The Collections Of Early Museums Cultural Studies Essay

The Collections Of Early Museums Cultural Studies EssayEarly museums began as the private dispositions of wealthy individuals, families or institutions of blindistic production and r are or intrusive natural objects and artifacts. These were ofttimes appearanceed in so-called wonder rooms or cabinets of curiosities. Public access was often possible for the respectable, especially to private art prayers, however at the whim of the owner and his ply.The eldest common museums in the world candid in Europe during the 18th century and the Age of Enlightenmentthe Amerbach Cabinet, primitively a private collection, was bought by the university and city of Basel in 1661 and opened to the public in 1671.the Royal Armouries in the Tower of London is the agingiethylstilbesterolt museum in the United Kingdom. It opened to the public in 1660, though there had been paying privileged visitors to the armouries displays from 1592. Today the museum has three sites including its new headqu arters in Leeds.2the Muse des Beaux-Arts et darchologie in Besanon was established in 1694 after Jean-Baptiste Boisot, an abbot, gave his personal collection to the Benedictines of the city in order to create a museum open to the public two days e really week.3the Museo Sacro, the first museum in the Vatican Museums complex, was opened in Rome in 1756citation neededthe British Museum in London, was founded in 1753 and opened to the public in 1759.4 Sir Hans Sloanes personal collection of curios provided the initial foundation for the British Museums collection.4the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, which had been open to visitors on request since the 16th century, was officially opened to the public 1765citation neededthe Belvedere Palace of the Habsburg monarchs in Vienna opened with a collection of art in 1781citation neededLouvre in Paris France. The Mona Lisa Painting by Leonardo Da Vinci resides in the Louvre.These public museums, however, were often accessible only by the middle an d upper classes. It could be difficult to gain entrance. In London for example, prospective visitors to the British Museum had to apply in writing for admission. Even by 1800 it was possible to have to wait two weeks for an admission ticket. Visitors in small groups were circumscribed to stays of two hours. In strait-laced times in England it became popular for museums to be open on a Sunday afternoon (the only such(prenominal) facility allowed to do so) to enable the chance for self improvement of the other ciphering classes.The first truly public museum was the Louvre Museum in Paris, opened in 1793 during the French Revolution, which enabled for the first time in history free access to the former French royal collections for people of all stations and status. The fabulous art treasures collected by the French monarchy over centuries were accessible to the public three days each dcade (the 10-day unit which had replaced the week in the French Republican Calendar). The Conse rvatoire du musum guinea pig des Arts ( depicted object Museum of Artss Conservatory) was charged with organizing the Louvre as a national public museum and the centerpiece of a planned national museum system. As Napolon I conquered the commodious cities of Europe, confiscating art objects as he went, the collections grew and the institutional task became more than and more complicated. after(prenominal) Napoleon was defeated in 1815, galore(postnominal) of the treasures he had amassed were gradually returned to their owners (and some(prenominal) were not). His plan was never fully realized, but his cin one casept of a museum as an agent of nationalistic fervor had a profound influence throughout Europe.American museums eventually joined European museums as the worlds leading centers for the production of new k this instantledge in their fields of interest. A period of intense museum building, in some(prenominal) an intellectual and physical sense was realized in the late 19 th and early 20th centuries (this is often called The Museum Period or The Museum Age). While m each American museums, both inwrought register museums and Art museums alike, were founded with the intention of focusing on the scientific discoveries and artistic developments in North America, many moved to emulate their European counterparts in certain ways (including the development of Classical collections from ancient Egypt, Greece, Mesopotamia and Rome). Universities became the primary centers for innovative research in the United States well before the start of the support World War. Nevertheless, museums to this day contribute new knowledge to their fields and continue to build collections that are useful for both research and display.PurposeMuseums collect and tuition for objects of scientific, artistic, or historical importance and make them available for public viewing through exhibits that whitethorn be permanent or temporary. some large museums are located in major cit ies throughout the world and more local ones exist in smaller cities, towns and even the countryside. Many times, museums concentrate on the swarm regions culture.Although most museums do not allow physical contact with the associated artifacts, there are some that are interactive and encourage a more hands-on approach. Modern trends in museology have broadened the range of subject matter and introduced many interactive exhibits, which give the public the opportunity to make choices and engage in activities that may vary the experience from person to person. With the advent of the internet, there are growing numbers of virtual exhibits, i.e. web versions of exhibits showing images and playing recorded sound.Museums are commonly open to the general public, sometimes charging an admission fee. some museums are in public funded and have free entrance, either permanently or on special days, e.g. once per week or year.Museums are commonly not run for the purpose of making a profit , unlike private galleries which more often engage in the sale of objects. There are establishmental museums, non-governmental or non-profit museums, and privately owned or family museums. Museums can be a reputable and generally trusted writer of information about cultures and history.Definitions accept permanent institution in the service of society and of its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment, for the purposes of education, study, and enjoyment, by the world-wide Council of Museums5 and Museums enable people to explore collections for inspiration, learning and enjoyment. They are institutions that collect, safeguard and make accessible artifacts and specimens, which they hold in trust for society, by the UK Museums Association.6TypesTypes of museums vary, from very large collections in major cities, covering many of the categories below, to very small museums covering either a particular stead in a general way, or a particular subject, such as an individual notable person. Categories involve fine arts, applied arts, craft, archaeology, anthropology and ethnology, history, cultural history, military history, lore, technology, childrens museums, natural history, numismatics, botanical and zoological gardens and philately. Within these categories many museums tell further, e.g. museums of modern art, local history, aviation history, agriculture or geology. A museum normally houses a core collection of important selected objects in its field. Objects are formally accessioned by being registered in the museums collection with an artifact number and details recorded about their provenance. The persons in charge of the collection and of the exhibits are known as curators.Archaeology museumsArchaeology museums specialize in the display of archaeologic artifacts. Many are in the open air, such as the Acropolis of Athens and th e Roman Forum. Others display artifacts found in archaeological sites inside buildings.Art museumsMain clause Art museumMuseum of Modern ArtAn Art museum, too known as an art gallery, is a space for the exhibition of art, usually in the form of art objects from the visual arts, primarily paintings, illustrations, and sculpture. Collections of drawings and old master prints are often not displayed on the walls, but kept in a print room. There may be collections of applied art, including ceramics, metalwork, furniture, artists books and other types of object. Video art is often screened.The first publicly owned museum in Europe was the Amerbach-Cabinet in Basel, originally a private collection sold to the city in 1661 and public since 1671 (now Kunstmuseum Basel).7 The Uffizi Gallery in Florence was initially conceived as a palace for the offices of Florentian magistrates ( and then the name), it later evolved into a display place for many of the paintings and sculpture collected by the Medici family or commissioned by them. After the house of Medici was extinguished, the art treasures remained in Florence, forming one of the first modern museums. The gallery had been open to visitors by request since the sixteenth century, and in 1765 it was officially opened to the public. another(prenominal) early public museum was the British Museum in London, which opened to the public in 1759.4 It was a universal museum with very varied collections covering art, applied art, archaeology, anthropology, history, and science, and a library. The science collections, library, paintings and modern sculpture have since been found separate homes, leaving history, archaeology, non-European and pre-Renaissance art, and prints and drawings.citation neededThe specialised art museum is considered a fairly modern invention, the first being the Hermitage in apotheosis Petersburg which was established in 1764.citation neededThe Louvre in Paris was established in 1793, soon after the Fr ench Revolution when the royal treasures were declared for the people.8 The Czartoryski Museum in Krakw was established in 1796 by Princess Izabela Czartoryska.9 This showed the beginnings of removing art collections from the private domain of aristocracy and the wealthy into the public sphere, where they were seen as sites for educating the masses in taste and cultural refinement. annals museumsMuseum of the Filipino People, ManilaHistory museums cover the knowledge of history and its relevance to the present and future. Some cover specialized curatorial aspects of history or a particular locality others are more general. Such museums contain a wide range of objects, including documents, artifacts of all kinds, art, archaeological objects. Antiquities museums specialize in more archaeological findings.A common type of history museum is a historic house. A historic house may be a building of special architectural interest, the birthplace or home of a famous person, or a house with a n interesting history. Historic sites can also become museums, particularly those that comment public crimes, such as Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum or Robben Island. Another type of history museum is a living museum. A living museum is where people recreate a time period to the fullest extent, including buildings, clothes and language. It is similar to historical reenactment.See also Medical History Museum (disambiguation)Maritime museumsMain article Maritime museumMaritime museums specialize in the display of objects relating to ships and travel on seas and lakes. They may include a historic ship (or a replica) made accessible as a museum ship. force and war museumsCategoryMilitary and war museumsThe Canadian War MuseumMilitary museums specialize in military histories they are often organized from a national point of view, where a museum in a particular country will have displays organized around conflicts in which that country has taken part. They typically include displays of weapo ns and other military equipment, uniforms, wartime propaganda and exhibits on civilian life during wartime, and decorations, among others. A military museum may be dedicated to a particular service or area, such as the Imperial War Museum Duxford for military aircraft or the Deutsches Panzermuseum for tanks, or more generalist, such as the Canadian War Museum or the Muse de lArme. prompt museumsMobile museum is a term applied to museums that make exhibitions from a vehicle, such as a van. Some institutions, such as St. Vital Historical hostel and the Walker Art Center, use the term to refer to a portion of their collection that travels to sites away from the museum for educational purposes. Other mobile museums have no home site, and use travel as their exclusive means of presentation.Natural history museumsFor a more comprehensive list, see List of natural history museumsThe National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.Museums of natural history and natural science typica lly exhibit work of the natural world. The focus lies on nature and culture. Exhibitions may educate the masses about dinosaurs, ancient history, and anthropology. Evolution, environmental issues, and biodiversity are major areas in natural science museums. Notable museums of this type include the Natural History Museum in London, the Oxford University Museum of Natural History in Oxford, the Musum national dhistoire naturelle in Paris, the Smithsonian Institutions National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology in Drumheller, Alberta, Denver Museum of Nature and Science and the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. A rather minor Natural history museum is The Midwest Museum of Natural History is located in Sycamore, Illinois.Open air museumsMain article Open air museumAn old farmhouse at the Salzburger Freilichtmuseum in Grogmain near Salzburg.Open air museums collect an d re-erect old buildings at large outdoor sites, usually in settings of re-created landscapes of the past. The first one was King Oscar IIs collection near Oslo in Norway, opened in 1881 and is now the Norsk Folkemuseum.citation needed In 1891 Artur Hazelius founded the Skansen in Stockholm,citation needed which became the model for subsequent open air museums in Northern and eastern Europe, and eventually in other parts of the world. Most open air museums are located in regions where wooden architecture prevail, as wooden structures may be translocated without substantial loss of authenticity.citation needed A more novel but related idea is realized in ecomuseums, which originated in France.citation neededScience museumsFor a more comprehensive list, see List of science museumsMuseum of Science and IndustryScience museums and technology centers revolve around scientific achievements, and marvels and their history. To explain complicated inventions, a combination of demonstration s, interactive programs and theory-provoking media are used. Some museums may have exhibits on topics such as computers, aviation, railway museums, physics, astronomy, and the animal kingdom.Science museums, in particular, may constitute of planetaria, or large theatre usually built around a dome. Museums may have IMAX feature films, which may provide 3-D viewing or higher quality picture. As a result, IMAX content provides a more immersive experience for people of all ages.Also new virtual museums, known as Net Museums, have recently been created. These are usually web sites belonging to real museums and containing photo galleries of items found in those real museums. This new presentation is very useful for people living far away who wish to see the contents of these museums.Specialized museumsMuseum of Toys and Automata in Verd, SpainA number of different museums exist to pose a novelty of topics. Music museums may celebrate the life and work of composers or musicians, such a s the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, or even Rimsky-Korsakov Apartment and Museum in St Petersburg (Russia). Other music museums include live music recitals such as the Handel House Museum in London. In Glendale, Arizona, The Bead Museum10 fosters the reach and understanding of the global historical, cultural and artistic significance of beads and related artifacts. The permanent collection includes beads from around the globe including a 15,000 year old bead. Temporary exhibits are also available.Museums targeted for the youth, such as childrens museums or toy museums in many parts of the world, often exhibit interactive and educational secular on a wide array of topics, for example, the Museum of Toys and Automata in Spain. The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is an institution of the sports category. The Corning Museum of Glass is devoted to the art, history, and science of glass. The National Museum of Crime penalty explores the science of solving cr imes. The Great American Dollhouse Museum in Danville, Kentucky, U.S.A., is depicts American social history in miniature.11 Interpretation centres are modern museums or visitors centres that often use new means of communication with the public. In some cases, museums cover an extremely wide range of topics together, such as the Museum of World Treasures in Wichita, KS.virtual(prenominal) museumsA recent development, with the expansion of the web, is the establishment of virtual museums. Online initiatives like the Virtual Museum of Canada12 provide physical museums with a web presence, as well as online curatorial platforms such as Rhizome.13Some virtual museums have no counterpart in the real world, such as LIMAC (Museo de Arte Contemporneo de Lima),14 which has no physical location and might be confused with the citys own museum. The art historian Griselda Pollock elaborated a virtual feminist museum, spreading between classical art to contemporary art.15Some real life museums are also using the internet for virtual tours and exhibitions. On March 23, Whitney Museum in New York organized what it called the first ever online Twitter museum tour. zoological gardenlogical parks and botanic gardensZoos are considered living museumsMain article ZooAlthough zoos and botanic gardens are not often thought of as museums, they are in fact living museums. They exist for the same purpose as other museums to educate, inspire action, and to study, develop and manage collections. They are also managed much like other museums and face the same challenges. Notable zoos include the Bronx Zoo in New York, the London Zoo, the Philadelphia Zoo, the Saint Louis Zoological Park, the San Diego Zoo, Berlin Zoological Garden, the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Frankfurt Zoological Garden, Jardin des Plantes in Paris, and Zrich Zoologischer Garten in Switzerland. Notable botanic gardens include Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Missouri botanical Garden in St. Louis, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Chicag o Botanic Garden and Royal Botanical Gardens (Ontario).ControversiesThe neutrality of this section is disputed. Please see the discussion on the communication page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (July 2010)The Guggenheim (New York)Controversies have arisen recently regarding artifacts being damaged or being exposed to high risk of damage whilst on loan. For example, an ancient Egyptian stone lion on loan from the British Museum was being manually carried down a flight of steps (as shown in a BBC Television documentary 2007). The supervisor in charge advised the people carrying it if it starts to fall, let it drop.citation needed The irony is that these artifacts have been carefully excavated and transported, often thousands of miles, without damage. erst arriving at a museum the artifact usually does not receive the same level of care and attention that it received whilst being excavated and transported.citation needed Another example of this i s the recent return of a Terracotta Army horse on loan from a museum in Rome, which showed the item to be damaged on return.citation needed As yet, there is no internationally agreed protocol for a level or standard of care of artifacts on display or on loan from museums.Like any institution dedicated to the memorialization of the past, museums play a substantial role in the construction of ideologies and identities, which is accomplished through a variety of means, though these typically pertain to the particular ways in which the past is put on public display.Museums serve to standardize our views of the past by the following means flunk to account for matters of historical (or more accurately, historiographical) dispute by not providing alternative viewpointsby presenting the past in terms of a coherent, linear, unified narrativeby creating complex audio, visual and textual experiences, in which the observer is overwhelmingly confronted by the massive weight of all the physical e vidence the photos, the facts, the personal vignettes-after being penetrated in such an intimate way by a holistic bodily experience, observers are then typically directed to gift shops, where they are likely back up to purchase books which can help to further reinforce the desired indoctrination of the museums particular ideologythey present a view of history found often based upon the romanticization of the achievements of great men, brilliant thinkers, cultural or scientific innovators, war heroes (and their technologies)As is self-evident to the seasoned traveler, most national museums around the world stick with to the same basic structural patterns, whereby the past is divided up into a series of epochs, beginning with prehistory, then passing through the ancient and medieval worlds until ultimately arriving at the nations present. This view of the history is plainly teleological, which is to say that the past is depicted as a series of trends and developments aiming at th e present condition.The point is often under-emphasized by those who love museums that a sizable percentage of museum artifacts have been acquired unethically (if ethics are defined in a Kantian sense at least). The government of Egypt for instance has consistently pressed the British Museum in London to return the enormous holdings of pharaonic objects seized by British (though not exclusively British) archaeologists during Britains period of colonial administration in Egypt, which began officially in 1882.The National Museum of Iraq was created during the British Mandate period through the efforts of colonial officer and Oriental Secretary of the short-lived British Mandate, Gertrude Bell.citation neededManagementVatican MuseumsThe museum is usually run by a director, who has a curatorial staff that cares for the objects and arranges their display. Large museums often will have a research course of study or institute, which are frequently involved with studies related to the mus eums items, as well as an education department, in charge of providing interpretation of the materials to the general public. The director usually reports to a higher body, such as a governmental department or a board of trustees.Objects come to the collection through a variety of means. Either the museum itself or an associated institute may organize expeditions to acquire more items or documentation for the museum. More typically, however, museums will purchase or trade for artifacts or receive them as donations or bequests.Miami Art Museum in Miami, FloridaFor instance, a museum featuring Impressionist art may receive a donation of a Cubist work which simply cannot be fit into the museums exhibits, but it can be used to help acquire a painting more central to the museums focus. However, this process of acquiring objects outside the museums purview in order to acquire more desirable objects is considered unethical by many museum professionals. Larger museums may have an Acquisitio ns Department whose staff is engaged full time for this purpose. Most museums have a collections policy to help guide what is and is not included in the collection.Museums often cooperate to donor joint, often traveling, exhibits on particular subjects when one museum may not by itself have a collection sufficiently large or important. These exhibits have limited engagements and often depend upon an additional entry fee from the public to cover costs.Museum planningMuseum planningand Interpretive planningSo Paulo Museum of Art in So Paulo, Brazil.The design of museums has evolved throughout history. Interpretive museums, as opposed to art museums, have missions reflecting curatorial guidance through the subject matter which now include content in the form of images, audio and visual effects, and interactive exhibits. Museum creation begins with a museum plan, created through a museum planning process. The process involves identifying the museums vision and the resources, organizati on and experiences needed to realize this vision. A feasibility study, analysis of comparable facilities and an interpretive plan are all developed as part of the museum planning process.Some museum experiences have very few or no artifacts and do not necessarily call themselves museums the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles and the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, being notable examples where there are few artifacts, but strong, memorable stories are told or information is interpreted. In contrast, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. uses many artifacts in their memorable exhibitions. Notably, despite their varying styles, the latter two were designed by Ralph Appelbaum Associates.Exhibition designArticle Exhibit designMost mid-size and large museums employ exhibit design staff for graphic and environmental design projects, including exhibitions. In addition to traditional 2-D and 3-D designers and architects, these staff departments may in clude audio-visual specialists, software designers, audience research and evaluation specialists, writers, editors, and preparators or art handlers. These staff specialists may also be charged with supervising declaration design or production services. The exhibit design process builds on the interpretive plan for an exhibit, determining the most effective, engaging and appropriate methods of communicating a message or telling a story. The process will often mirror the architectural process or schedule, moving from conceptual plan, through schematic design, design development, contract document, fabrication and installation.EtymologyThe English museum comes from the Latin word, and is pluralized as museums (or rarely, musea). It is originally from the Greek - (Mouseion), which denotes a place or temple dedicated to the Muses (the patron divinities in Greek mythology of the arts), and hence a building set apart for study and the arts,16 especially the Musaeum (institute) for philosop hy and research at Alexandria by Ptolemy I Soter about 280 BCE.17 The first museum/library is considered to be the one of Plato in Athens.18 However, Pausanias gives another place called Museum, namely a small hill in Classical Athens opposite the Akropolis. The hill was called Mouseion after Mousaious, a man who used to sing on the hill and died there of old age and was subsequently buried there as well.19Most visited museumsMain article List of most visited art museums in the worldAudio tourCell phone tourMuseum educationExhibition historyFire Museum car park museumInternational Museum Day (May 18)List of museumsList of transport museumsPolice MuseumPostal museumPublic memoryVirtual Library museums pages