Linked Art Ontology — Things (Classes) Reference

Based on the Linked Art Data Model 1.0 — an application profile of CIDOC-CRM 7.1.3 for describing cultural heritage resources.

Overview

Linked Art defines a streamlined subset of CIDOC-CRM classes organised into core entities (the primary things you describe), event/activity classes (things that happen), and supporting classes (structures embedded within descriptions). The ontology is serialised as JSON-LD 1.1.

1. Core Entity Classes

These are the primary “things” that receive their own record in the Linked Art API.

JSON-LD type CRM Class Category Description Model docs API endpoint
HumanMadeObject E22 Physical Objects A physical thing made or modified by humans, e.g. a painting, sculpture, or manuscript Objects Physical Objects
DigitalObject — (LA extension) Digital A born-digital or digitised resource that exists only in computers, e.g. a web page or digital image Digital Content Digital Objects
Person E21 Agents An individual human being, e.g. Rembrandt People and Organizations People
Group E74 Agents A collective of people capable of acting together, e.g. a museum department, workshop, or married couple People and Organizations Groups
Place E53 Places A geographic location, typically with coordinates, e.g. Paris Places Places
Type E55 Concepts A category, concept, material, technique, or vocabulary term, e.g. “painting” or “oil on canvas” Concepts Concepts
Language E56 Concepts A human language, e.g. English, Dutch Concepts (via Concepts)
Material E57 Concepts A physical material or substance, e.g. oil paint, marble Concepts (via Concepts)
MeasurementUnit E58 Concepts A unit of measurement, e.g. centimetres, inches Concepts (via Concepts)
Currency E98 Concepts A monetary currency, e.g. USD, EUR Concepts (via Concepts)
VisualItem E36 Works The conceptual visual/image content shown by an object, e.g. the image of the Mona Lisa Digital Content Visual Works
LinguisticObject E33 Works / Documents Textual content carried by a physical or digital object, e.g. the text of a book Textual Documents Textual Works
PropositionalObject E89 Works An entirely abstract work that is neither linguistic nor visual, e.g. the notion of an exhibition or performance Exhibitions Abstract Works
Set — (LA extension) Collections A set or collection of entities, e.g. a museum collection Collections Sets
Activity E7 Events An activity carried out by people or groups, e.g. an exhibition or provenance transfer Provenance, Exhibitions Provenance Activities
Period E4 Events A historical period or era, e.g. the Renaissance Events Events
Event E5 Events An event that may be depicted or referenced, e.g. a battle Events Events

2. Event / Activity Classes

Activities and events model the “what happened” — connecting objects, people, places and time.

JSON-LD type CRM Class Category Description Used for
Production E12 Creation The making of a physical object Object production
Creation E65 Creation The creation of a conceptual work (text, image, concept, set) Works, sets, concepts
Destruction E6 End of existence The destruction of a physical object Object destruction
Erasure — (LA extension) End of existence The erasure/deletion of a digital object Digital object deletion
Birth E67 Life events The birth of a person Person birth
Death E69 Life events The death of a person Person death
Formation E66 Group events The formation of a group or organization Group formation
Dissolution E68 Group events The dissolution of a group or organization Group dissolution
Acquisition E8 Provenance The acquisition of ownership of an object Transfer of ownership
TransferOfCustody E10 Provenance The transfer of physical custody of an object (without ownership change) Loans, exhibitions
Move E9 Provenance The physical movement of an object to a new location Location changes
Modification E11 Conservation A significant change or modification to an object Conservation, restoration
PartAddition E79 Conservation Adding a part to an object Conservation
PartRemoval E80 Conservation Removing a part from an object Conservation, sampling
AttributeAssignment E13 Assertion Recording a previously held belief or assertion Specific assertions
Joining E85 Group membership A person joining a group Marriage, employment
Leaving E86 Group membership A person leaving a group Divorce, retirement
Encounter — (LA extension) Provenance An encounter with an object (e.g. archaeological find) Discovery of objects
Payment — (LA extension) Provenance A payment of money Auction payments
Right E30 Rights A right held over an object (appropriated in Linked Art) Copyright, ownership rights

3. Supporting / Embedded Classes

These classes appear as embedded structures within core entity records.

JSON-LD type CRM Class Category Description Key properties
Name E33_E41 Identification A name or appellation for an entity content, language, classified_as
Identifier E42 Identification A formal identifier such as an accession number content, classified_as
TimeSpan E52 Temporal A span of time with begin/end dates begin_of_the_begin, end_of_the_end, begin_of_the_end, end_of_the_begin
Dimension E54 Measurement A measured dimension (height, width, weight, duration, etc.) value, unit, classified_as
MonetaryAmount E97 Measurement An amount of money value, currency
InformationObject E73 Reference A reference to an external standard or document id, type

4. Core Properties (JSON-LD)

These are the key properties used across all Linked Art entities.

Property CRM Property Domain → Range Description
id — all → URI The URI identifying the entity
type rdf:type all → Class The class of the entity
_label rdfs:label all → string Human-readable label for developers
classified_as P2 has type all → Type Classification using controlled vocabulary (e.g. AAT)
identified_by P1 is identified by all → Name / Identifier Names and identifiers
referred_to_by P67i is referred to by all → LinguisticObject Statements and descriptions
equivalent — (LA) all → same class Links to equivalent resources in other datasets
representation — (LA) all → VisualItem Image representations
member_of P107i is current or former member of Agent → Group, Entity → Set Membership in a group or set
part_of P46i forms part of Entity → Entity (same class) Part–whole relationship
produced_by P108i was produced by HumanMadeObject → Production Production event
created_by P94i was created by Conceptual → Creation Creation event
destroyed_by P13i was destroyed by HumanMadeObject → Destruction Destruction event
born P98i was born Person → Birth Birth event
died P100i died in Person → Death Death event
formed_by P95i was formed by Group → Formation Formation event
dissolved_by P99i was dissolved by Group → Dissolution Dissolution event
carried_out_by P14 carried out by Activity → Person / Group Who performed an activity
took_place_at P7 took place at Event → Place Where something happened
timespan P4 has time-span Event → TimeSpan When something happened
during — (LA) Event → Period Period during which an event occurred
used_specific_object P16 used specific object Activity → HumanMadeObject Object used in an activity
technique P32 used general technique Activity → Type Technique or method used
carries P128 carries HumanMadeObject → LinguisticObject Textual content on an object
shows P65 shows visual item HumanMadeObject → VisualItem Visual content on an object
about P129 is about Work → any entity Subject matter
represents P138 represents VisualItem → any entity What is depicted
content P190 has symbolic content LinguisticObject / Name / Identifier → string The textual value
language P72 has language LinguisticObject → Language Language of text
format dc:format LinguisticObject / DigitalObject → string Media type (e.g. “text/html”)
value P90 has value Dimension → number Numeric measurement value
unit P91 has unit Dimension → MeasurementUnit Unit of measurement
currency — (LA) MonetaryAmount → Currency Currency of a monetary amount
begin_of_the_begin P82a TimeSpan → xsd:dateTime Earliest possible start
end_of_the_end P82b TimeSpan → xsd:dateTime Latest possible end
current_owner P52 has current owner HumanMadeObject → Person / Group Current owner
current_location P55 has current location HumanMadeObject → Place Current location
made_of P45 consists of HumanMadeObject → Material Material composition
dimension P43 has dimension HumanMadeObject → Dimension Measured dimensions
access_point — (LA) DigitalObject → DigitalObject Downloadable file URL
digitally_carries — (LA) DigitalObject → LinguisticObject Text in a digital object
digitally_shows — (LA) DigitalObject → VisualItem Image in a digital object
conforms_to P2 has type (refinement) DigitalObject → InformationObject Standard the digital object conforms to

5. Model Sections Summary

Section Description Documentation
Objects Physical things: production, destruction, physical characteristics, aboutness, ownership, rights Objects
Digital Content Digital representations of or about physical objects Digital
Collections Sets and collections of objects and other entities Collections
Provenance Ownership history: acquisitions, loans, auctions, custody, encounters, movement, promises, rights transfer Provenance
Exhibitions Exhibition events and the objects exhibited Exhibitions
Conservation Modification, part addition/removal, and condition of objects Conservation
People and Organizations Persons and groups: birth/death, formation/dissolution, membership Actors
Places Geographic locations, coordinates, hierarchies Places
Concepts Types, vocabularies, materials, techniques, languages, units Concepts
Events Historical periods and events Events
Textual Documents Textual works and documents Documents
Archival Hierarchies Archival arrangement and description Archives
Specific Assertions Previously held beliefs and attribute assignments Assertions

6. API Endpoints

Endpoint Entity Type URL
Physical Objects HumanMadeObject /api/1.0/endpoint/physical_object/
Digital Objects DigitalObject /api/1.0/endpoint/digital_object/
People Person /api/1.0/endpoint/person/
Groups Group /api/1.0/endpoint/group/
Places Place /api/1.0/endpoint/place/
Concepts Type, Language, Material, MeasurementUnit, Currency /api/1.0/endpoint/concept/
Visual Works VisualItem /api/1.0/endpoint/visual_work/
Textual Works LinguisticObject /api/1.0/endpoint/textual_work/
Abstract Works PropositionalObject /api/1.0/endpoint/abstract_work/
Sets Set /api/1.0/endpoint/set/
Events Period, Event /api/1.0/endpoint/event/
Provenance Activities Activity /api/1.0/endpoint/provenance_activity/

References

Generated from the Linked Art 1.0 specification on 2026-04-15.