Governance
Corrections and changelog
5 logged changes2 corrections0 superseded claims retained0 accepted contributions
Nothing on this record is silently corrected. When a claim turns out to be wrong it is superseded, not deleted: the old claim keeps its identifier, is marked as superseded, and stays reachable — so anyone who cited it can see what happened to it, and nobody repeats the reasoning that produced it. The same applies to a negative finding, which is recorded precisely so the next researcher does not spend the same afternoon on the same dead end.
A change to the canonical record cannot be made without a logged reason. That is a structural constraint rather than a habit — the reason field is required by the schema and the build refuses a change without one. Corrections are accepted from anyone, are reviewed before they enter the record, and are credited to the person who found the problem, by name, permanently. No externally credited correction has been logged yet; the first one will be named here.
No external contributions have been received yet. The most useful thing anyone can send this project is evidence that something on it is wrong.
What the entry types mean
- Correction
- A published claim was wrong or overstated. The old claim is superseded and kept, never overwritten.
- New evidence
- A source arrived that changes what the existing evidence supports, in either direction.
- Addition
- Something was added that was not there before — a record, a negative finding, a source.
- Release
- A dossier version was published.
Not yet used on this record: retraction, clarification, policy. They are listed in the data model because the record will eventually need them, and an entry type invented at the moment it is first needed tends to be shaped by the change it is describing.
2026-08-12
5 entries
- ReleaseCH-001Dossier v0.9
Record published at version 0.9
The object receives the identifier NP-RMB-001 and a public record. Every field is published with its evidence and a confidence state. The record is opened for correction from the first day rather than after a period of private polishing.
Why this changed
A record that is not public cannot be corrected by anyone who knows better.
Affected records
- np-rmb-001
- CorrectionCH-002Dossier v0.9
Working record's dimensions flagged as internally inconsistent
The owner's working record gives the sheet as approximately 137 × 104 mm and simultaneously describes it as roughly trimmed at the left margin. The Rijksmuseum records its impression of this composition (RP-P-1961-989) at 134 × 103 mm. A trimmed sheet being larger than the recorded dimensions of an untrimmed institutional impression is not impossible — sheets can carry margins beyond the plate mark — but the working record does not state whether its figure is the plate or the sheet, and the two readings cannot both be right. The dimension claim has been lowered to 'possible' and remeasurement placed on the version 1.0 gate list.
Why this changed
A measurement whose convention is unstated is not a measurement. Publishing it at high confidence would propagate an error into any record that cites us.
Affected records
- CL-DIMENSIONS
- RQ-03
- CorrectionCH-003Dossier v0.9
Working record's description 'without signature' contradicted by an institutional record
The working record describes the impression as 'state III of IV, without signature'. The Rijksmuseum's record for its impression of this composition states the inscription 'Rembrandt f. 1638'. The project has not seen a source establishing that any state of this plate lacks the signature. Either the working record is describing something else by 'without signature', or it is in error. The state claim has been lowered to 'possible' and opened as RQ-01 rather than corrected in place, because the project does not yet know which reading is right.
Why this changed
Where the project's own record and an institutional record disagree, the disagreement is published rather than resolved by assumption in the owner's favour.
Affected records
- CL-STATE
- RQ-01
- New evidenceCH-004Dossier v0.9
Four-state division for New Hollstein 170 corroborated by two independent sources
The Rijksmuseum records its impression as New Hollstein 170-1(4), and a Bonhams catalogue entry of December 2022 describes a different impression as 'New Hollstein's second state (of four)'. Two independent sources agreeing on a four-state division supports the working record's 'of IV'. What remains unverified is this sheet's position within that division.
Why this changed
Corroboration from independent sources raises confidence in the framework even while the specific claim within it stays open.
Affected records
- CL-STATE
- RQ-02
- AdditionCH-005Dossier v0.9
Acquisition lot not located in public auction archives — recorded as a negative finding
A systematic search of the auction house's public archive and the main aggregators did not locate the 2023 New York lot described in the working record. The search path, including which archives gate their results and how deeply each was reachable, is published under RQ-08 so that nobody repeats it. The purchase itself is not in doubt: it is documented by invoice. What is missing is the public catalogue entry.
Why this changed
A documented negative saves the next researcher the same hours, and marks the point where a single private document would settle the question.
Affected records
- RQ-08
- PV-004
Changes are logged against the dossier version they belong to, and each version’s full summary sits on publications and data. Superseded claims remain queryable through the public API with their status marked, so a machine reading this record can tell the difference between a claim that was never made and one that was withdrawn.