Masterpiece

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Originally, the term masterpiece (or chef d'œuvre) referred to a piece of handcrafted art produced by a journeyman aspiring to become a master craftsman in the old European guild system, which is partially retained today in Germany and France. These were (or are) typically perfect pieces of handicraft art, admired for their beauty and elegance.

Nowadays this term mostly refers to any work of art that is considered extraordinary. In a stronger sense, it can refer to what is considered an artist's best piece of work. For example, Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, Artemisia Gentileschi's Judith Slaying Holofernes Michelangelo's David, William Shakespeare's Hamlet, or Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, or, for modern masterpieces, Cindy Sherman's Untitled Film Stills, Pier Paolo Pasolini's Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma, Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow, Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon,and Miles Davis' Kind of Blue.

Also colloquially known as gesamtwerk from the German, meant to indicate a work that expresses the sum of a culture.

Masterpiece

See also