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MUSEUMS OF ART
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MUSEUMS OF See also:ART .1 The later 19th See also:century was remarkable for the growth and development of museums, both in See also:Great See also:Britain and abroad. This growth, as See also:Professor See also:Stanley See also:Jevons predicted, synchronizes with the See also:advancement of See also:education. Public museums are now universally required; old institutions have been greatly improved, and many new ones have been founded. The See also:British See also:parliament has passed statutes conferring upon See also:local authorities the See also:power to See also:levy rates for library and museum purposes, while on the See also:continent of See also:Europe the collection and See also:exhibition of See also:objects of antiquity and art has become a recognized See also:duty of the See also:state and See also:municipality alike. A See also:sketch of the See also:history of museums in See also:general is given below, under MUSEUMS OF See also:SCIENCE. The See also:modern museum of art differs essentially from its earlier prototypes. The aimless collection of curiosities and bric-a-brac, brought together without method ' Under the See also:term " museum " (Gr. µoue&Yov, See also:temple of the See also:muses) we accept the See also:ordinary distinction, by which it covers a collection of all sorts of art objects, while an art See also:gallery (q.v.) confines itself 'emetically to pictures.or See also:system, was the feature of certain famous collections in by-gone days, of which the Tradescant Museum, formed in the 17th century, was a See also:good example. This museum was a See also:miscellany without didactic value; it contributed nothing to the advancement of art; its arrangement was unscientific, and the public gained little or no See also:advantage from its existence. The modern museum, on the other See also:hand, should be organized for the public good, and should be a fruitful source of amusement and instruction to the whole community. Even when Dr See also:Waagen described the collections of See also:England, about 184o, private individuals figured chiefly among the owners of art treasures. Nowadays in making a See also:record of this nature the collections belonging to the public would attract most See also:attention. This fact is becoming more obvious every See also:year. Not only are acquisitions of great value constantly made, but the principles of museum See also:administration and development are being more closely defined. What See also:Sir See also: There are three possible systems—namely, by date, by material and Classifies. by See also:nationality. It has been found possible to See also:don. combine the systems to some extent; for instance, in the See also:ivory See also:department of the See also:Victoria and See also:Albert Museum, See also:South See also:Kensington, See also:London, where the broad classification is by material, the objects being further subdivided according to their See also:age, and in a See also:minor degree according to their nationality. But as yet there is no general preference of one system to another. Moreover, the principles of classification are not easily laid down; e.g. musical See also:instruments: should they be included in art exhibits or in the ethnographical See also:section to which they also pertain? Broadly speaking, objects must be classified according to the quality (apart from their nature) for which they are most remark-able. Thus a See also:musket or See also:bass See also:viol of the 16th century, inlaid with ivory and highly decorated, would be properly included in the art section, whereas a See also:common See also:flute or weapon, noteworthy for nothing but its See also:interest as an See also:instrument of See also:music or destruction, would be suitably classified as ethnographic. In England, at any See also:rate, there is no uniformity of practice in this respect, and though it is to be hoped that the ruling See also:desire to classify according to strict scientific rules may not become too prevalent, it would nevertheless be a distinct advantage if, in one or more of the British museums, some See also:attempt were made to illustrate the growth of domestic arts and crafts according to classification by date. Examples of this classification in See also:Munich, See also:Amsterdam, See also:Basel, See also:Zurich and elsewhere afford excellent lessons of history and art, a See also:series of rooms being fitted up to show in See also:chronological See also:order the See also:home See also:life of our ancestors. In the See also:National Museum of See also:Bavaria (Munich) there is a superb See also:suite of rooms illustrating the progress of art from Merovingian times down to the 19th century. Thus classification, though studied, must not check the See also:elasticity of art museums; it should not be allowed to interfere with the mobility of the exhibits—that is to say, it should always be possible to withdraw specimens for the closer inspection of students, and also to send examples on See also:loan to other museums and See also:schools of art—an invaluable system See also:long in See also:vogue at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and one which should be still more widely adopted. An See also:axiom of museum See also:law is that the exhibits shall be properly shown. " The value of a museum is to be tested by the treatment of its contents " (Flower, p. 24). But in many museums the chief hindrance to study and enjoyment is overcrowding of exhibits. Although a truism, it is necessary to state that each See also:object should be properly seen, deaned and safeguarded; but all over the world this See also:rule is forgotten. The rapid acquisition of objects is one cause of overcrowding, but a faulty appreciation of the didactic purpose of the collection is more frequently responsible. in Great Britain, museum progress is satisfactory. Visitors are numbered by millions, See also:access is now permitted on Sundays and See also:week-days alike, and entrance fees are being See also:con- eh and si Prorogrgress. stentlY reduced; ; in this the contrast between Great Britain and some See also:foreign countries is singular. A See also:generation or so ago the national collections of See also:Italy used to be always open to the public. Pay-days, however, were gradually established, with the result that the chief collections are now only visible without See also:payment on Sundays. In See also:Dresden payment is obligatory five days a week. The British Museum never charges for See also:admission. On the other hand, the increase in See also:continental collections is more rapid than in Great Britain, where acquisitions are only made by See also:gift, purchase or See also:bequest. In other See also:European countries enormous collections have been obtained by revolutions and See also:conquest, by dynastic changes, and by secularizing religious See also:foundations. Some of the chief treasures of provincial museums in See also:France were spoils of the See also:Napoleonic armies, though the great bulk of this See also:loot was returned in 1815 to the See also:original owners. In Italy the See also:conversion of a monastery into a museum is a See also:simple See also:process, the Dominican See also:house of See also:San Marco in See also:Florence offering a typical example. A further stimulus to the See also:foundation of museums on the continent is the See also:comparative ease with which old buildings are obtained and adapted for the collections. Thus the Germanisches Museum of See also:Nuremberg is a secularized See also: One result is to displace and thus depreciate many works of art, beautiful in their original places, but quite insignificant when put into a museum. Another result is that, owing to high entrance fees, the humbler class of Italians can rarely see the art treasures of their own See also:country. There are other collections, akin to art museums, which would best be called See also:biographical museums. They illustrate the life and work of great artists or authors. Of these the most notable are the museums commemorating Diirer at Nuremberg, See also:Beethoven at See also:Bonn, See also:Thorwaldsen at See also:Copenhagen, See also:Shakespeare at See also:Stratford and See also:Michelangelo at Florence. The sacristies of cathedrals often contain ecclesiastical objects of great value, and are shown to the public as museums. See also:Cologne, Aachen, See also:Milan, See also:Monza and See also:Reims have famous treasuries. Many See also:Italian cathedrals havesmall museums attached to them, usually known as " See also:Opera del Duomo." See also:United See also:Kingdom.—The See also:influence and reputation of the British Museum are so great that its original purpose, as stated in the See also:preamble of the See also:act by which it was founded (1753, c. 22), may be quoted: " Whereas all arts and sciences British have a connexion with each other, and discoveries in natural See also:philosophy and other branches of speculative know-ledge, for the advancement and improvement whereof the said museum or collection was intended, do, or may in many instances give help and success to the most useful experiments and under-takings . . ." The "said museum " above mentioned referred to the collection of Sir Hans See also:Sloane, to be See also:purchased under the act just quoted. Sir Hans Sloane is therein stated, " through the course of many years, with great labour and expense, to have gathered together whatever could be procured, either in our own or foreign countries, that was rare and curious." In order to buy his collections and found the museum a lottery of £300,000 was authorized, divided into 5o,000 tickets, the prizes varying from £10 to £1o,000. See also:Provision was made for the adequate housing of Sir See also:Robert See also:Cotton's books, already bought in 1700 (12 and 13 Will. III. c. 7). This act secured for the nation the famous Cottonian See also:manuscripts, "of great use and service for the knowledge and preservation of our constitution, both in church and state." Sir Robert's See also:grandson had preserved the collection with great care, and was willing that it should not be " disposed of or embeziled," and that it should be preserved for public use and advantage. This act also sets forth the See also:oath to be sworn by the keeper, and deals with the See also:appointment of trustees. This is still the method of See also:internal See also:government at the British Museum, and additions to the See also:Board of Trustees are made by See also:statute, as in 1824, in See also:acknowledgment of a bequest. The trustees are of three classes: (a) three See also:principal trustees, namely the See also:Primate, the See also:Lord See also:Chancellor and the See also:Speaker; (b) general trustees, entitled ex officio to the position in virtue of ministerial See also:office; (c) See also:family, bequest and nominated trustees. A See also:standing See also:committee of the trustees meets regularly at the museum for the transaction of business. The great departments of the museum (apart from the scientific and zoological collections, now placed in the museum in See also:Cromwell Road, South Kensington) are of printed books, See also:MSS., See also:Oriental books, prints and drawings, See also:Egyptian and See also:Assyrian antiquities, British and See also:medieval antiquities, coins and medals. Each of these eight departments is under a keeper, with an See also:expert See also:staff of subordinates, the See also:head executive officer of the whole museum being styled director and chief librarian. The museum has been enriched by bequests of great importance, especially in the library. See also:Recent legacies have included the See also:porcelain bequeathed by Sir See also:Wollaston See also:Franks, and the valuable collection of works of art (chiefly enamels and See also:gold-smithery) known as the Waddesdon bequest—a See also:legacy of See also:Baron F. de See also:Rothschild. The most important See also:group of acquisition by purchase in the history of the museum is the series of See also:Greek sculptures known as the See also:Elgin See also:Marbles, bought by act of parliament (56 Geo. III. c. 99).
There are four national museums controlled by the Board of Education, until recently styled the Department of Science and Art. The chief of these is the Victoria and Albert Museums of Museum at South Kensington. This museum has a the Board of dependency at Bethnal See also:Green, the See also:Dublin and Bducauoa.
See also:Edinburgh museums having been now removed from its direct See also:charge. There is also a museum of See also:practical See also:geology in Jermyn See also:Street, containing valuable specimens of pottery and See also:majolica. The Victoria and Albert Museum owed its inception to the Exhibition of 1851, from the surplus funds of which 12 acres of See also:land were bought in South Kensington. First known as the Department of Practical Art, the museum rapidly established itself on a broad basis. Acquisitions of whole collections and unique specimens were accumulated. In 1857 the See also:Sheepshanks gallery of pictures was presented; in 1879 the See also:India Office transferred to the department the collection of Oriental art formerly belonging to the See also:East India See also:Company; in 1882 the See also: A. See also:Dyce and Mr See also: Apart from the fact that it is one of the most suitably housed and organized museums in the British Isles, it is remarkable for its priceless collection of See also:Celtic antiquities, belonging to the Royal Irish See also:Academy, and transferred to the See also:Kildare Street Museum in 1890. Among its most famous specimens of See also:early Irish art may be mentioned the See also:shrine and See also:bell of St See also:Patrick, the See also:Tara See also:brooch, the See also:cross of Cong and the Ardagh See also:chalice. The series of See also:bronze and See also: The See also:Tower of London contains armour of historic and artistic interest, and the Royal College of Music has an invaluable collection of musical instruments, presented by Mr George See also:Donaldson. Art museums are also to be found in several public schools in the United Kingdom. The Museums Act of 1845 enabled town See also:councils to found and maintain museums. This act was superseded by another passed in 185o, by Mr William See also:Ewart, which in its turn has been replaced by amending statutes passed in 1855, 1866, 1868 and 1885. The Museums and Gymna- siums Act of 18g1 sanctioned the provision and See also:maintenance of museums for the reception of local antiquities and other objects of interest, and allows a ad. rate, irrespective of other acts. Boroughs have also the right to levy special rates under private municipal acts, See also:Oldham affording a See also:case in point. Civic museums must still be considered to be in their See also:infancy. Although the movement is now firmly established in municipal enterprise, the collections, taken as a whole, are still somewhat nondescript. In many cases collections have been handed over by local See also:societies, particularly in geology, See also:zoology and other scientific departments. There are about twelve museums in which Roman antiquities are noticeable, among them being See also:Leicester, and the Civic Museum of London, at the See also:Guildhall. British and Anglo-Saxon See also:relics are important features at See also:Sheffield and See also:Liverpool; in the former case owing to the See also:Bateman collection acquired in 1876; while the See also:Mayer collection presented to the latter See also:city contains a highly important series of carved ivories. At See also:Salford, See also:Glasgow and See also:Manchester See also:industrial art is the chief feature of the collections.. See also:Birmingham, with perhaps the finest provincial collection of industrial art, is supported by the rates to the extent of £4200 a year. Its collections (including here, as in the See also:majority of great towns,, an important gallery of paintings) are entirely derived from gifts and bequests. Birmingham has made a reputation for special exhibitions of works of art lent for a See also:time to the See also:corporation. These loan exhibitions, about which occasional lectures are given, and of which cheap illustrated catalogues are issued, have largely contributed to the great popularity and efficiency of the museum. Liverpool, See also:Preston, See also:Derby and Sheffield owe their fine museum buildings to private generosity. Other towns have museums which are chiefly supported by subscriptions, e.g. See also:Chester and See also:Newcastle, where there is a fine collection of work by See also:Bewick the engraver. At See also:Exeter the library, museum, and art gallery, together with schools of science and art, are combined in one building. Other towns may be noted as having art museums: See also:Stockport, Notting-See also:ham (See also:Wedgwood collection), See also:Leeds, See also:Bootle, See also:Swansea, See also:Bradford, See also:Northampton (British See also:archaeology), and See also:Windsor. There are museums at See also:Belfast, Larne, See also:Kilkenny and See also:Armagh. The cost of the civic museum, being generally computed with the maintenance of the See also:free library, is not easily obtained. In many cases the librarian is also See also:curator of the museum; elsewhere no curator at all is appointed, his work being done by a caretaker. In some museums there is no classification or cataloguing and the value of existing collections is impaired both by careless treatment and by the too ready See also:acceptance of worthless gifts; often enough the museums are governed by committees of the corporation whose interest and experience are not great. Foreign Museums.—Art museums are far more numerous on the continent of Europe than in England. In See also:Germany progress has been very striking, their educational aspect being closely studied. In Italy public collections, which are ten times more numerous than in England, are chiefly regarded as financial See also:assets. The best examples of classification are to be found abroad, at See also:Vienna, Amsterdam, Zurich, Munich and Gizeh in See also:Egypt. The Musee Carnavalet, the See also:historical collection of the city of See also:Paris, is the most perfect civic museum in the world. The buildings in which the objects can be most easily studied are those of See also:Naples, See also:Berlin and Vienna. The value of the aggregate collections in any single country of the great See also:powers, See also:Russia excepted, probably exceeds the value of British collections. At the same time, it must be remembered that masses of foreign collections represent expropriations by the city and the state, together with the See also:inheritance of royal and semi-royal collectors. In Germany and Italy, for instance, there are at least a dozen towns which at one time were capitals of principalities. In some countries the public holds over works of art the pre-emptive right of purchase. In Italy, under the law known as the Editto Pacca, it is illegal to export the more famous works of art. Speaking generally, the cost of maintaining municipal museums abroad is very small, many being without expert or highly-paid, officials, while admission fees are often considerable. Nowhere in the United Kingdom are the collections neglected in a manner Other National and Quasi-National Museums. Municipal Museums. through which certain towns in Italy and See also:Spain have gained an unenviable name. Berlin and Vienna have collections of untold richness, and the public are freely admitted. Berlin, besides its picture gallery Germany and architectural museum, has a collection of See also:Christian and antiquities in the university. The old museum, a See also:Austria. royal foundation, is renowned for its classical See also:sculpture and a remarkable collection of medieval statuary, in which Italian art is well represented. The new museum is also noteworthy for Greek marbles, and contains bronzes and engravings, together with one of the most typical collections of Egyptian art. See also:Schliemann's discoveries are housed in the Ethnographic Museum. The Museum of Art and Industry, closely similar in object and arrangement to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, contains collections of the same See also:character-enamels, furniture, ceramics, &c. Vienna also has one of these museums (Kunstgewerbe), in which the great value of the examples is enhanced by their judicious arrangement. The Historical Museum of this city is interesting, and the Imperial Museum (of which the structure corresponds almost exactly with a See also:plan of an ideal museum designed by Sir William Flower) is one of the most comprehensive extant, containing armour of world-wide fame and the choicest specimens of industrial art. See also:Prague, See also:Innsbruck and See also:Budapest are respectively the homes of the national museums of Bohemia, See also:Tirol and See also:Hungary. The National Museum of Bavaria (Munich) has been completed, and its exhibition rooms, roo in number, show the most recent methods of classification, Nuremberg, with upwards of eighty rooms, being its only rival in See also:southern Germany. See also:Mainz and See also:Trier have Roman antiquities. See also:Hamburg, See also:Leipzig and See also:Breslau have good " Kunstgewerbe " collections. In Dresden there are four great museums—the Johanneum, the Albertinum, the Zwinger and the Grune Gewolbe—in which opulent art can best be appreciated; the porcelain of the Dresden galleries is superb, and few branches of art are unrepresented. See also:Gotha is remarkable for its ceramics, See also:Brunswick for enamels (in the ducal See also:cabinet). Museums of minor importance exist at See also:Hanover, See also:Ulm, See also:Wurzburg, See also:Danzig and See also:Lubeck.
The central museum of France, the Louvre, was founded as a public institution during the Revolutionary See also:period. It France. contains the collections of See also:Francois I., See also: The See also:Cluny Museum, bought by the city . in 1842, and subsequently transferred to the state, supplements the medieval collections of the Louvre, being a storehouse of select works of art. It suffers, however, from being overcrowded, while for purposes of study it is badly lighted. At the same time the Maison Cluny is a well-furnished house, decorated with admirable things, and as such has a special didactic value of its own, corresponding in this respect with Hertford House and the Poldi-Pezzoli Gallery at Milan—collections which are more than museums, since they show in the best manner the See also:adaptation of artistic See also:taste to domestic life. The French provincial museums are numerous and important. Twenty-two were established early in the loth century, and received See also:i000 pictures as gifts from the state, See also:numbers of which were not returned in 1815 to the countries whence they were taken. The best of these museums are at See also:Lyons; at See also:Dijon, where the tombs of See also:Jean sans Peur and See also: As a rule, the public is admitted free of charge, special See also:courtesy being shown to foreigners. In many cases the collections are See also:ill cared for and uncatalogued, and little See also:money is provided for acquisitions in the civic museums; indeed, in this respect the great national institutions contrast unfavourably with British establishments, to which purchase grants are regularly made. The national, civic and papal museums of Italy are so numerous that a few only can be mentioned. The best arranged and best classified collection is the Museo Nazionale at Naples, [rely containing many thousand examples of Roman art, chiefly obtained from the immediate neighbourhood. For historical importance it ranks as See also:Primus inter pares with the collections of See also:Rome and the. Vatican. It is, however, the only great Italian museum where scientific treatment is consistently adopted. Other museums of purely classical art are found at See also:Syracuse, Cagliari and See also:Palermo. See also:Etruscan art is best displayed at See also:Arezzo, See also:Perugia (in the university), See also:Cortona, Florence (Museo Archeologico), See also:Volterra and the Vatican. The Florentine museums are of great importance, consisting of the archaeological museum of See also:antique bronzes, Egyptian art, and a great number of tapestries. The Museo Nazionale, housed in the Bargello (A.D. 1260), is the central depository of Tuscan art. Numerous examples of Della Robbia See also:ware have been gathered together, and are fixed to the walls in a manner and position which reduce their value to a minimum. The plastic arts. of See also:Tuscany are represented by Donatello, Verrocchio, See also:Ghiberti, and See also:Cellini, while the Carrand collection of ivories, pictures, and varied medieval specimens is of much interest. This museum, like so many others, is becoming seriously. overcrowded, to the lasting detriment of churches, See also:market-places, and streets, whence these works of art are being ruthlessly removed. . The public is admitted free one See also:day a week, and the receipts are devoted to art and antiquarian purposes (" these . destinate . . . alla conversazione dei monumenti,, all' ampliamento degli scavi, ed' all' incremento dei instituti . , nella citta."—Law of 2895, §5). The museums of Rome are numerous, the Vatican alone containing at least six—Museo Clementino, of. classical art, with the See also:Laocoon, the See also:Apollo See also:Belvedere, and other masterpieces; the Chiaramonti, also of classical sculpture; the Gallery of See also:Inscriptions; the Egyptian, the Etruscan and the Christian museums. The last is an extensive collection corresponding with another papal museum in the Lateran Palace, also known as the Christian Museum (founded 1843), and remarkable for its sarcophagi and relics from the catacombs. The Lateran has also a second museum known as the Museo Profano. Museums belonging to the state are equally remarkable. The See also:Kircher Museum deals with prehistoric art, and contains the " Preneste Hoard." The Museo Nazionale (by the See also:Baths of See also:Diocletian), the Museo Capitolino, and the Palazzo dei Conservatori contain innumerable specimens of the finest classical art, vases, bronzes, mosaics, and statuary, Greek as well as Roman. Among provincial museums there are few which do not possess at least one or two objects of See also:signal merit. Thus See also:Brescia, besides a medieval collection, has. a famous bronze , Victory. See also:Pesaro, Urbino, and the Museo Correr at See also:Venice have admirable examples of majolica; Milan, See also:Pisa and. See also:Genoa have general archaeology combined with a good proportion of mediocrity. The civic museum of See also:Bologna is comprehensive and well arranged, having Egyptian, classical, and Etruscan collections, besides many things. dating from the " Bella Epoca " of Italian art. At Ravenna alone can the See also:Byzantine art of Italy be. properly understood, and it is most deplorable that the superb collections in its fine galleries should remain uncatalogued and neglected. See also:Turin, See also:Siena, See also:Padua, and other towns have civic museums.
The Ryks, Museum at Amsterdam, containing the national collections of See also: The See also:Hague and See also:Rotterdam have also museums, but everything in Holland is subordinated to the development of the great central depository at Amsterdam, to which examples are sent from all parts of the country. In Belgium the chief museum, that of See also:ancient industrial art, is at See also:Brussels. It contains many pieces of medieval church furniture and decoration, but in this respect differs only in See also:size from the civic museums of See also:Ghent and See also:Luxemburg and the See also:Archbishop's Museum at See also:Utrecht. In Brussels, however, there is a good show of Frankish and Carolingian objects. The city of See also:Antwerp maintains the See also:Musk. See also:Plantin, a See also:printing See also:establishment which has survived almost intact, and presents one of the most charming and instructive museums in the world. As a whole, the museums of Belgium are disappointing, though, per contra, the churches are of enhanced interest, not having been pillaged for the benefit of museums. New museums are being founded in Russia every year. Kharkoff and See also:Odessa (the university) have already large collec-Ruasla. tions, and in the most remote parts of See also:Siberia it is curious to find carefully chosen collections. See also:Krasnoyarsk has 12,000 specimens, a storehouse of Buriat art. See also:Irkutsk the capital, See also:Tobolsk, See also:Tomsk (university), See also:Khabarovsk, and See also:Yakutsk have now museums. In these See also:Russian art naturally predominates. It is only at See also:Moscow and St See also:Petersburg that Western art is found. The Hermitage Palace in the latter city contains a selection of medieval objects of fabulous value, there being no less than See also:forty early ivories. But from a national point of view these collections are insignificant when compared with the gold and See also:silver objects illustrating the See also:primitive arts and See also:ornament of See also:Scythia, See also:Crimea and See also:Caucasia, the high See also:standard attained proving an advanced See also:stage of See also:manual skill. At Moscow (historical museum) the stone and metal relics are scarcely less interesting. There is also a museum of industrial art, the specimens of which are not of unusual value, but being analogous to the Kunstgewerbe movement in Germany, it exercises a whole-some influence upon the designers who study in its schools. See also:American museums are not committed to traditional systems, and scientific treatment is allowed its fullest See also:scope. They exist See also:America. in great numbers, and though in some cases their exhibits are chiefly ethnographic, a far wider range of art objects is rapidly being secured. The National Museum at See also:Washington, a branch of the Smithsonian Institution (q.v.), while notable for its American historical and ethnological exhibits, has the National Gallery of Art. The See also:Metropolitan Museum of Art (held by trustees for the benefit of the city of New See also:York) has in the See also:Cesnola collection the most See also:complete series of Cypriot art objects. It has also departments of coins, Greek sculpture and general examples of European and American art. The Museum of Fine Arts at See also:Boston is very comprehensive, and has a remarkable collection of ceramics, together with good reproductions of antique art. There are museums at St Louis, See also:Chicago, See also:Pittsburg, See also:Brooklyn, See also:Cincinnati, See also:Buffalo and Washington, as well as See also:Montreal in See also:Canada; and the universities of Harvard, Chicago, See also:Pennsylvania and Yale have important collections. The Swiss National Museum is situated at Zurich, and though of See also:medium size (5o rooms), it is a See also:model of arrangement and organization. Besides the special feature of rooms rariO1f illustrating the historical progress of art, its collection Countries. of stained See also:glass is important. Basel also (historical museum) is but little inferior in contents or system to the Zurichestablishment. See also:Geneva has three collections. See also:Lausanne holds the museum of the See also:canton, and See also:Bern has a municipal collection. All these institutions are well supported financially, and are much appreciated by the Swiss public. The art museums of See also:Stockholm, See also:Christiania and Copenhagen See also:rank high for their See also:intrinsic excellence, but still more for their scientific and didactic value. Stockholm has three museums: that of the Royal Palace, a collection of costume and armour; the See also:Northern Museum, a large collection of domestic art; the National Museum, containing the prehistoric collections, gold ornaments, &c., dassified in a brilliant manner. The National Museum of See also:Denmark at Copenhagen is in this respect even more famous, being probably the second national collection in the world. The arrangement of this collection leaves little to be desired, and it is to be regretted that some British collections, in themselves of immense value, cannot be shown, as at Copenhagen, in a manner which would display their great merits to the fullest degree. There is also at Copenhagen a remarkable collection of antique busts (Ganile Glyptotek), and the Thorwaldsen Museum connected with the sculptor of that name. Norse antiquities are at Christiania (the university) and See also:Bergen. See also:Athens has three museums, all devoted to Greek art: that of the See also:Acropolis, that of the Archaeological Society (vases and terra-See also:cotta) and the National Museum of Antiquities. The state owns all discoveries and these are accumulated at the capital, so that local museums scarcely exist. The collections, which rapidly increase, are of great importance, though as yet they cannot See also:vie with the aggregate in other European countries. The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities (See also:Cairo), founded by See also:Mariette See also:Bey at Bulak, afterwards removed to the Giza palace and See also:developed by See also:Maspero, is housed in a large building erected in 1902, well classified, and liberally supported with money and fresh acquisitions. Minor museums exist at See also:Carthage and See also:Tunis. At See also:Constantinople the See also:Turkish Museum contains some good classical sculpture and a great See also:deal of rubbish. The Museo del Prado and the Archaeological Museum at See also:Madrid are the chief See also:Spanish collections, containing numerous classical objects and many specimens of Moorish and early Spanish art. In Spain museums are badly kept, and their contents are of indifferent value. The museums of the chief provinces are situated at See also:Barcelona, See also:Valencia, See also:Granada and See also:Seville. See also:Cadiz and See also:Cordova have also sadly neglected civic collections. The National Museum of See also:Portugal at See also:Lisbon requires no special comment. The progress of See also:Japan is noticeable in its museums as in its industrial enterprise. The National Museum(Weno See also:Park, See also:Tokyo) is large and well arranged in a new building of Western See also:architecture. See also:KiotO and See also:Nara have excellent museums, exclusively of Oriental art, and two or three other towns have smaller establishments, including commercial museums. There are several museums in India, the chief one being at See also:Calcutta, devoted to See also:Indian antiquities.
The best history of museums can be found in the prefaces and introductions to their See also:official catalogues, but the following works will be useful for reference: See also:Annual Reports presented to Parliament (official) of British Museum and Board of Education; See also:Civil Service Estimates, Class IV., annually presented to Parliament; Second See also:Report of Select Committee of House of See also:Commons on Museums of Science and Art Department (official; 1 vol., 1898) ; Annual Reports of the Museum Association (London) ; See also:Edward See also:Edwards, The Fine Arts in England (London, 1840); Professor Stanley Jevons, " Use and Abuse of Museums," printed in Methods of Social Reform (London, 1882) ; Report of Committee on Provincial Museums. Report of British Association (London, 1887) ; Thos. See also:Greenwood, Museums and Art Galleries (London, 1888) ; Professor See also: Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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