Linked Art API Schema: Person

Last refreshed: 2026-07-06

Source: Person schema docs and person.json, part of Linked Art API 1.0, published under CC BY 4.0. This is a project summary; the upstream schema is authoritative.

Purpose

The Person schema describes `crm:E21_Person`: a human. In Linked Art API terms this covers artists, makers, collectors, curators, conservators, donors, staff members, and other individual actors.

Related upstream references:

• Person API endpoint
• People and organizations model documentation

Top-Level Constraints

• Schema type: object.
• CRM class: `crm:E21_Person`.
• Additional top-level properties are not allowed.
• `@context`: required.
• `id`: required URI string for the entity.
• `type`: required class string. The practical Linked Art class is `Person`.
• `_label`: required developer-facing human-readable label.

Permitted Top-Level Fields

• `identified_by`: array of `Name` or `Identifier` structures.
• `classified_as`: array of `Type` structures that classify this person.
• `referred_to_by`: array of embedded statements or textual references about the person.
• `equivalent`: array of compact references to equivalent identities.
• `representation`: array of embedded `VisualItem` structures linked through digital objects.
• `member_of`: array of `Group` references of which this person is a current or former member.
• `subject_of`: array of embedded `LinguisticObject` web pages or digital objects focused on this person.
• `attributed_by`: array of `AttributeAssignment` structures relating another entity to this person.
• `carried_out`: array of activities this person carried out or performed.
• `participated_in`: array of activities this person participated in without necessarily carrying them out directly.
• `contact_point`: array of `Identifier` structures for contact points or addresses.
• `residence`: array of `Place` references where the person has resided.
• `born`: birth event for the person.
• `died`: death event for the person.

Embedded Structures Highlighted By The Schema

`identified_by` items can be:

• `Name` structures, with required `type` and `content`, plus optional `_label`, nested `identified_by`, `referred_to_by`, `classified_as`, `language`, and `part`.
• `Identifier` structures, following the shared identifier pattern.

`referred_to_by` items are embedded `LinguisticObject` statements:

• `type`: required.
• `content`: required.
• `_label`, `identified_by`, `classified_as`, `referred_to_by`, `language`, and `format` are allowed.

`representation` items are embedded `VisualItem` structures:

• `type`: required.
• `_label`, `identified_by`, `classified_as`, `referred_to_by`, and `digitally_shown_by` are allowed.
• Nested digital objects can carry `access_point`, `format`, and `conforms_to`.

`subject_of` items are embedded `LinguisticObject` structures:

• `type`: required.
• `_label`, `identified_by`, `classified_as`, `referred_to_by`, `language`, and `digitally_carried_by` are allowed.

`member_of` references groups:

• References point to `crm:E74_Group`.
• This is current-or-former group membership and should remain structured.

Activity And Life Event Shapes

The schema uses activity shapes for actor participation:

• `carried_out`: activities performed by the person.
• `participated_in`: activities the person joined or participated in without direct responsibility.

The schema also uses event shapes for person lifecycle evidence:

• `born`: the event in which this person was born.
• `died`: the event in which this person died.

The activity/event structures support:

• `type`
• `_label`
• `identified_by`
• `classified_as`
• `referred_to_by`
• `took_place_at`
• `timespan`
• `caused_by`
• `carried_out_by`
• `used_specific_object`
• `influenced_by`
• `technique`
• `during`
• `after`
• `before`
• `part_of`

Birth and death events particularly rely on `took_place_at`, `timespan`, `during`, `after`, `before`, and `caused_by`.

Contact And Residence

`contact_point` is modeled as an `Identifier`, not a loose string. This lets email addresses, web handles, phone numbers, and similar values carry structured identifier evidence.

`residence` references `Place` records and is appropriate for current or former residences.

Meta Museum Notes

Meta Museum already preserves person actor semantics in endpoint notes and fixtures: people stay `Person`, names and identifiers remain structured, external identities stay in `equivalent`, group membership stays in `member_of`, and activity participation is kept separate from object/person display text.

This expanded schema adds the endpoint-level validation target for individual actors: required identity fields, no unexpected top-level properties, structured membership/contact/residence evidence, performed-vs-participated activity evidence, and explicit birth/death event structures.

Test Ideas

• Validate representative `Person` records against `person.json`.
• Assert `@context`, `id`, `type`, and `_label` are present.
• Assert unknown top-level properties fail schema validation.
• Preserve `member_of` as `Group` references.
• Preserve `carried_out` separately from `participated_in`.
• Preserve `contact_point` as `Identifier` structures.
• Preserve `residence` as `Place` references.
• Preserve `born` and `died` event evidence including `timespan`, `took_place_at`, `during`, `after`, `before`, and `caused_by`.