with deadly effect, without bringing
the horse to the point of the bayonet; and it was only by the
rapid and well-directed fire of musketry that these formidable
assailants were repulsed.
"Colonel Dick [who afterwards fell at Sobraon] assumed the
command on the fall of Sir Robert Macara, and was severely
wounded. Brevet-Major Davidson succeeded, and was mortally
wounded; to him succeeded Brevet-Major Campbell (now
lieutenant-colonel on the unattached list). Thus, in a few
minutes, we had been placed under four different commanding
officers.
"An attempt was now made to form us in line; for we stood
mixed in one irregular mass—grenadier, light, and battalion
companies—a noisy group; such is the inevitable consequence
of a rapid succession of commanders. Our covering sergeants
were called out on purpose that each company might form on
the right of its sergeant; an excellent plan had it been adopted,
but a cry arose that another charge of cavalry was approaching,
and this plan was abandoned. We now formed a line on the left
of the Grenadiers, while the cavalry that had been announced
were cutting through the ranks of the 69th Regiment. Meantime
the other regiments to our right and left, suffered no less than
we; the superiority of the enemy in cavalry afforded him a
decided advantage on the open plain, for our British cavalry and
artillery had not yet reached the field.

"We were at this time about two furlongs past the farm of
Quatre Bras, as I suppose, and a line of French infantry was
about the same distance from us in front, and we had
commenced firing at that line, when we were ordered to form
square to oppose cavalry. General Pack was at our head, and
Major Campbell commanded the regiment. We formed square in
an instant; in the centre were several wounded French soldiers
witnessing our formation round them; they doubtless
considered themselves devoted to certain death among us
seeming barbarians, but they had no occasion to speak ill of us
afterwards; for as they were already incapable of injuring us,
we moved about them regardful of their wounds and suffering.
"Our last file had got into square, and into its proper place, so
far as unequalised companies could form a square, when the
cuirassiers dashed full on two of its faces; their heavy horses
and steel armour seemed sufficient to bury us under them, had
they been pushed forward on our bayonets.
"A moment's pause ensued; it was the pause of death. General
Pack was on the right angle of the front face of the square, and
he lifted his hat towards the French officer, as he was wont to
do when returning a salute. I suppose our assailants construed
our forbearance as an indication of surrendering; a false idea;
not a blow had been struck nor a musket levelled, but when the
general raised his hat, it served as a signal, though not a
preconcerted one, but entirely accidental; for we were doubtful
whether our officer commanding was protracting the order,
waiting for the general's command, as he was present. Be this
as it may, a most destructive fire was opened; riders cased in
heavy armour, fell tumbling from their horses; the horses
reared, plunged, and fell on the dismounted riders; steel
helmets and cuirasses rang against unsheathed sabres as they
fell to the ground; shrieks and groans of men, the neighing of
horses, and the discharge of musketry, rent the air, as men and
horses mixed together in one heap of indiscriminate slaughter.
Those who were able to fly, fled towards a wood on our right,

whence they had issued to the attack, and which seemed to
afford an extensive cover to an immense reserve not yet
brought into action.
"Once more clear of these formidable and daring assailants we
formed line, examined our ammunition boxes, and found them
getting empty. Our officer commanding pointed towards the
pouches of our dead and dying comrades, and from them a
sufficient supply was obtained. We lay down behind the gentle
rise of a trodden-down field of grain, and enjoyed a few
minutes' rest to our wearied limbs; but not in safety from the
flying messengers of death, the whistling music of which was far
from lulling us to sleep.
"Afternoon was now far spent, and we were resting in line,
without having equalised the companies, for this would have
been extremely dangerous in so exposed a position, for the field
afforded no cover, and we were in advance of the other
regiments. The enemy were at no great distance, and, I may
add, firing very actively upon us. We had wasted a deal of
ammunition this day, and surely to very little effect, otherwise
every one of our adversaries must have bled before this time.
Our commanding officer cautioned us against this useless
expenditure, and we became a little more economical.
"Our position being, as I have already observed, without any
cover from the fire of the enemy, we were commanded to retire
to the rear of the farm, where we took up our bivouac on the
field for the night. The day's contest at a close, our attention
was directed to the casualties which had occurred in our ranks.
We had lost, in killed, one colonel, one lieutenant, one ensign,
one sergeant-major, two sergeants, and forty-eight rank and
file. One brevet lieutenant-colonel, five captains, five
lieutenants, two ensigns, fourteen sergeants, one drummer, and
two hundred and fourteen rank and file composed our list of
wounded. Six privates fell into the enemy's hands; among these
was a little lad (Smith Fyfe) about five feet high. The French

general, on seeing this diminutive-looking lad, is said to have
lifted him up by the collar or breech and exclaimed to the
soldiers who were near him, 'Behold the sample of the men of
whom you seem afraid!' This lad returned a few days
afterwards, dressed in the clothing of a French Grenadier, and
was saluted by the name of Napoleon, which he retained until
he was discharged.
"The night passed off in silence: no fires were lit, every man lay
down in rear of his arms, and silence was enjoined for the night.
Round us lay the dying and the dead, the latter not yet interred,
and many of the former, wishing to breathe their last where
they fell, slept to death with their heads on the same pillow on
which those who had to toil through the future fortunes of the
field reposed."
CHAPTER V
THE HIGHLANDERS AT WATERLOO
ANTON'S account of the retreat from Quatre Bras to Waterloo, of the
camp on the historic ridge through the falling rains and blackness of
the night before the great battle, and of the tumult and passion, the
perils and the triumph, of the memorable day, has many merits. But
it is marred by a perfect paroxysm of apostrophes to posterity, to the
spirits of the fallen, to freedom, to all sorts of more or less heroic
and non-existent abstractions. In describing the struggle in which he
was a microscopic and almost nameless actor, Anton feels it
necessary to mount on the tallest literary stilts available, and walking
on stilts is not usually a very graceful performance. Anton's account
of the battle, in a word, recalls the famous description of a Scotch
haggis. It contains much good substance, but in a very confused and
planless state. His story, indeed, only becomes intelligible by virtue

of generous omissions. Here is Anton's tale of the march from
Quatre Bras:—
"On the morning of the 17th the unclouded heavens began to
present the approach of day, our usual signal to rise from our
sky-canopied bed. We started to arms and took up a new line
on the field, facing our yet silent foe. Here, after arranging our
ranks and equalising the companies, we piled our arms, and
commenced to prepare our yesterday's dinner, which served us
for an excellent breakfast.
"The men not thus engaged were now busily employed in
burying the dead, and those who had been attending the
wounded in the adjoining houses had not neglected the interest
of their respective messes. Besides our own allowances of meat
which we had brought from Brussels, there was not a mess
without a turkey, goose, duck, or fowl floating in the seething
kettle; and an abundance of vegetables from the neighbouring
gardens helped to add to the richness of the soup which was
preparing, and which we got good time to take, and for this we
were truly thankful, for we were very hungry.
"A passing fog hung over the plain a short time, but soon
disappeared, and left us with a cloudless sky. A general
retrograde movement now took place, and we retired on the
main road by which we had advanced from Brussels.
"It was with regret that many of us left that field, on which
some of our men lay breathing their last. Among this number
was a young man whose wound was in his forehead, from
which the brain protruded. In this state he had lain on the field
during the night; his eyes were open, with a death film over
them; two of his comrades were watching the last throb of his
expiring breath before they would consign his body to the
grave, already opened to receive it, when the call to arms made
us leave him on the field to the hands of strangers.

"The sun shone brightly on our arms as we left the fields of
Quatre Bras, and passed the farms round which the remains of
some thousands of brave men, British, Brunswick, Belgic, and
French, were interred; and many yet lay scattered over the
fields, and may have remained hidden amidst the grain which
still continued standing, until the sickle or the scythe laid the
fields bare.
"The enemy did not as yet seem to notice our movement, and
we continued our march until we had passed the village, half-
way to Waterloo. Here we turned off the road to our right,
formed in columns, and halted; and, short as that halt was, it
afforded time for one of our regiments to hold a drum-head
court-martial and carry the sentence into effect on the spot.
Examples of this kind are absolutely necessary, whatever
philanthropists may say to the contrary. They tend to preserve
regularity, order, and discipline; and although an individual may
suffer a punishment which is debasing and cruel, yet it is better
that this should be awarded and inflicted than to see hundreds
fall victims to the rapacity that might ensue from not timely
visiting the aggressor with punishment.
"We had now attained the undulating height of Mont St. Jean,
and Wellington said, 'We shall retire no farther.' The thunder
ceased to roll its awful peals through the heavens, the thick
embodied clouds deployed, spread wide, and half dissolved in
drizzly mist, but, as if doubtful of man's resolves, resumed again
their threatening aspect, as if to secure our halt."
At Waterloo Sir Denis Pack's brigade—the 1st, 42nd, 44th, and 92nd
—formed part of Picton's division, and held the line immediately to
the left of the great Brussels road. It was on this part of Wellington's
battle-front that Napoleon launched his first great infantry attack—
D'Erlon's corps, four close-massed columns—over 13,000 bayonets
in all—with the fire of seventy-four guns sweeping the path in their
front as with a besom of flame.

The story of how Picton's slender lines met this mighty onfall, shook
the French columns into retreat with actual bayonet push, and how
the Life Guards, Inniskillings, and Greys swept down the slope and
utterly wrecked D'Erlon's swaying battalions is one of the most
dramatic passages in the story of the famous day.
Anton's account of the night before Waterloo is graphic:—
"Our lines now formed behind the long-extended ridge of Mont
St. Jean, having the village of Waterloo a mile or two in our
rear, and at no less a distance the dark forest of Soignes, which
extends to Brussels. The right of our front British line extended
beyond Hougoumont as far as Merke Braine; the left is said to
have extended to Wavre! Sir T. Picton's division consisted of the
28th, 32nd, 79th, and the 95th (rifle corps), under the
command of Sir James Kempt; and the 1st, 42nd, 44th, and
92nd Regiments, under the command of Sir Denis Pack,
extended from the left of the Brussels road to a copse on a
rising ground which probably overlooked the whole field. The
extensive farm-houses and offices of La Haye Sainte were to the
right of the division, but in front and on the right side of the
road.
"Before us was a line of Belgic and Dutch troops; a narrow road,
lined with stunted quickset hedges, runs between this line of
foreigners (or I may, with more justice, say natives) and us.
This road commands a view of the enemy's position, and the
side next to us is the artillery's post; the hedges in front form a
feeble cover from the enemy's view, but no defence against his
shot, shell, or musketry.
"Our line, being on the slope next to Waterloo, was hidden from
the enemy, who took up his position on the heights of La Belle
Alliance, parallel to those of St. Jean: a valley corresponding to
those wavy heights on either side divides the two armies, a
distance of about half a musket-shot intervening between the
adverse fronts.

"We piled our arms, kindled fires, and stood round the welcome
blaze to warm ourselves and dry our dripping clothes. Midnight
approached, and all the fields towards the artillery's post were
hid in darkness, save what the fitful gleams of our fires cast
over them. Silence prevailed, and wet although we were, we
were falling asleep sitting round the fires or stretched on
scattered branches brought for fuel. At this time a very heavy
shower poured down upon us, and occasioned some movement
or noisy murmur in the French army or line of Belgians. This
induced our sentries to give an alarm. In an instant each man of
the brigade stood by his musket; the bayonets were already on
the pieces, and these all loaded, notwithstanding the rain. We
stood thus to our arms for nearly an hour, sinking to our ankles
amongst the soft muddy soil of the field, when the alarm was
found to be false, and we again sat or lay down to repose.
"Long-looked-for day at last began to break; we stood to our
useless arms for a few minutes, and then began to examine
their contents. The powder was moistened in the piece and
completely washed out of the pan. The shots were drawn,
muskets sponged out, locks oiled, and everything put to rights."
Anton's description of the actual on-coming of the French and of the
charge of the Greys is in his worst style; turgid, windy, unreal. Yet it
is the story of a man who actually plied 'Brown Bess' in the central
passion of the fight, and ran in with levelled bayonet on D'Erlon's
Grenadiers, and cheered the gallant Greys as they rode past on their
famous charge. Had Anton told his tale with the prosaic simplicity of
De Foe or the stern realism of Swift, we might have had a battle
picture memorable in literature. As it is, we must be thankful for
small mercies. The present reader at least shall be spared Anton's
incessant apostrophes:—
"Now, on our right, Napoleon urged on his heavy columns, while
a like movement was made against our left. The guns opened

their war-breathing mouths in thundering peals, and all along
the ridge of Mont St. Jean arose one dense cloud of smoke.
"France now pushed forward on the line of our Belgic allies,
drove them from their post, and rolled them in one promiscuous
mass of confusion through the ranks of our brigade, which
instantly advanced to repel the pursuers, who came pushing on
in broken disorder, in the eagerness of pursuit, till obstructed by
the hedge and narrow road, while a like obstruction presented
itself to us on the other side. We might have forced ourselves
through as the Belgians had done, but our bare thighs had no
protection from the piercing thorns; and doubtless those
runaways had more wisdom in shunning death, though at the
hazard of laceration, than we would have shown in rushing
forward upon it in disorder, with self-inflicted torture. The foe
beheld our front and paused; a sudden terror seized his flushed
ranks. We were in the act of breaking through the hedge, when
our general gave orders to open our ranks. In an instant our
cavalry passed through, leaped both hedges, and plunged on
the panic-stricken foe. 'Scotland for ever!' burst from the mouth
of each Highlander as the Scots Greys pass through our ranks.
"What pen can describe the scene? Horses' hoofs sinking in
men's breasts. Riders' swords streaming in blood, waving over
their heads, and descending in deadly vengeance. Stroke
follows stroke, like the turning of a flail in the hand of a
dexterous thresher; the living stream gushes red from the
ghastly wound. There the piercing shrieks and dying groans;
here the loud cheering of an exulting army, animating the
slayers to deeds of signal vengeance upon a daring foe. It was a
scene of vehement destruction, yells and shrieks, wounds and
death; and the bodies of the dead served as pillows for the
dying.
"A thousand prisoners are driven in before our cavalry as they
return over the corpse-strewn field, and the loud shouts of ten
thousand soldiers welcome the victors back. But long and loud

are the enthusiastic cheerings of the proud Highlanders as they
greet the gallant Greys' approach. 'Glory of Scotland!' bursts
spontaneously from the mouth of each Highlander, while
rending shouts of 'England!' or 'Ireland!' welcome the 1st and
Inniskilling Dragoons, and echo along the lines. This dreadful
charge made by our cavalry in our immediate front gave an
impulse bordering on enthusiasm to our spirits that nothing
could depress. But the enemy, as if dreading more than
common opposition at this spot, forbore to press upon it during
the remaining part of the day.
"The right and left both sustained the impetuous onset of
Napoleon's cavalry, and these on each occasion met with
powerful opposition, and were driven back in wild confusion.
But on the right and centre he seems to urge his greatest force
throughout the whole day. La Haye Sainte is one pool of blood;
against it Napoleon's artillery incessantly play, and columns of
infantry are urged on to drive the brave defenders out. But
these meet them with fire and steel, and repel them with
determined resolution. Here a never-ceasing combat rages
throughout the day, and forms an interesting object in the
general picture of the field. Hougoumont is no less a scene of
slaughter; there, every effort is made to obtain possession and
to break in upon our right wing. Sometimes in the heat of a
charge they rush past its bounds, but meet with wounds or
death as they fly back; for it is only when the enemy
occasionally pursues his apparently victorious course beyond his
lines and past our guns that he gets a view of our columns or
lines of infantry, which immediately take advantage of his
disordered front, and drive him back, with immense loss,
beyond our guns and down the descent; they then retire to
their well-chosen ground and send out a company or two of
skirmishers from each regiment to keep up a never-ceasing fire,
save when driven back on their respective columns in those
repeated charges.

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