Anthology of Computers and the Humanities · Volume 3

Framing the Canon: A Computational Study of Canonicity in Danish Golden Age Paintings (1750-1870)

Louise Brix Pilegaard Hansen1 ORCID , Rie Schmidt Eriksen1 ORCID , Pascale Feldkamp1 ORCID , Alie Lassche1 ORCID , Kristoffer Nielbo1 ORCID , Katrine Baunvig2 ORCID and Yuri Bizzoni1 ORCID

  • 1 Center for Humanities Computing, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
  • 2 Center for Grundtvig Studies, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
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Permanent Link: https://doi.org/10.63744/KTLpQIY247dD

Published: 21 November 2025

Keywords: art historical canon, computational art analysis, image embeddings, canonicity

Abstract

This paper investigates the mechanisms of canon formation in Danish Golden Age paintings (c. 1750-1870). We aim to assess whether we can link canonical status to quantifiable intrinsic aesthetic traits or whether the canon is the result of extrinsic processes. Drawing on recent studies of literary canonicity and earlier work in art history, we extend the methodological scope of canon studies by analyzing 1,656 paintings from the Danish National Gallery using image embeddings. In both synchronic and diachronic clustering experiments, we find no distinct separation between canonical and non-canonical works, nor any indication that canonical paintings prefigured artistic innovation. However, above-chance performance from a binary classification task of canonical vs non-canonical artworks suggests subtle intrinsic differences between the two groups.