The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art have used iBase digital asset management software to manage the data and images for their first online publication – the Richard Wilson Online catalogue which has been designed to provide an up-to-date and freely accessible record of the works of Richard Wilson.
The versatility and flexibility of the iBase metadata schema has enabled linking between objects to show their real relationships.
For example:
Work of Art Linking - The challenge of Wilson scholarship, aptly described as a connoisseur’s minefield by the late Sir Ellis Waterhouse, has been addressed by the linking of related works to each other.
Exhibition Linking - Exhibitions dedicated to or containing works by Wilson have been surveyed and recorded.
Biography/Document Linking - Further links unite each work with the biographies of figures with whom they are closely connected - patrons, such as Lord Dartmouth, sitters for portraits, such as Admiral Thomas Smith and owners of paintings and drawings, such as Benjamin Booth.
Additional Image Linking - The additional image linking feature of the project enables switching between full and detail images.
Conservation/Condition Information - A major feature of Richard Wilson Online is the painstaking attention paid to the artist’s materials and techniques.
