Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Juan Manuel de Rosas/archive1

The following is an archived discussion of a featured article nomination. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the article's talk page or in Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates. No further edits should be made to this page.

The article was archived by Ian Rose via FACBot (talk) 05:50, 12 April 2015 (UTC) [1].[reply]

Juan Manuel de Rosas[edit]

Nominator(s): Lecen (talk) 15:00, 8 March 2015 (UTC) and • Astynax ^talk[reply]

Juan Manuel de Rosas is one of the key figures in South American history, probably the most well-known 19th century dictator in that region (after Francisco Solano López). For a brief moment he was almost able to turn Argentina into the main power in South America, and almost conquered nearby countries. He became so powerful that the Empire of Brazil under Emperor Pedro II forged an alliance to crush him. This article used dozens of well-known sources in academia, although is mostly based on John Lynch's biography, regarded as the best one in any language. Lecen (talk) 15:00, 8 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Driveby comment from Curly Turkey[edit]

I'm curious about the nicknamed "Restorer of the Laws" bit:
- It appears nowhere in the body (it appears three times in the Spanish FA).
- Should there not be a definite article there? The Spanish FA gives El Restaurador de las Leyes.
- Seems odd that a nickname important enough to appear in the opening line would not be given in Spanish, even though Conquistador del desierto is.
- Was he really "nicknamed" so? As in, did people address him as "Rstorer of the Laws"? The Spanish article calls it a título.
Curly Turkey ¡gobble! 23:05, 8 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]
- Thank you very much for your comments. --Lecen (talk) 23:46, 8 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]
- Honorific titles in English can use the article or not. For instance, English texts use "Restorer of the World" (rather than "the Restorer of the World") for the Latin Restitutor Orbis. Even for titles of nobility, one sees articles both used and dropped (e.g., one would use "Horatio Walpole, Earl of Orford" or "was created Earl of Orford", but as "the Earl of Orford" when the title is used in place of a proper name). • Astynax ^talk 04:55, 9 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Image review

File:Juan_Manuel_de_Rosas_as_a_child_(transparent).png needs a US PD tag
File:Juan_Manuel_de_Rosas_1829.jpg: what is the author's date of death?
File:Juan_Manuel_de_Rosas_1845.jpg needs a US PD tag
File:La_Residencia_de_Rosas_en_Palermo.jpg needs a US PD tag
File:Juan_Manuel_de_Rosas_exiled.JPG needs a US PD tag
File:Estatua_a_Rosas_en_Palermo.JPG: since Argentina does not have freedom of panorama for sculpture, we need to account for the copyright status of the work itself as well as the photo. Nikkimaria (talk) 03:08, 14 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]
- I added the US PD tags. I couldn't find birth and death dates for "Arthur Onslow", who is described both as British and French painter in Argentine sources. I'm going to take a look at the university library on Monday to see if I can find something. What would you suggest that we should do regarding the sculpture photo? --Lecen (talk) 14:13, 14 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  - See if you can establish the artist and/or the date of creation, to determine whether it is now in the public domain. If it is not, or if you cannot determine conclusively that it is, we'll need to remove it. Nikkimaria (talk) 14:59, 14 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]
    - The sculpture was created in 1999. It certainly doesn't belong to the artist, since it's a public sculpture. The government also doesn't charge for it, which means that it has no intention in getting profit out of it. I can't imagine the Argentine government suing people for using photos of public sculptures in public spaces. But I don't know if that would be enough by Wikipedia standards. --Lecen (talk) 15:06, 14 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]
      - Unfortunately I don't think so - our standard isn't whether we're likely to get sued but whether we can show the work is appropriately licensed. Is the copyright still held by the artist, or is it held by the government? Also, any luck with Onslow? Nikkimaria (talk) 16:33, 27 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]
        It should be enough for Onslow that it can be shown that he was an established artist by 1830[2] without actual date of death. • Astynax ^talk 17:22, 27 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by Mike Christie[edit]

I see some minor problems with the prose in the lead; I'll list them here, but I would recommend getting an editor who hasn't worked with the article to copyedit it.

"caudillo" is defined the second time it's used, rather than the first. I can see why this was done but I don't think it works; most readers won't understand the term without following the link.
"indisputable leader" -- "undisputed leader" is the more usual phrasing.
"Rosas was recalled after his supporters launched a coup in Buenos Aires and became governor again": rephrase; "his supporters" appears to be the subject of "became governor" on first reading.
"encountered countless" -- suggest rephrasing to avoid repetition of "count".
"a major rebellion that spread to several Argentine provinces that lasted years": awkward construction.

I've skimmed the rest of the article and I see some similar issues elsewhere in the article -- as I said, nothing too serious, but I think the article is just a touch short of featured quality prose. I haven't done a thorough read for content and structure. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 02:44, 10 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Closing comment -- This review has been open a month without attracting any support for promotion so I'll be archiving it shortly. Pls feel free to renominate after the usual two-week break, during which time Mike's suggested copyedit could be undertaken. Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 05:48, 12 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Closing note: This candidate has been archived, but there may be a delay in bot processing of the close. Please see WP:FAC/ar, and leave the {{featured article candidates}} template in place on the talk page until the bot goes through. Ian Rose (talk) 05:50, 12 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this page.