Joconde
Encyclopedia
Joconde is the central database, now mostly available online, for objects in the collections of the state museums of France
, maintained by the French Ministry of Culture
. "La Joconde" is the French name of the Mona Lisa
, which like almost all the collections of the Louvre
, is included in the database, as one of 295 items by, after, or connected with Leonardo da Vinci
. Created in 1975, by 2009 Joconde contained over 450,000 object listings online, over 262,000 with images, from more than 282 collections in France, and is still expanding.
Live on the French Minitel
system from 1992, the database went online to the World Wide Web
in 1995. In 2004 Joconde, originally just for objects from the fine arts and decorative arts, was united with what had been separate databases for objects from archeology and ethnology
. It comes under the "Direction des Musées de France" (DMF) section of the Ministry.
The Joconde listing details are highly structured, using a special vocabulary, which allows for very specific and accurate searches. Search results are displayed 100 to a page, with about 3 items in view at once on a typical PC screen. The full listing ("Notice complète"), which may occupy several screens, is reached by clicking down to a further level. A small number of the best known objects have a prose commentary. Not all images are in colour, especially for the archaeological collections. When objects have no image this is most often for copyright reasons.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, maintained by the French Ministry of Culture
Minister of Culture (France)
The Minister of Culture is, in the Government of France, the cabinet member in charge of national museums and monuments; promoting and protecting the arts in France and abroad; and managing the national archives and regional "maisons de culture"...
. "La Joconde" is the French name of the Mona Lisa
Mona Lisa
Mona Lisa is a portrait by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. It is a painting in oil on a poplar panel, completed circa 1503–1519...
, which like almost all the collections of the Louvre
Louvre
The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
, is included in the database, as one of 295 items by, after, or connected with Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...
. Created in 1975, by 2009 Joconde contained over 450,000 object listings online, over 262,000 with images, from more than 282 collections in France, and is still expanding.
Live on the French Minitel
Minitel
The Minitel is a Videotex online service accessible through the telephone lines, and is considered one of the world's most successful pre-World Wide Web online services. It was launched in France in 1982 by the PTT...
system from 1992, the database went online to the World Wide Web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
in 1995. In 2004 Joconde, originally just for objects from the fine arts and decorative arts, was united with what had been separate databases for objects from archeology and ethnology
Ethnology
Ethnology is the branch of anthropology that compares and analyzes the origins, distribution, technology, religion, language, and social structure of the ethnic, racial, and/or national divisions of humanity.-Scientific discipline:Compared to ethnography, the study of single groups through direct...
. It comes under the "Direction des Musées de France" (DMF) section of the Ministry.
The Joconde listing details are highly structured, using a special vocabulary, which allows for very specific and accurate searches. Search results are displayed 100 to a page, with about 3 items in view at once on a typical PC screen. The full listing ("Notice complète"), which may occupy several screens, is reached by clicking down to a further level. A small number of the best known objects have a prose commentary. Not all images are in colour, especially for the archaeological collections. When objects have no image this is most often for copyright reasons.
External links
- Joconde Home page (French)