How the modern museum was created
Many museums ask visitors to remember the past, but how many times have you really thought about the history of museums themselves? The history of museums is somewhat hard to trace. After all, humans have been collecting objects for as back as forever, but a few key periods in history are thought to have kicked off the tradition of creating museums. Let's take a look at the different periods of time and see how what we now know as the modern museum came to be.
Medieval Europe
During this time period, royalty and churches obtained large swaths of fine art and other collectables, as they were the only ones who could afford to do so. King and Emperor Charlemagne even distributed his large collection to various religious houses. Back then, treasures often had very practical and financial implications and could even be used to fund wars.
Renaissance Italy
Even students who fell asleep during history class know that the Italian Renaissance period was oh-so very important to the art world. Works from that period, like The David and The Sistine Chapel, are much beloved even today. One of the biggest patrons of the arts was Cosimo de’ Medici. His famous descendants left their vast collections to him and in 1743 that work was given to the state for all to see. The work was put on display in the family’s offices or Uffizi, which still stands as a Florence museum even today.
The First Few Public Museums
The University of Oxford was the very first corporate entitiy to acquire a public collection, create a building to house it, and make it available to the public. The Ashmolean Museum first opened in 1683. The museum later relocated to another nearby building.
The British Museum
World exploration and trade led to the creation of two of the world’s most prominent museums in the world, The British Museum and The Louvre. The British Museum originally housed work from Sir Robert Cotton, Robert Harley, 1st earl of Oxford, and Sir Hans Sloane. The original collection held about 100,00 items. It now houses such well-known works as The Thinker and the Rosetta Stone, and millions travel to see the collection every year.
The Louvre
The public in France had many issues with the royal collections not being accessible to everyone. The Louvre, arguably the most famous art museum in the entire world, started as a small collection of paintings at the Luxembourg Palace in 1750. Eventually Napoleon was forced to surrender many of the works he had taken on his European collections. This museum’s most famous painting is the Mona Lisa, which tends to always have a huge crowd surrounding it.
While the modern museum seemed to evolve quite slowly with time, the general consensus among historians is that they started from private collections whose owners were so moved they wanted the public to have access. Many museums around the world are free, which further supports this idea of access for all. Also, many museum buildings are works of art themselves.
What do you have in your private collection? Are you just starting out and have a modest group of works from up-and-coming artists? Do you have one prized work from a famous artist in your private collection? Or do you frequent auctions looking for your next masterpiece? Regardless, having a partner in the art industry to help you ship your artwork is essential - both as an artist and a collector. Talk to the folks at Navis Pack & Ship the next time you buy (or sell) a prized work.
By Steve Goble, VP of Marketing Communications for Navis Pack & Ship. When he's not spilling packing and shipping secrets, he's spending time with his family at a San Diego Padres or Chargers game. Connect with Steve on Google+ and LinkedIn.
