Published: Nov 21, 2023 by Steve Baskauf
Charlotte Lew and I have been working for some time to improve access to images in the Art in the Christian Tradition database by linking descriptive metadata in Wikidata to the corresponding artwork images in Wikimedia Commons. In the first part of the project, we were primarily cleaning up and linking Wikidata metadata to images that were already in Commons.
In the most recent phase of the project, we have been working out a workflow for uploading images from the database to Commons. The first batch that we’ve uploaded are over 900 images that were taken by Anne Richardson (formerly of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library) and Jim Womack (retired art teacher at Montgomery Bell Academy) on various trips to Europe. These images are primarily of cathedral artwork and early Christian art, although there are also some images that are illustrations of the Macklin Bible, one of the holdings of the Vanderbilt Libraries’ Special Collections that was a gift to Vanderbilt University from John J. and Anne Czura.
To view the recently uploaded images, you can search Commons for the category “Art in the Christian Tradition”.
Image at top of page: Chartres Cathedral; Apostles Paul, John, James the Major, James the Minor, Bartholomew; right embrasure jamb figures, central portal, south transept. ACT ID: 26342 and Wikidata Q ID: Q122959379. Image © Jim Womack and Anne Richardson via Wikimedia Commons and available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 license.
Image at side: Jesus the Good Shepherd.ACT ID: 51560 and Wikidata Q ID: Q122960188. Image © Jim Womack and Anne Richardson via Wikimedia Commons and available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 license.
