Masterpiece

Historically, a "masterpiece" was a work of a very high standard produced to obtain membership of a guild or academy in various areas of the visual arts and crafts.

[5] In English, the term rapidly became used in a variety of contexts for an exceptionally good piece of creative work, and was "in early use, often applied to man as the 'masterpiece' of God or Nature".

[9] Originally, the term masterpiece referred to a piece of work produced by an apprentice or journeyman aspiring to become a master craftsman in the old European guild system.

[12] In its original meaning, the term was generally restricted to tangible objects, but in some cases, where guilds covered the creators of intangible products, the same system was used.

[13][14][15] The term is often used loosely, and some critics, such as Edward Douglas of The Tracking Board, feel it is overused in describing recent films.

In painting, Leonardo da Vinci 's Mona Lisa ( c. 1503–06) is considered an archetypal masterpiece, [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] although it was not produced for admission to a guild or academy.
Things Fall Apart by Igbo author Chinua Achebe is often considered a literary masterpiece, and one of the greatest works of Nigerian literature . [ 6 ] [ 7 ] [ 8 ]
Federico Zuccari , Two Painter's Apprentices , 1609. They would have to produce a masterpiece to become masters at the end of their apprenticeships.