From Muse to Art Museums the origin of museums
Image by Wikimedia Images from Pixabay
This post is the first of a series on museums, from their origins and objects to architecture, founders, and the future function of such places. Art museums can be beautiful places, and while visiting one, you might not necessarily think about how they came to be. My mission here at love of muse is to bridge the gap between the visitor and the art museum. I want to spotlight public history, the study of it, and places where one can learn information from various sources like museums and libraries. Public history nowadays encompasses a part of education called Museum studies.
While it is a bit cliché, starting with defining a museum would be helpful. Then I’ll move into how art in antiquity was viewed in public spaces, to private spaces in churches during the Middle Ages, and back to art being available to the public again. According to Merriam-Webster.com, the following is the definition of a museum: an institution devoted to the procurement, care, study, and display of objects of lasting interest or value.
I chose the name love of muse because it encompasses creative inspiration and museums. But what exactly is a muse? Briefly, a muse is a personification from ancient Greece regarding human creativity, such as music and plays or topics that merit being written down, like history.
In art, they are depicted as female, and there are nine of them. In antiquity, we find classical art forms such as sculptures and mosaics in public spaces. This kind of art lets us see what was essential to the people of history and what they valued. Ancient Romans had statues of emperors both in public and in private homes to be worshiped as gods by the citizens. The homes of the Romans had a portrait bust of the male family members of the household, much like you would have the portrait of your head of the house today in the sense that these individuals are worth being remembered and hold order and stability in the home. While out in public forms, Roman art, such as tiled mosaics on the floors of marketplaces, shows potential buyers what the business sold, such as wine, fish, or grain. Mystical schools of different religious sects depicted art for initiation rituals, and this clash of religious beliefs was depicted in the movie Agora.
Many today would visit a public square for shopping, a park, and socializing. This was the function of the ancient Greek Agora. An Agora was a public meeting place like a market with art and goods to be sold. It functioned as the heart of ancient Greece. (As a slight aside, there is a beautiful movie called Agora, which has Rachel Wes stars in it as she plays the female Hypatia. The film explains her life in education, her scientific discoveries, her contributions to math and science, and her murder by a mob of zealots. I will post about her as part of a different series.) The art that would have been viewed in public squares in Rome was a testament to their haul of other cultures and military triumphs. The ancient Romans even had a piece of architecture called a triumphal arch, which would show depictions of soldiers returning from battle with the spoils of conquered people who then became enslaved themselves and lost all their valuables to the Romans. While Rome’s public spectacles were manufactured through the power and wealth of the emperor in places like the Coliseum, the fall of Rome would change how art was displayed and signal a shift in what kind of artistic subjects were important.
A transition happened at the end of Rome’s history. Rome, like ancient Greece, was always a hotbed of religious cultures, individuals, and customs vying for supremacy. The movie Agora is a good reflection of this as it shows the clashes between Paganism’s Greco-Roman culture vs. Judaism and Christianity.
The Roman Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity; he did not create it. It is believed that his reasons for legalizing Christianity were for political gains to unite the Empire. During this time, Constantine was putting money into Christian art projects in the form of buildings and public art. This signaled that the religious landscape was changing, and over time, Christian art would reflect the will of those in power. In 476 CE, Rome's fall came about for many reasons, as its long-held vast territories through military might were stretched thin.
Christianity, much like the religions of the past when they sought to convert people, is not peaceful. Countless numbers of people were murdered for refusing to convert to a new faith, be it Islam or Christianity, the Pagan Romans killing Christians. The Crusades later on would be a reflection of this but against even their own people-fellow Christians. Due to these changes, it is a mixed bag of what was destroyed and preserved within Christianity. Art and writing show how the new religion shapes our view of the past. At the same time, some of the writings done by monks preserved things in Ireland. For example, most, if not all, of what we know about the ancient past from cultures like Greece and Rome were preserved by the Muslims. The men in charge of Christianity focused on controlling the flow of information and ideas, even in art.
The public art that existed during the Middle Ages was a reflection of the Christian culture through its church's interior and exterior. Art was used as a vehicle of communication with the public because, since the fall of Rome, those who became educated were very selective. Art during this time was created by guilds, which were groups of skilled artisans who crafted particular items, and how their knowledge was handed down through an apprenticeship. This is the closest the general public came to an education. Typically, only members of the church could read and write. Any text that needed to be copied had to be handwritten. The art within churches and cathedrals throughout this time served as a visual collection of stories from the Bible. The public exposure to art would’ve been limited to what the church had. Art had moved from a very public and open space under pagan cultures to a closely guarded and select environment under the church's rule. Knowledge of pagan cultures and ideas would not come about until the Renaissance.
Various groups of Christianity expanded into Catholicism, Protestantism, and the like, each with their message of how they interpreted the Bible. Today, we know an icon as a famous person for something like how Selena has become an icon of her music and all that she represents to people worldwide. This is not the traditional understanding of an icon meant initially within the church as a particular type of art. Within art history, an icon is typically defined as an object of religious devotion in small portable paintings. Much the way you would carry a photograph of your loved one in your pocket today and icon was that in the religious sense. You could take a miniature painting when you traveled to be closer to your faith. Wooden shutters protected some. There were different feelings and interpretations of icons in their use based on where the church split and divided power among the old Roman territory.
One way Islam is different from Christianity is in its art, known for its geometric forms and shapes, depicting nature like flowers and birds. Islam is forbidden from depicting influential religious individuals like prophets. They are not allowed to depict God because it would be seen as inappropriate to depict something as complex as God in visual form. As trade routes expanded and people exchanged goods and ideas, Islam’s view on depicting God crept into Christianity. This was a period of history known under the term Iconoclast or the destruction of icons. Britannica has a good article on this subject.
This led to a gutting of the beautiful religious art held within churches. It became so severe that the penalty for protecting and painting these objects of devotion was death. There was, however, a massive backlash over time as people found connecting to the icon essential and moving. There was a reversal of the destruction of these images, and they were once again allowed to continue to be produced and honored. While they were not the object of individual worship, they were typically seen as a way to transfer the prayers and thoughts of the worshiper to the divine. These icons could also embody positive qualities the owner wants to bring out. A form of art like this in the private home would lead to a cabinet of curiosities later in history.
The Renaissance was the rediscovery of connection to ancient ideas from the pagan past of Greco-Roman cultures. Artistic and building techniques lost during the Middle Ages were rediscovered. Artists were getting a grip on understanding how to use perspective in art. An example of the merging of public and private art is reflected in the partnership of the famous Renaissance painter Raphael and his powerful boss, Pope Leo the 10th. A research paper I did for history class encapsulated the following: a relationship between Raphael, who was given papal documents to visit a powerful family in Rome to explore and study their collection of ancient statues,so Raphael could learn from them and take his sketches to make improvements on church art internally. This showed a connection between the past antiquity and the rediscovery of pagan philosophies expressed visually in the church. During this time, the church would pay the artist, and most had no choice in what they depicted. The Renaissance was when artists became better known as individuals like Michelangelo, whereas in the past, they were traditionally known as craftspeople or in Medieval guilds.
The Enlightenment emerged from the Renaissance, which set the stage for the cabinet of curiosities. They were wooden storage cases housing objects of the natural world, such as shells, butterflies, objects from antiquity, or anything else that caught their fancy. During the 17th and 18th centuries in Europe, wealthy individuals would participate in a grand tour. They would travel around Europe and collect art for their large houses, paintings, sculptures, etc. This personal collection for one’s house was shown off to friends. It also depicted wealth and good taste in the owner of such a collection. The way art was hung in these places was nothing like a museum. Paintings were put where things would fit in terms of size and space. There was no label next to the artwork explaining what it was. Modern-day museums correct this problem and always have a label next to the artwork so you can understand the context and subject. But how did things go from a collection of church art and wealthy home art to the general public?
An excellent article at the University of California goes into the origins of this particular topic. Andrea Estrada writes it at UC in Santa Barbara. The information in this article is from 2014, showing that our understanding of museums is still constantly evolving. “In 1734, almost 60 years before the Louvre debuted in Paris, the Museo Capitolino (Capitoline Museum) opened in Rome. Established under Pope Clement XII, it was the first public art museum of international importance and served as the model for such institutions as we know them today.”
Let’s now look at a far-reaching event in history. This is one of many parts of the story of the Holocaust, as the topic can be written about from many angles and perspectives. The Nazis removed private art from public display. This is still an insightful example of breaking the line between private and public art. The art within the private homes of individuals during the years leading up to World War II would be objects of plunder. The history of the Holocaust covers the atrocities done to countless people. It is starting to become knowledge now through the work of individuals like the monuments men that art and culture were caught up in the events of World War II. The monuments' men are fascinating to me, and I will cover them in depth in their posts. An essential word in the world of art is called repatriation. This means covering the debate in art taken from another culture or person and to whom and how it should be returned and displayed.
Adolf Hitler was interested in art and wanted to start his museum. The Nazis stole the art in the thousands from families all over Europe. There is a beautiful documentary called The Rape of Europa. This goes into detail about the events from Hitler’s planning of the museum to the art being stolen and stored in caves. Some even went so far as to take the art and put it in their homes. An example of one of these individuals was Herman Goering. The logistics of this art theft were vast, encompassing trainloads full of artwork and stolen objects from individuals. A group of American specialists called in to protect the art, historical monuments, and places in Europe during the war were not military men. These individuals were art historians and curators, and each had a role to play. While a movie was made of the monument's men, unlike what was depicted on the silver screen, they were not in constant contact with each other and often worked in isolation—having to completely figure situations from the ground up to what they would do moment to moment while staying alive.
It is important to note that the wrongs of the past in terms of Nazi art theft are attempting to be painstakingly repaired. There are databases of stolen art that are yet to be found in logs, along with the works that have been returned to family members if possible. Otherwise, the works are returned to museums. There is also a debate now on whether museums should repatriate work to family members once they come forward and realize that a particular work of art belongs to a blood relative of theirs. This still goes on to this day.
Modern-day museums are for everyone, and that is traditionally reflected in the free days that most museums have. Most museums have a day where the general admission fee is waived, allowing visitors to look at the permanent collection for free, with exceptions like special exhibitions. See the post on that here. Modern-day museums are varied and unique depending on what they show to the public. For example, a comprehensive type of museum like the Metropolitan will house a little bit of everything. In contrast to this, a highly specialized museum like the one in Amsterdam shows nothing but art by Vincent van Gogh. A comprehensive museum is a beautiful way to get a feel for what art museums have to offer, and then, based on what you like, you can plan future visits from there.
In conclusion, the history of museums shows us that the evolution of public spaces and private spaces come together to create more than just a place to reflect on history. Such institutions preserve and educate the public on the history of humankind. They chart the creative spirit of our species and enrich our minds and values. The preservation of such places can benefit all people. If you are a member or visit on a free day, there is a place for everyone at museums. So check out what is in your local area and be a sightseer in your hometown.
References and Sources:
Teeple, J. B. (2002). Timelines of world history. DK Pub.
Origins of the public art museum. (2014, November 5). University of California. https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/origins-public-art-museum
Iconoclastic controversy. (n.d.). Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/event/Iconoclastic-Controversy
Definition of Museum. (n.d.). Dictionary by Merriam-Webster: America’s most-trusted online dictionary. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/museum
