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*Date: 1600
*1 : a [[work]] done with extraordinary [[skill]]; especially : a [[supreme]] [[intellectual]] or [[artistic]] achievement
*2 : a piece of [[work]] presented to a medieval guild as [[evidence]] of qualification for the rank of master
==Description==
'''Masterpiece''' (or chef d'œuvre) in modern usage [[refers]] to a [[creation]] that has been given much [[critical]] [[praise]], especially one that is considered the greatest [[work]] of a [[person]]'s [[career]] or to a [[work]] of [[outstanding]] [[creativity]], skill or workmanship.
[[Originally]], the term masterpiece [[referred]] to a piece of [[work]] produced by an [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apprentice apprentice] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journeyman journeyman] [[aspiring]] to become a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_craftsman master craftsman] in the old European [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guild guild] system. His fitness to qualify for guild membership was [[judged]] partially by the Masterpiece, and if he was successful, it was retained by the guild. Great care was therefore taken to produce a fine piece in whatever the craft was, whether confectionery, [[painting]], goldsmithing, knifemaking, or many other trades. The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Academy Royal Academy] in London is one [[institution]] that has acquired a fine [[collection]] of "Diploma works" as a condition of acceptance.
It probably derives from the Dutch "meesterstuk" (German: Meisterstück), and the form "masterstik" is recorded in [[English]] in 1579 (or in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scots_language Scots], since this was from some [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aberdeen Aberdeen] guild regulations), whereas "masterpiece" is first found in 1605, already outside a guild [[context]], in a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Jonson Ben Jonson] [[play]].
Nowadays it is used for an exceptionally good piece of [[creative]] [[work]] or the best piece of work of a particular artist or craftsman.
Examples include: Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, Michelangelo's David, Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Shakespeare's Hamlet, Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace, and Goethe's Faust.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masterpiece]
[[Category: General Reference]]
*Date: 1600
*1 : a [[work]] done with extraordinary [[skill]]; especially : a [[supreme]] [[intellectual]] or [[artistic]] achievement
*2 : a piece of [[work]] presented to a medieval guild as [[evidence]] of qualification for the rank of master
==Description==
'''Masterpiece''' (or chef d'œuvre) in modern usage [[refers]] to a [[creation]] that has been given much [[critical]] [[praise]], especially one that is considered the greatest [[work]] of a [[person]]'s [[career]] or to a [[work]] of [[outstanding]] [[creativity]], skill or workmanship.
[[Originally]], the term masterpiece [[referred]] to a piece of [[work]] produced by an [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apprentice apprentice] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journeyman journeyman] [[aspiring]] to become a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_craftsman master craftsman] in the old European [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guild guild] system. His fitness to qualify for guild membership was [[judged]] partially by the Masterpiece, and if he was successful, it was retained by the guild. Great care was therefore taken to produce a fine piece in whatever the craft was, whether confectionery, [[painting]], goldsmithing, knifemaking, or many other trades. The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Academy Royal Academy] in London is one [[institution]] that has acquired a fine [[collection]] of "Diploma works" as a condition of acceptance.
It probably derives from the Dutch "meesterstuk" (German: Meisterstück), and the form "masterstik" is recorded in [[English]] in 1579 (or in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scots_language Scots], since this was from some [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aberdeen Aberdeen] guild regulations), whereas "masterpiece" is first found in 1605, already outside a guild [[context]], in a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Jonson Ben Jonson] [[play]].
Nowadays it is used for an exceptionally good piece of [[creative]] [[work]] or the best piece of work of a particular artist or craftsman.
Examples include: Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, Michelangelo's David, Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Shakespeare's Hamlet, Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace, and Goethe's Faust.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masterpiece]
[[Category: General Reference]]
