CEPS Explorer | Guided Visitor Walkthrough

Mona Lisa, Leonardo da Vinci — CEPS demonstration artwork

Demonstration artwork · Mona Lisa (La Gioconda)

A GUIDED WALK THROUGH CEPS

Follow the Journey of a Masterpiece.

What happens when the history of an artwork becomes a structured institutional record?

Use the Mona Lisa as an illustrative example to explore how CEPS brings together artwork identity, documentation, evidence, provenance research, human verification, institutional authorisation and digital provenance.

Start the Walkthrough ↓ Explore a Live CEPS Record →

Important: This Mona Lisa journey is an illustrative demonstration. It is not a CEPS registry record, authenticity certificate or institutional claim about the Louvre's collection.

THE ARTWORK JOURNEY

From an Artwork to a Living Cultural Record

Move through the eight stages below. Each stage answers a simple question: what does CEPS actually preserve here?

THE ARTWORK

First, we establish identity.

An artwork needs a stable identity before its history can be organised. CEPS can structure fields such as title, artist, date, medium, dimensions, image and institutional identifier.

TitleMona Lisa (La Gioconda)

ArtistLeonardo da Vinci

Datec. 1503–1506

MediumOil on poplar panel

TypePainting

LocationLouvre Museum, Paris — illustrative reference

DOCUMENTATION & EVIDENCE

Then we ask: what supports the record?

CEPS separates an artwork record from the documents and evidence associated with it. Evidence can include catalogues, invoices, exhibition records, photographs, institutional documents and other supporting material.

📜Catalogue recordsDocumentary sources

🖼ImagesVisual documentation

🏛Institutional recordsCollection history

🔎Research notesScholarly context

PROVENANCE RESEARCH

History is assembled, not assumed.

Researchers can organise provenance events and connect them to supporting evidence. A provenance timeline may contain creation, ownership, exhibition, publication, transfer, acquisition, conservation and other documented events.

c. 1503–1506Creation — historical record

16th centuryDocumented collection history

1797Louvre collection — historical reference

TodayContinuing research and documentation

The timeline above is a simplified educational illustration, not a substitute for the Louvre's authoritative collection record.

HUMAN VERIFICATION

Evidence can inform a decision. It does not make the decision.

CEPS records human institutional review separately from automated or AI-assisted tools. Research systems may help organise information, identify evidence gaps or surface contradictions, but final provenance and authenticity decisions remain human institutional judgments.

Human judgment remains the decision layer.AI and structured systems can assist research without replacing institutional responsibility.

INSTITUTIONAL AUTHORISATION

Who is authorised to release or stand behind the institutional record?

CEPS keeps institutional authorisation distinct from the technical validity of a digital signature. An authorised provenance officer can create a versioned institutional authorisation record.

Institutional statusAuthorised

AuthorisationVersioned record

Decision makerAuthorised human officer

C2PA DIGITAL PROVENANCE

Now we enter the digital layer.

C2PA can provide cryptographically verifiable provenance for a digital asset: manifests, claims, assertions, signatures, ingredients and related technical information.

ManifestTechnically validated

SignatureCryptographically checked

Signer trustDepends on credential/trust chain

PurposeDigital provenance & integrity

VALID ≠ TRUSTED ≠ CERTIFIEDTechnical validation, signer trust and institutional certification answer different questions.

CEPS ↔ C2PA BINDING

Can the digital provenance be related back to the CEPS master asset?

CEPS can compare the recorded master SHA-256 with the current master and with the corresponding values carried through the C2PA credential, signed CEPS assertion and validation report.

Current master✓ Match

CEPS recorded master✓ Match

C2PA credential✓ Match

Signed CEPS assertion✓ Match

Validation report✓ Match

The binding demonstration above describes the CEPS implementation pattern. The live CEPS record below is the place to inspect actual implementation evidence.

CERTIFICATION

Certification remains a separate institutional decision.

CEPS does not treat a valid C2PA manifest as an authenticity certificate. Certification, where applicable, is governed by its own evidence, verification and human decision controls.

CEPS ProvenanceDocumented institutional history

C2PATechnical digital provenance

CertificationSeparate human institutional decision

Step 1 of 8

NOW SEE THE REAL SYSTEM

Leave the Illustration. Enter CEPS.

The Mona Lisa journey explains the architecture. The live CEPS record lets you inspect an actual implementation.

LIVE CEPS DEMONSTRATION

Pastels · CX-AWK-000002

Explore the public record and inspect its provenance, evidence, institutional authorisation, C2PA validation and CEPS ↔ C2PA binding.

Open Live CEPS Record →

CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION

Where Could CEPS Fit Your World?

Explore the implementation from the perspective that matters to you.

For ArtistsProtect and document your creative legacy → For Galleries & CollectorsExplore provenance and documentation services → For Museums & InstitutionsDiscuss collections, research and institutional records → For Technology & StandardsExplore interoperability and implementation experience →

FOR INSTITUTIONS, PARTNERS & PROFESSIONALS

Would you like to explore CEPS in your own context?

Request a private demonstration or start a conversation with Cultural Exchanges.

Request a Private Demo → Talk to Cultural Exchanges →

AN OPEN INVITATION

Don't just read about provenance. Explore it.

We invite artists, collectors, galleries, museums, researchers, technology teams and the C2PA community to walk through the CEPS implementation and discuss what cultural-heritage provenance can become.

Begin a conversation →