18th Century Museum Origins: Art, Society and the Promise of Permanence PDF

**The History of Museums 2** **Week VII -- November 13th, 2024** [18th Century Museum Origins: Art, Society and the Promise of Permanence ] 18^th^ century is important period because then the princely collections started the museums. 3 fundamental assumptions about Art Museums in the 18^th^ cent...

**The History of Museums 2** **Week VII -- November 13th, 2024** [18th Century Museum Origins: Art, Society and the Promise of Permanence ] 18^th^ century is important period because then the princely collections started the museums. 3 fundamental assumptions about Art Museums in the 18^th^ century (art museums will be the focus of this semester) (We are in the robust museum formation in Germany): 1. The museums assumes that there is such a thing as art, as things valuable for their own sake without practical purpose. We take it for granted. Things are valuable for their own sake, without necessarily a practical purpose. Because they are art, they can all be experienced "aesthetically": that is to say, as things valuable for their own sake, without practical purpose. 2. Aesthetic experience is somehow beneficial to individuals and society. Even if art does not have a useful purpose, it does have a benefit. Art and aesthetic become intertwined. Museums are therefore supposed to promote beauty, virtue and enlightenment. 3. Museums celebrate the value of past art and recognize the need to protect and conserve it for the future. That is why today we have storage areas, climate control in galleries, glass in front of art pieces, etc. With these assumptions, the museums offer a promise of permanence to the treasures they contain. Along with this idea of valuing art, comes the idea of [connoisseurship] = knowledge and expertise, authority. If one is a connoisseur, they have the authority to really distinguish the works of art of one another. It is an idea of power(knowledge), and power and knowledge often go hand in hand. Drawings -- prints by Chodowiecki, demonstrating the art of connoisseurship. It became validated with the emergence of museums. We see ways to look at art. We see a statue of a female carrying flowers and fruits in her apron. In some ways it represents pride of place, under a tree (natural abundance -- fertility, beauty). We see two men, who admire the allegory. On the left: one is pointing at the apron of abundance and the men are talking to each other. The man on the right has his right hand up, they are in a conversation. They are well dressed -- certain kind of class. Behaving in a way that represents connoisseurship. On the right: in relationship to this work of art, rather than discussing, they stand in admiration and awe. They are looking at her, it almost looks like that on the right they directly look at her face, as if they are learning from her. They are engaging and looking, she is looking down on them. What we are showing and discussing is where art museums came from. The idea in the 18^th^ century has to do with aesthetics, the appreciation of art. This was new in the 18^th^ century. It was closely associated with the idea of [perception]. It has to do with [cognition], what they learn and is has also to do with [imagination]. Theoretical Statement on Aesthetic - 4 philosophers from Germany: 1. [Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten (1714-1762)] First important German philosopher of art. Aesthetic was the art of thinking beautifully. Bringing beauty in an intellectual paradigm. Beauty, such as the statue who holds abundance in her apron, suggests perfection. It is an expression of a special kind of truth, with roots in our cognitive facilities We are able to absorb a special kind of truth, beauty as a truth, that is not something that is love, but beauty in its essence represents truth. 2. [Moses Mendelssohn (1757)] He expanded on Baumgarten's analysis of art's psychological roots. He was convinced of the high value of beauty but tried to connect it to the sciences. [Beauty's common source is the sensuous expression of perfection.] Marble statues holding abundance, is not only the truth, but the beauty is found in the sensuous expression of perfection. 3. [Johann Georg Sulzer (1771-1774)] "Aesthetic" a new term, invented to describe a branch of knowledge that has existed for only a few years. It is the philosophy of fine arts. Association between beauty and goodness (virtue) in art, are inevitably intertwined. Public use of galleries (corridors in palaces), for artistic education was their most important function. Here is a shift from private display to public. Art can make humans more virtuous and therefore better citizens: "the cultivation of taste is...a great national concern". 4. [Emmanuel Kant (1790)] He took it even further and talked about the purpose of beauty. - [Beauty can and should instruct and delight]. It had a purpose, and we certainly see that in the prints where the men are instructed by the statue, and they are delighted. - [Beauty expresses the moral order, what is virtues, by bringing it into the sensory realm, by experiencing something beautiful, we make it more accessible. ] - [Appreciating art is a moral and aesthetic act.] - [The experience of beauty is necessarily a collective act. By developing our taste, we intensify our social identity.] The men are learning to appreciate art together. They are learning how to see, a common language to share. This makes an exclusive experience in that period. **Neoclassicism** - A new style of art. Fusion of taste and virtue as a central element in the admiration of ancient art and culture. - Buildings in Germany were made in forms that looked like ancient Greek and Roman building. - This 18^th^ century idea of neoclassicism coincided with the philosophical aesthetics from Baumgarten to Kant. - New art that resembles ancient art: visual frame of reference in the 18 century is the ancient art. - Neoclassicists found the connection between beauty and goodness in the historical example of Greece, which replaced Rome as the chief source of antiquity. [Neoclassism had 2 lasting ingredients for the development of German museums: ] 1. Stylistic values that guided the early museums' style and contents; 2. Solutions to aesthetic problems could be found in the history of art. Statue of Venus: aesthetic problem in that period could be solved by looking at examples of the ancient world. The development of [art in antiquity] - **[Johann Winckelmann]**: - This work was rooted in ideals of order and definitions of progress. His ideas began with the ancient Greeks. - Exalted Greek sculpture's "noble simplicity and serene grandeur" - He did not only stop with the philosophical idea but associated [the grandeur of great] [art with politics]. - And related the idea of artistic supremacy directly to Athenian democracy and freedom. Idea of foundation of Greek art as the beginnings, formed museums and formed our history. He worked for a cardinal nephew of the pope in the center of Rome. The idea of nepotism was acceptable in the 18^th^ century. The nephew bought a lot of art with the money of the pope. He builds a villa (Villa Torlonia-Albani (1763)), specifically to house the art. He hired Winckelmann to write about his collections. **[The Public Sphere]** - In the 18^th^ century: divisions between new public and traditional court were always porous. - New involvement in the public sphere was a natural extension of the prince's role as patron of the arts as well as the court's traditional function of communicating values to its own members and the world at large. They were commissioning art and paintings by artists. They became patron of the arts and share their ideas. - Interaction of court and public in careers such as was institutionalized in many royal academies of art formed throughout central Europe in the 18^th^ century. Public meant that people from all classes come to see the collections. It was an idea of princely collections in that period. This was an aristocratic idea and done by the nobility. Electors in Germany -- had high political power but were below the kings. They had the power to elect the members of the house. Like a high duke. **Anton Graff** was a famous portrait painter of his day ¾ pose, gazing at the viewer. He is also seated in front of his easel, as an important artist. He was appointed by an elector. Painting of Frederick the Great. Nepotism. Beautiful painting is aesthetic, but also a way to show power. Graff was making portraits of those who are members of patrons. Graff used his growing public reputation to improve his patronage position. **[Origins of the Modern Art World]** - To be found in the princely courts. - We are seeing that art's primary value came to depend less on its rarity and costly materials than on its moral and intellectual effect. We see patronage of new ways of art (sculpture). - In this period, painting and sculpture became more highly prized than costlier tapestries and jewels - 1750-1799 Luxembourg Palace in Paris opened to the public for 3 hours, 2 days a week. When it closed, plans were already being made for the Louvre -- this was in anticipation of the Louvre - 1753 British house of Commons approved the creation of a museum, that would give "free access to all studious and curious persons." 6 years later, in 1759, the British Museum opened. Bringing art as a moral virtue was taking root throughout the powerhouses of Europe - In the course of the 18^th^ century, almost every important German collection opened to the public. Art was transformed from an ornament of the courtly world to a source of public edification. - Gallery descriptions as well as catalogues (new at that time), art periodicals and reproductions of famous works helped to develop an audience for the visual arts among the small literary public that began to remake German culture in the 18^th^ century. **Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria** **(1529-1595)** Ambras Castle was the only Renaissance Kunstkammer of its kind to have been preserved at its original location. **Prince-Elector Karl Theodor (1724-1799)** Now we are in Germany where prince electors are forming galleries in their palaces. Karl acquired 400 paintings from his successor, and he arranged them in a didactic, symmetrical arrangement. This was new in that period. You did not see that in the Kunstkammer or private collections. He made a catalogue. Paintings were displayed in styles and schools, rather than subjects. Thus, introducing a completely new and modern system of organizing art. He put space between them, that was to preserve their identity as separate works of art. This new display gave viewers the chance to draw comparisons. **Christian Mechel (1737-1817)** - Swiss art dealer and engraver, collaborated with Nicholas de Pigage to produce the Dusseldorf Catalogue, showing contents wall by wall. - He was also hired by Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and her son Joseph II to convert the private Hapsburg collection held in the stables to one of public display. - These displays and catalogues were designed to encourage the kind of aesthetic experience involving the moral function of beauty and the necessity of a discriminating taste - Idea of demonstrating the virtues of looking at art. - Involving the moral of beauty - Discrimination of taste Picture of an early Roman emperor Charles VI and Gundacher, Count Althann, 1728 - Demonstrates the virtues of collecting and organizing. Inventories were made. He is being crowned by an angel above him. Allegory of vein (?), presenting to him the inventory of collections. The book is the inventory of the collections of the Holy Roman empire. This painting shows the values of these collections and the need for inventory for displaying. **Empress Maria Theresa -- *Belvedere Museum* (Vienna, 1781)** - Built as a summer residence in Vienna as a baroque palace. - She acquired the complex and transformed the Upper Belvedere into an exhibition venue for the imperial collections to be opened to the public -- making it one of the earliest public museums. - Rooms were used to display the royal collections Dresden, at the same time as Belvedere opened - Goethe visiting Dresden, which was initially a place for holding horses, taken over by August the Strong who was an eager collector of art. He transformed it into an art gallery. - Goethe was mesmerized. It surpassed every conception he had formed. Values of splendor, tranquility, etc. \> values we might take for granted when visiting a museum. - Art for art's sake. Is presented in the electors gallery because it is beautiful, and this has a moral virtue. **[Museum's Architectural Origins in the Princely collections of the Early Modern Court (Kammer -- Cabinet) - Gallery]** - Antiquiarium, 1568 - Built by Duke Albrecht V of Munich to house the ducal Collection of Classical Antiquities and Library as an extension of the Munich Residenz; converted into a ballroom soon after. - Surviving example of the oldest/first renaissance style palace built north of the Alpes. - Friedrichsplatz, 1789 - Wanted to make connections with nearby town. He built the palace (in Kassel), and it had ancient Roman and Greek architectural style. Built to look like the ancient world. He built it with a public square in front to make it open to the public that was curious, that was learning. - Museum Fridericianum, founded in 1779, Kassel - World's first purpose-built public museum - First documenta exhibition, founded by Arnold Bode, took place in the provisionally restored Fridericianum building in 1955. **Intellectual, architectural and institutional foundations on which the German art museum would be constructed** - Specialization of princely collections - Their increasing visibility - Their historic arrangements **Lecture VIII -- November 20^th^, 2024** *[The Case of Italy: The Capitoline, Vatican and Uffizi Museums]* Today: 18^th^ and 19^th^ centuries, into the evolution of museum as we know them. **[The Grand Tour]** High days in the 1700s. What was it? - A fashionable, long journey to complete one's classical education, lasting a few years. - It was a cool thing to do, but only if you were from a certain class. Who took it? - Young aristocrats, mostly gentlemen from England, Germany, Scandinavia and North America Where did they go? - Paris, Venice, Florence, and above all Rome When? - Late 16^th^ century - 19^th^ century Picture: engraving of Piazza del Popolo by Giovanni Battista Piranes. He made scenes, vedutas. Ancient and modern buildings in Rome. Pictures were drawn to scale. [**Political Histories** - That formed our historical museums] In Rome, the popes were in charge: 754CE -- 1870 \> in 1861 Italy became one country. Florence: ruled by a group of families. It was its own city state. Italian bourgeois family Medici ruled Florence and later Tuscany from 1434-1737. That is when the last heir of the Medici family died. The Medici family provided Rome the papacy with 4 popes and wives in royal families of Europe. Their power was far more than only in their city. **[Museum Histories]** Musei dei Capitoline (Capitoline Museums), Rome 1471. -- started with a small donation by Pope Sixtus: 4 bronze statues. As a religious clerk, this was a symbolic gesture. So, it was started by a series of pope. Musei dei Vaticani (Vatican Museums), Rome 1771. \- Pio Clementino Museum -- First Vatican Museum Gallerie degli Uffizi (Uffizi Galleries), Florence 1759. \- open to the public, 16 years after the death of the last Medici heir Who visited these museums? Many were aristocrats, traveling with their tutors, etc. They were visiting also some of the private palaces. **Capitoline Museums Musei Capitolini** Presenting "A Nation of Statues", located on one of Romes 7 ancient hills. They were placed with a certain narrative, which had to do with the idea of inheritance -- nationalistic exhibition programs. Even though a lot of the statues were naked (against the church), and pagan images, but they were a cultural, traditional legacy. Bringing them over, popes share the legacy with the people of Rome. Was it altruism? Loyalty was expected to the church in return. - The Dying Gaul (230-220 BCE): prized because how complete it still is. It is almost like triangle standing up. For a long time, it was considered as a dying gladiator. He was associated with the group of Gaul's that were captured by the imperial Romans. He is dying as a soldier, succumbing to his wound with as much dignity as possible. - Pope Sixtus IV. For 200, 1300-1400s -- the French pope left for Avignon. Sixtus came back to Rome. Along with his religious duties, he reestablished Rome as the papal center. The bridge: the first built across the river since antiquity. The fresco: picture of Sixtus, who is seated on a papal throne. In the Renaissance style with depth and perspective. A corridor that is defined by pillars on either side. Appointing a young artist, on the left picture, everyone is related to him. He also built the Sistine chapel. His relative, who became Julius II, commissioned Michaelangelo to paint the chapel. - The Capitoline Wolf: still not sure from which period. The boys are later added in the 15^th^ century. What is important about the wolf, relates a legend, that has to do with the founding of Rome. Vestal virgin who had the twins Romus and Remulus. She sent the babies to the river (like Mozes). They were found in a basket by a she-wolf. Later, one killed the other (like Abel and Kaan). To transfer, without the babies the she wolf was important as a symbol of justice. Two building on the side, are the Capitoline museums. The central building is the town hall. On this hill, there were medieval building and ancient temple dedicated to Jupiter. The hill pulsates with power and history. It figures in our story, when the piazza was created, the statues were added in the 15^th^ century. Charles, king of France, visited Rome, and they decided to fix it up before he visited. Another statue was brought over, of Marcus Aurelius. These equestrian portraits were very popular in antiquity. Used to show the power and magnificence of the emperors. On the left is the original, copy outside: to protect, specifically against terrorist attacks. These were magistrate building, so not built as a museum. But it was given meaning over time. Behind the statue, on the building: Minerva, goddess associated with Rome, of wisdom and war. Next to her are 2 ancient river gods. Tiber river and a god for the Nile. What you have here is the piazza is a display of imperial power in the center, goddess Roma in the back and statues to show the territory of Rome (Egypt-Nile). And this was put together by popes. This legacy of ancient Rome was inherited by the popes and shared by the civic community. Engraving/drawing of the Capitoline Statues that were put there as protectors at the top of the stairs. Designed by Michaelangelo. Monumental building which gives even more meaning to the site. Antiquities show the legacy of Rome. On left: pieces of sculpture of Constantine. He was important to the popes, because he was the first emperor to accept Christianity. Right: Marcus Aurelius. One of the great halls in the museums: unified picture how Rome wants to present itself. Frescoes to complement the statues in the corridor. Scenes on the wall of the founding of Rome. Wolf and the twins above the statue. Palazzo Nuovo -- showing the legacy and power of ancient Rome. **[Johann Winckelmann ]** He did travel, to Italy and became enamored with (Greek) antiquities. Rome was an ultimate destination for the Grand Tour. On the right we see his patron (cardinal Alessandro Albani), which gave Winckelmann a lot of ways of getting things. He sold and bought to grand tourists. That was another source of income. Insides of the new building of the Capitoline: this collection comes from the Albani collection. The museums opened in the 1730s, with the acquisition of the collection of Albani. Too many sculptures were leaving Rome, popes did not want that. They wanted to keep it in Rome and bought them and put them on display. Capitoline Venus Pope Benedict XIV -- established an academy of the nude. He donated a large number of paintings to the upstairs. **Vatican Museums/Musei Vaticani** A blending of older conceptions of princely display with emerging Enlightenment notions of educating the citizens. Papal crest, and sculptured figures. On the right is a man holding a pallet and paint brush: Raphael, and on the left: older man with a beard with a hammer, which is Michaelangelo. Two famous Renaissance artists and this entry had honored them. 24 galleries in total with Sistine Chapel the last room visited within the museums Opening up private collections for the public, who was those with a curiosity of arts (non-aristocratic) In the middle of the long corridors, long galleries, with courtyards in between, in the Vatican palace. It became the residence of the popes in the middle of the 1400s. Pope Julius II. He was a relative of Sixtus. A woodcut of a scene visiting a site in Rome where a statue was unearthed. Apollo Belvedere, which he then brough back to the Vatican. Vatican is a series of museums, that is started over the years by different popes. Clement and Pius VI opened the first museum of antiquities. It was designed in a neo classical style. A new museum to look like/designed in ancient style. You also see the stance, Egyptian sculptures. Rotonda -- round room, series of 4 rooms, it houses the statues from the papal collections. Absolute copy of the Pantheon. - Designed in a neoclassical style to house these ancient works In the center of the 9 Muses room, is the Belvedere torso. The muscularity was very important. Not only was the interior the architecture that had to mirror the content, but the ceiling paintings had to reflect what was inside the room. Ceiling painting on Apollo. Apollo played the lyre, and he was a God. Marcius said he was a better musician, and Apollo attacked him. The idea is, why is this terrible story chosen for a ceiling of a papal ceiling. Yes, we are showing the ancient god, but just as they have power over human, the popes also had power over the people. Apollo Belvedere in the courtyard. Laocoon Group (27 BCE -68 CE): prized because it was one piece of sculpture. Tied by serpents who are actually killing them. From the Iliad, Trojan times. The Vatican is a complex of museums from popes with different interests. Egyptian sculptures from Italian soil. The rooms that housed the Egyptian collections were decorated for these sculptures. 1822, Chiaramonte Museum, wing in a corridor. A lot of elements of antiquity in neo classical style. River gods were allegories and had the idea of abundance. This museum which if filled with antiquities, was after the fall of Napoleon. The museum in the Vatican was made in response to the idea of keeping the legacy in Rome. These were put on display with the intent purpose that these works could not be taken from Rome again. In this corridor, is a masterwork of the emperor Augustus. No matter how old he is, he always looks young. A copy of the Augustus that is at the entrance of Vatican museums. The statues were painted back then, in very bright colors. [Sistine Chapel] Only windows at the top, because of fortification, defense and protection. God is in the center creating Adam, you can see the Michaelangelo attention to the human form, anatomy. He was forced to paint the chapel. He said that he is a sculptor, therefore the figures look like this, with a deep attention to anatomy. Last supper: scene of great movement, and that contains images of those who are destined to heaven and those condemned to hell. You can also see a self-portrait of M, being held as a piece of skin by a saint who was also skinned on the right side on a cloud. **Galleria degli Uffizi -- Florence** Offices built by the Medici, for the many guilds in the city. They wanted to build offices and also wanted to transfer their collections there. Sharing some of their collections with the public. They lived in the Medici palace, in the center of the city and it is an example of high renaissance architectural design with symmetrical façade. The Uffizi was built next to the city hall. This famous image of David, created by Donatello, was made for the house of the Medici (bottom-left). Symbol for the city of power, symbol for young shepherd, and also art historically it was made new in bronze since antiquity. Francesco I de Medici was less interested in politics, more in collecting. He has a studiolo, it was a Wunderkammer. He collected all kinds of things, exotic stones, feathers, coins, etc. They were all valuable and he put them in the cabinets. Uffizi was opened by request since Cosimo built it. By 1765 is was officially opened to the public and it formally became a museum in 1875. Portraits of Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici -- the last Medici. She took responsibility to inherit the cultural patrimony of the Medici family. The Habsburgs were coming in. She established a family pact and donated the entire Medici inheritance to Florence and that it had to stay in the city and be open to the public. The most famous room: Tribuna. On the upper floor of the galleries, 8 sided like the Belvedere courtyard. Not an accident that he chose the 8 sides room (religious). It became the centerpiece for the most prized items. Intellectual design: pavement is mosaic, design had to do with earth, wind fire. Rich history for the design of this building. Tribuna of the Uffizi (1772-1778). Portrait, study -- gallery picture. Zoffany was sent to Florence, and he spent 6 years to make it. It looks like the Tribuna, red, sculptors. He put people in the picture, discussing the works. Also, a self-portrait of Zoffany. You see a great dialogue, how the rooms were used, the appreciation, the way that art lived in the age of the Grand Tour. Birth of Venus (1485) -- Sandro Botticelli Based on a myth. A lot of painting based on Christianity and Greco-Roman history. Covering her nudity, not like Venus in Capitoline. She is based on antiquity. The wind is blowing her towards the land. Flower petals all over the sea. Picture of harmony. He based them on romantic poetry of that time. Primavera (spring) (1477-1482) Few years before Venus. God of wind, blowing on the nymph. Holding flowers in the apron of her dress. We see the figure of spring in the center, almost like a halo around her. To her right, dancing graces and the god Mercury touching abundance of growth. There has been suggestion that the oranges are a reference to the Medici because of the healing of oranges. Fertility and abundance based on poetry. **Lecture IX -- November 27^th^, 2024** *[The Enlightenment and Age of Revolution: The British Museum and the Louvre]* Renaissance: period of the age of discovery. People began to travel the world for the purpose of economic exploration, religious missions and intellectual discovery. It was the Age of Discovery (15^th^-17^th^ century) \> to showcase broad humanist learning and a panoramic education. Cabinets of curiosity began as rooms, with locks. They were compilations of wonderful things. Mirrors of knowledge. There were objects that were coming from far, pieces of a whole (tiny gemstone, feather from a bird, etc.). they were access to knowledge, an idea of knowledge collecting that was highly valued in the Renaissance. - Wundercamera -- cabinets of curiosities (natuaralia, artificialia, scientifica) - Kunstcamera -- cabinets of art (paintings, sculpture) Studiolo of Francesco I de 'Medici. It was private, mostly. Francesco could invite people. It was meticulous, it was organized, the paintings were done by well-done commissions by well-known artists. Every part of this room was painted, even the ceiling and they had all symbolic meaning through the iconography of the paintings. He was interested in alchemy. Painting on the left. Materiality of the properties. Mixing something in a pan. Ceiling painting on Prometheus receiving jewels from nature. To make something out of nature. Was meant to comment on the interplay of divine, nature and humanity. - Precursor on what we know as the museum today. Ordering, categorizing it. Ferrante Imperato, *Dell'Historia Naturale* (Naples, 1599) - Pharmacist - Collected and learned - Stack of books, cabinets (some are open) - Stuffed bird (natural curiosity) - All kinds of sea animals and shells installed on the ceiling - We do not only get a picture of what was collected, but also how these rooms were used. They were private, but semi-private. If you received people of certain status, you also get that status. - Gave rise to the early natural history museum: the British Museum **[The Founding of the British Museum]** The first national museum to cover all fields of human knowledge. - Sir Hans Sloane. He came from an aristocratic family. He became a physician, collector of *Naturalia*, and then the founder of the British Museum. - *Two Butterflies* (Merian). She worked for collectors, she drew naturalia. Royal Society of London - Founded in 1660 - This was founded for experimental science and the study of natural world. Looking at objects and learning from them. - The 17^th^ century was the beginning of the age of reason, evidence-based attempt to acquire knowledge. - Sloane's interest in scientific matters, and his social and intellectual position in London life, led to his being appointed president of the royal Society following the death of Isaac Newton in 1727. One of the reasons why the Capitoline was formed, because of many excavations, like Pompeii (1748). Excavating was mostly done by Brits. Young students in their late teens, early 20s, went on a Grand Tour and would go to Italy. Mixing with social peers, learning about the arts, and they would also collect. Taking of objects and excavating. - Sir William Hamilton was a British diplomat, politician, antiquarian and vulcanologist. - Was stationed in Naples as Envoy Extraordinary to the Kingdom of Naples. Objects that were found were brought back to England. - Brought the Portland Vase, cameo glass, probably made in Italy (c. 5-25) By Sloane's death (1753), his museum had grown to very great proportions. He sold it after his death. It first remained in his house. - Sloane's collections contained 88.000 books, including volumes of manuscripts and drawings; 24.000 coins and medals; 43.000 natural-history specimens, a herbarium of over 300 volumes of plant specimens; at least 5000 miscellanies, including antiquities, ethnographical objects, and assorted curiosities. - Engelbert Kaempfer (1751-1617), surgeon to the Dutch East India Company, who first reached Japan in 1690. He documented the geography of Japan. Published in 1730. He made volumes of books on information about Japan before he died in 1716. *The Library of Charles Townley* by Johann Zoffany. The idea of what people are doing in relationship to collections in the 18^th^ century. We now had an idea about it. Learning, studying, admiring. *First sight of the British Museum at Old Montagu House* by Sir George Scharf. The viewing hours were adjusted so working people could visit in the evening and weekends. In the paintings it is during the day. Stuffed giraffes, classical antiquity, etc. It started with the curiosities of Sloane. *The Trustees in the Temporary Elgin Room* by Archibald Archer, 1819. From the Parthenon, Acropolis. Brought to London by Lord Elgin. He wanted the marbles for himself. He claims to have gotten permission from the Ottoman leaders (Greece) and to bring them to London. When they were taken, they were taken with an idea of preserving. In retrospect there are many questions on the moral value on it. He came back to London; he had to sell the marbles to the British museum. Now they are arranged museologically, how they might have looked on the Acropolis hill. **The building** The British museum opened to the public in 1759, but it started out in the house of Sloane. Until 1848 it got its own building, which is not unusual. Designed by Sir Robert Smirke, **[Neoclassicial]** building. It looks like an ancient temple (like Fridericianium). Covered walkways with ionic pillars. Pediment: triangle on top. Steps leading up to the entrance. All of which exact component of the acropolis and ancient temples. Contained with knowledge. The Pediment, 1848, designed by Sir Richard Westmacott Intended to be plain and blank. These carvings on the entry are carving that were placed in the pediment. It is not just random sculptures. It does express the foundational myth of Enlightenment rationalism and Victorian imperialism justifying empirical classification and material appropriation. Idea that the world is theirs. Reflects the ideas inside the museum: - Animals - Men, being kind of pulled by an angel with wings, holding a gold oil lamp, is in the collection of the British museum. - Then the story of agriculture, taking care of the land, making things grow. Then the idea of men being pulled up to nature. - Then two seated figures and one standing: women, allegories for the 9 muses. - Figure holding a globe, reflecting the cosmos on the bottom. Figure of the cosmos. Reflects the entire universe - A writer, muse of theater, musician, someone standing for mathematics, and other animals. It is really worthwhile spending so much time on the building of a museum. They are monuments. Altes Museum **What did the British Museum collect?** It didn't have much from its own backyard. The major change of direction for the British Museum in the mid- nineteenth century carne with the appreciation that material culture representing times and places other than the classical world, Egypt, and the Near East had a part to play. The Royal Gold Cup, late 14^th^ century. - Likely presented by Jean, duc de Berry. Decorated with enamel, has pearls, jewels. Depicts the martyrdom of saint Agnes. - Entered the British Museum in 1892, acquired by British Museum curator Augustus Wollaston Frank, who in 1850 had organized the Ancient and Mediaeval Exhibition at the Society of Arts. - Prehistoric, British, medieval, later European, and oriental antiquities flooded into Bloomsbury, and for the first time since its foundation the British Museum became a museum of world cultures The curiosities and antiquities stayed in the British Museum. In 1824, the paintings and sculptures left to the National Gallery (looks like the Pantheon). The idea of unity, remained, but separated in several buildings. The Enlightenment attitude, encouraging the extraction of knowledge from objects, books, and works on paper, all part of a single body, prevailed until1973, when the British Library was established as a separate body. In the late 1990s the library moved into its own building. Another important departure was the eventual absence from the British Museum of paintings on canvas or wood. **[Louvre, Paris]** Built in the 12^th^ century, as a castle, to defend the crusaders. It suffered fires, was expanded, rebuilt and housed various monarchs. So, didn't start out as a museum. That is not unusual for museums throughout Europe. Compte d'Angivilir worked for the king. He was responsible for beginning the conversion of the Louvre to a museum. On the right painting he is seated with his right hand on a scroll. This depicts the plan for the Louvre. He was in charge of the buildings of the king, making them representable. The comte began the conversion of the Palais du Louvre into a museum. By the late 18th c., art collecting emerged as a competitive field for European monarchs and principalities to vie for recognition and superiority. France did not have the rich cultural patrimony that Italy had. There were ideas that were growing about the nation of France. Monarchy was in danger. Jacques-Louis David painted about the French nation, painting classical themes. *Oath of the Horatti*, 1784 - Making an oath to their father. The father is in the center, the frame is an ancient Roman setting. Light is on the women. This moralizing content was part of a larger desire to make a growing museum a useful institution. Keeping ideas of moral values, valuing the government, etc. - The moralizing and commemorative content of this and other paintings and sculptures signaled a desire to make the museum a \"useful\" public institution in keeping with Enlightenment ideology *The Lictors Bring to Brutus the Bodies of His Sons* - Idea of loyalty to the nation and the connection of that idea back to the classical world. **Also, the transformation of the Louvre** From the start, there has been tension between ideal viewing conditions inside the museum and the need to build an architectural monument worthy of the museums' purpose and sponsors. The Grand Gallerie of the Louvre, really turned into a museum. Windows in the museums, painters seated on the steps, copying famous paintings. Idea of looking, copying, learning. Hubert Robert depicts a high arched ceiling of this grand long palace. It is not really sufficient for all the looking and painting, there is a lot of darkness. What happens? To turn it into a useful place, skylights are introduced. Niches were place where ancient statues were put instead of the windows. The Louvre is famously known for the schools, chronologies of painting. The Louvre is attempting a gallery of masterworks. It didn't have the rich patrimony that other regions in Europe had. This was a tumultuous period in Europe. Following the fall of the Bastille in 1789, dAngiviller, fearing for his safety joined many other aristocrats in exile abroad and left the fate of the museum to the Revolution. Jacques-Louis David: \"The national museum will embrace knowledge in all its manifold beauty and will be the admiration of the universe. By embodying these grand ideas, worthy of a free people, \... the museum... Will become among the most powerful illustrations of the French Republic." - In the creation of the louvre is a very strong associations with a museum being used, fulfilling the needs of the people. *Triumphant Entry of Monuments of Science and Art into France*, 1802, colored etching: - France is doing the same thing as England. Napoleon tried to separate it from the other nations. Taking back what was theirs. Room of Roman Emperors. Statues of Roman emperors lined the walls, and the ceiling was decorated with Charles Meynier\'s painting of Earth receiving the code of Roman law as dictated by Nature, wisdom, and justice, from the emperors Hadrian and Justinian. - This idea of nature, imperial rule and the justification of imperial rule was displayed and depicted in the museum *Transfiguration* by Raphael (1520), taken by Napoleon. He took it, put in on display, next to other religious renaissance paintings, forming a merging school of art history. **Gallerie d'Apollon, Louvre** Display of Royal Treasures, including crowns of Louis XV and Napoleon, Hortensia, orange-pink 20 carat diamond purchased by Louis XIV. Apollo Slays the Python, mid 19th - Drawing by Pietro Paoletto,1830. Canova is depicted as presenting to the current pope Pius VII after the fall of Napoleon, the retrieved works. Painting by Raphael, Lacoon statue, Apollo Belvedere, Belvedere torso. This pope created a gallery at the Vatican, and he ensured that these works could not be removed from there. - Idea of repatriation, cultural patrimony that was seized, being brought back, restitution. [Rosetta Stone] Discovered by French Army under Napoleon, ceded to Britain, who defeated the French in 1801 Egypt is now asking for the return of the Rosetta stone. Hartwig Fischer, the director of the British Museum, quotes: - "Dedication to truthfulness when it comes to history is absolutely crucial, with the aim to rewrite our shared, complicated and, at times, very painful history. - "The case dedicated to Hans Sloane and his relationship to slavery is a very important step in this. We have pushed him off the pedestal where nobody looked at him and placed him in the limelight. - "The British Museum has done a lot of work -- accelerated and enlarged its work on its own history, the history of empire, the history of colonialism, and also of slavery. These are subjects which need to be addressed, and to be addressed properly. We need to understand our own history." - Colonialism as part of collecting: Sloane also had slaved. Fischer removed the bust of Sloane because of it. **Lecture X -- December 4^th^, 2024** *[Nationbuilding and 19^th^ Century Museums in Europe ]* **19^th^ century European National Museums -- Their History** Those in power (royal, nobel, religious) collect things Shift from private to public display Establishment of nations, border, many of which remain in the borders. How culture was tied to establishment of nations and vice versa. - Museums as we know them, date to the Renaissance and collecting by princes and naturalists. People tied to the academies of learning, and interested in natural object were collecting things - National museums, as mechanisms for the development of self-civilized subjects, date to the Enlightenment, a philosophical movement that advanced evidence-based knowledge, liberty and separation of church and state - Demand for museums followed the Napoleonic Ward, with creation of national states - National states were based on cultural and political reimaginings of geographical borders and common sense of belonging - National museums created models and representations of nations -- their pasts, presents and futures - They were founded as manifestations of cultural and political desires, not necessarily based on historical facts. - National museums are not neutral. **Approaches toward the study of national museums** - NM represent relations between cultural property, deposits, and national patrimony. Patrimony = cultural idea that has a past, and it is often an inheritance. A cultural tradition that exists that is passed from one generation to another. Rootedness where culture comes from. - This idea of museums reflects a nation's transitional possessions but may also assert a nation's independence against imperial formations - Discussing European national museums, one must consider colonization and colonial acts of collecting - NM reflect complex negotiations between religious and governmental power. There is a separation between the church and the state. - NM become spaces -- churches (their own version of a church) -- for governance; religious art becomes secular. It has the feeling of a quasi-church. There is a expected behavior in a museum - Different museum types (archeological, art, history, folk, science, etc.) are deployed by different nation states. - Europe's national museums are endlessly transfigured, because of the restructuring of European empires and more recently because of calls for action from transnational communities. Request for example from Egypt to return the Rosetta stone, etc. **[Musee Napoleon/The Louvre -- Empire or Nation?]** Louvre is the name of the museums and the palace. When we talk about the Musee Napoleon, we talk about the question of nation building. An idea to house art of the world to display imperial ambitions. Revolution to overthrow the power of the kings in the late 18^th^ c. Also, the power of the church. Napoleon stepped in to proceed with the revolution, but he wanted to rule the empire, throughout Europe. He did this by fighting. He established treatise with the nations he fought with and took prized masterpieces. Napoleon named it after himself, and he added works as triumphs from war. Housing the art of the world to display imperial ambitions. How was this done? - Displaying Art works by geography, national schools and chronology - Collecting spoils of war - Looting and Appropriation - Comte d'Angiviller. On the left with a scroll with the design/evolution of the galleries of the Louvre. He was working for the king, to design a true French patrimony. The Louvre was established as a museum in 1793. And then it became Musee Napoleon in 1803? Creation of skylights (before Napoleon) for the purpose of establishing a national patrimony and enabling for students to learn to paint. France wanted more of their national works. During the Napoleon time he was collecting war trophies and putting them in the Louvre. Musee Napoleonthe many war trophies that Napoleonic imperial expansionism in Europe brought to the museum up to 1816. Serves Vase: movement of libraries (Laocoon, Capitoline Venus, etc.) eternally commemorated on the vase. After Napoleon fell, the sculptures were repatriated. **[British Museums]** - Began with gift from private collection of Sir Hans Sloane given to British government via King George II - Sites of knowledge necessary for 'cultured' or 'civilized' manners. - Nationalization of Empire This gift was given at the same time as Britain was establishing as an imperial power. Idea of education and behavior that went along with this gift. The British Museum, founded 1753, opened 1759. Neoclassical building by Sir Robert Smirke (1781-1867), like an ancient Roman temple. Pediment: from a man working the land to a man with knowledge (astrology) -- England was in charge of the arts and owned the world. Justified the collecting from all parts of the globe. Separation of classification. Paintings and sculptures that date from the early renaissance up to the 18^th^ century were moved to the National Gallery (opened in 1824). Looks like the Pantheon in Rome. **The Crystal Palace, 1851** Marvel of steel and glass engineering, made the foundation and armatures to hold up the glass. It was made not as a permanent museum, but to display the idea of progress. England was all over the globe, non-European nations, not like France. Palace was to show this idea of imperial progress, show the resources England was using, moment of industrialization. 150 years before the computer age. It was only open for 6 months, flocked with visitors, but it lasted in a building in the neighborhood, namely South Kensington, founded in 1842. People could come and learn, a place where objects were collected. Not only for display, but for the purposes of teaching, learning and understanding were objects come from and how they are made. V&A is the largest museums in the world for applied and decorative arts \> objects that could be decorated like vases, or ceramic tiles, but they also could have use -- tiles to a wall, ceramic bowls that are esthetic and useful. Huge evolution of things showing progress that then are put into museums. Gallery of Plaster Casts in V&A: copies of pulpits, from the late medieval age. First founded on the idea of showing progress, but also teaching what masterpieces are and giving opportunity of study. Water coloring of students learning how to paint It didn't stop with art -- science. In the 19^th^ century, as Britain was establishing as an imperial power, it founded a museum of National History in 1881. The "National" was present in many specialist museums. Nations claiming authority through the use of science in their museums. You enter this medieval church façade, but the contents change, the idea of authority does not change. **Prussia -- Foundation of a German nation-state 1871 -- Museum Island Berlin** Between the end of N revolution and until 1871, the king Wilhelm, tried to stabilize. Background of Prussia was in governmental turmoil in that period. Idea of museums of places that are reflecting an effort - 19^th^ century new national museums often sought to represent the monarchical nation - Royal and national morphed into each other and became national - King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia established the Königliche Museen (Royal Museums) in 1823. - Transnational practices in the formation of the European national museum landscape What was put in the museum, reflected the nation state. [Altes Museum] Museum Insel, Berlin, 1828, designed by Karl Friedrich Schinckel for King Frederick William III to be the first royal public art museum in Prussia. They were made for king Frederik William III. First royal public art museum in Prussia. Looks like a temple. Schinkel: known for this neo classicist (?) style. Idea of recreating the ancient world in a secular museum, that is taking place. King wanted to unify the churches but wanted these collections to be open to the public. (Egyptian) [Neues Museum*, built in1843-1855*] Designed by Friedrich August Stuler, restored 1999- 2009 by David Chipperfield. Still houses Egyptian antiquities. Cluster of museums designed in the classical style, with antiquities, as parts of Prussia's cultural patrimony. Excavations in that period -- scientists brought things back to Prussia Along with the antiquities, the central courtyard was painted as an ancient Egyptian setting. So, it was imaginative, because the designers have not been to Egypt. (Egyptian art) [Altenationalgalerie, *built in 1862-1876*] By order if King Frederick William IV of Prussia. Inaugurated on the king's birthday - Intended to express "the unity of art, nation, and history". Renaissance design and on the top is an equestrian statue of FW IV tops the stairs; from imperial Rome, where rulers were depicted on a horse back as power. Inside is a frieze by Otto Geyer depicting German history from prehistoric times to the 19^th^ century. - Creation of idea that Prussia has its king on a horse in the center of a temple, meaning that Prussia is in power. This building is claiming ownership of a land it wants to establish. Like the Louvre, which was collecting master paintings from all over Europe, Germany did the same. - Founded with donation of banker Johann Heinrich Wagener of 262 paintings by German and foreign artists. Collection was first known as the Wagener and National Gallery (paintings) [Bodemuseum*, built in 1898-1904*] By order of Emperor Wilhelm II in Baroque Revival style. The building\'s front square featured a memorial to German Emperor Frederick III, which was destroyed by the East German authorities. Renamed Bode Museum, 1956, after its first curator. Other museums in neoclassical style, this in Baroque Revival style. Volume in the building, a curved corner of the building, more depth to the façade. The building's front square featured a memorial. (Byzantine and medieval art) [Pergamon Museum] (1930) By order of Emperor Wilhelm II, the last German Emperor and King of Prussia until his abdication in 1918. Ancient Roman temple, the museum was built to showcase this temple. From 1820 to 1930. Establishment by kings of national museums that contain the range of art history to ancient history. [Humboldt Forum Berlin*, opened in 2021*] Incorporates the former Ethnological Museum of Berlin and Museum of Asian Art, both of which had roots in the Ancient Prussian Art Chamber established in the mid 16th century. Nearly destroyed during the Thirty Years' War (1618--1648), the art chamber was rebuilt as a magnificent collection by Elector Frederick William and moved to the newly extended Berlin Palace by Frederick I of Prussia in the early 18th century. Part of the façade to recreate the baroque building and part of it to be built in the style of modernity. Rationalist style that emerged in the 1930, reflects modernity, which was odd, because it was chosen during fascism. It houses a national museum of Asian art and non-Western art. It is a new national history with features old architecture. **A Home for the Habsburgs' formidable art collection -- Kunsthistorisches and Natural History of Museums in Vienna** A familial dynasty that ruled over whole of Europe. Period of creating of nation. - 19^th^ century new national museums often sought to represent the monarchical nation - Royal and national morphed into each other and became national - Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria-Hungary opened the Kunsthistorisches and Natural History Museum, with similar designs of Neo-Renaissance façade with octagonal dome, facing across from each other - On 28 June 1914, the assassination in Sarajevo of Franz Joseph\'s nephew, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, resulted in the activation of a system of political alliances and the launch of World War I **Kunsthistorisches and Natural History of Museums in Vienna** Opened in 1891 by emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria Hungary Renaissance façade -- horizontal, symmetrical, broad wings with large windows and a central entry way flanked by columns. This is the lavish entryway of the museums where the walls are decorated with allegories of the art by Klimt. It houses a huge array of royal collections that date back to the Renaissance collecting efforts. Primary collecting's are those of the Habsburgs, and the paintings of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm (on the right) -- all his painting in the painting. As they came from everywhere and put in Vienna, they became a symbol of nation states. [Imperial and Royal Court Museum of Natural History, *opened in 1889* ] Across the square from Kunsthistorisches Museum Included natural history and objects extra-European objects collected since the 16th c. and now under the domain of the new discipline of anthropology **[Governmentality]** Museums become part of the way in which government operates from the last third of the nineteenth century onwards **National Museums and War** [Turkish Military Museum, Istanbul] Turkey is showing its identity through military objects. Showing its power. Housed in a church used as a military storehouse. [National museum of Hungary -- tied to revolution] Staircase of this museum which date to the 19^th^ century was used by poets, alongside revolutionists recited poems attempting to establish separation in the Hungarian Revolution. [National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo] Inside the courtyard, are medieval grave markers. This was an effort by B&H to collect these as markers of national markers. To establish themselves as a nation to collect things that are considered as native to the land. **Colonial Museums** [Musée Royal de l'Afrique Centrale Tervuren, Belgium] Explaining the negative aspects of colonization. But first to celebrate the colonizing. Neo-renaissance/palace style contained non-Western worlds. Founded to celebrate the colonies with the naturals from the colonies [Folk Museum, Sweden] - Defined "ethnic-in" and "ethnic-out" groups of the nation - Played important role in defining nation's storyline. Demonstration of continuity was key - Skansen, Stockholm, Sweden, founded 1891 by Artur Hazelius -- vernacular buildings from throughout Sweden Vernacular houses. Hazelius brought the houses to Stockholm. Collecting made it possible to identify and defining the nations storyline. [Rijksmuseum van Oudheden] What makes a Dutch Museum of Antiquities a National Institution? Opened in 1838 Temple of Taffeh in the courtyard of the museum. It was a diplomatic gift from Egypt because the Netherlands and other countries helped stopping the flooding of the Aswan dam. [Rijksmuseum ] Founded in Den Haag, 1789. Building in Amsterdam by Pierre Cuypers, 1885 Dutch painting that is speaking of a national genius. We see specifically in the Netherlands, the national gallery pride and place, idea of positive national identity, character. Great masterpieces of the past seemed to speak of national genius and often also depicted scenes of great national importance that were supposed to reflect national character. PP: **Looking forward --** How were 19th century national museums redefined in the 20th century? What were the historic, social and political forces that compelled these redefinitions? - World War I (1914-1918), World War II (1939-1945), the Holocaust, the rise of Socialism, the collapse of Communism, post-colonialism - Resulting rearranging of territories What aspects of national museums were changed in the 20th century? - Pedagogical aims of enlightening educated publics shifted to presenting cultural identities What new kinds of museums evolved? - Memorial museums, war sites, museums of communism For the purpose of -- - Creating powerful self-images and equally powerful images of "others" **Week XI -- December 11, 2024** *[Universal Expositions, Colonial Collecting and Decolonization]* [Universal Museums] Formation of the British museum wasn't called a universal museum as it was established but evolved into it. What is it? - The term "universal" or "encyclopedic" refers to mainly famous, big museums that are destinations you go when you visit a particular city. Refer to famous museums with collections of art and other cultural items from around the world, not just from the nation where they are located. - Universal museums originated in western Europe with the Louvre and the British Museum. - In 2002, a declaration was signed about the value and importance of universal museums; - The declaration advocates for institutions that hold artefacts in one place on behalf of humanity. It is a declaration that we should acknowledge that museums do not serve for the people of one nation, but for all nations. This declaration has been increasingly called into question over the past few years. - Other side of the coin is that these museums offer a view of the world, on one side. They were established for celebrating the nation, like the Louvre, it had to do with what it could provide, intellectually. Tell a history of the world. But what these museums offer in terms of a panoramic worldview, is discussed in the declaration. Elgin Marbles (acquired in 1816) are an icon example about what is valuable in a universal museum. They are not in their place of origin and how they got into Brittain is up to debate. Trustees on the left upper painting. [Metropolitan Museum] Triumphal arch, columns with Capitoline pillars, stairways up to the entrance \> ancient temples. And we have seen theme everywhere, all over Europe. Why? Because the ancient world starting in the 18^th^ century (Renaissance), became the idea for western civilization. Idea of the sacred space was transferred from the ancient temples to the sacred space of the museum. Repatriation to the country of origins: Euphronios Krater (515 BCE). Depict subjects of mythology. It is with black ground, subject is left in the color of the clay, defined with black lines. Very refined as a work of art, and only intact work by this artist. Italy wanted it back because it discovered that is was illegally taken from a tomb. These kinds of repatriation are very much part of the narrative of antiquities in museums today. This is a 21c narrative, and what we need to do is understanding the variety of narratives that lead to today. Declaration is very important as well. [The Crystal Palace] Display space. Glass that is held together by steel. As a showcase, fair that was showcasing examples of progress. But it was also an imperial archive, fantasy into power. Objects made from minerals, extracted from colonized African, Asian countries, object made out of machines, displays of people that were examples of subjects of colonial powers outside of Europe. Collection of progress, for the purpose of education but also demonstration of imperial mind. The original mission of the V&A was design and social reform. Study spaces for people to learn, how to make things. Cast rooms of famous masterworks of art, this kind of combination of the worlds largest museums evolved out of a fair to show progress, but also imperial power. And that power was created as a museum of objects, within the idea of imperialism and through continue that idea through learning. [Ethnographic museums] - Ethnographic museums are often defined by their collections, which typically originate from non-Western and often small-scale communities from around the world. - From the 18th century public museums to 19th and early 20th century museums, ethnographic objects were accumulated to consolidate knowledge for scientific, institutional and colonial authority. - They come into play because: Europe was busy with colonialism in Africa and Asia. And the academic discipline of anthropology came into being. They are from the 18^th^ century, ethnographic objects were accumulated to consolidate knowledge for scientific, institutional and colonial authority - The material culture display of non-Western peoples often positioned the makers as less-developed in a false hierarchy which privileged Euro-Americans. Art and makers were seen as less developed as European makers. For this reason, we consider this false hierarchy, and this privileged Euro-Americans. - Today anthropology museums are often re-branded as institutions of 'world cultures'. - Today ethnographic material from around the world is understood to provide insights into the complexity of local and global histories of encounter, exchange, empire, migration, and disciplinary formation. **Nicholas Thomas -- "The Museum Inside-Out: Twenty Observations"** 8 of the 20 points on anthropology museums (the grey areas): 1. The late 19^th^ century was notable for an escalation of anthropological and imperial ambitions. 2. The late 20^th^ c saw new critical discourses that identified museums as hegemonic (=power, museums reflected truth and were put together by those in power, also meant that the late 20^th^ c saw that power needed to be challenged) formations, and museums professionals embracing opportunities toward more inclusive ways of working. Antr museums were considered as lesser museums. But they were more inclusive, which the other museums now follow. 3. Though long considered 4. Though public learning has been strengthened in many ethnographic museums, deep knowledge of collections continues to be vital and if neglected, diminishes the status of the objects. 5. There is a crude version of the decolonization critique, in which ethnographic museums are defined by colonial theft; the discourse registers no other identification, which can only be addressed by restitution. 6. This is a misrecognition of what the museums hold. They were not a result of theft, but willingly offered in exchange, diplomatic gifts, etc. Not simply that anthropological museums are bad or stolen. 7. Anthropological reports from the colonial period are compendia (groups) of knowledge; historic artefacts are reference points for makers and artists, and eloquent expressions of ancestral creativity. We don't know who made the objects in the anthropological museums. They are eloquent expressions of ancestral creativity. 8. Ethnographic collections speak, more potently, to histories of globalization and the conflicts they engender. They are a remarkable resource for the rediscovery and reinvention of sustainable practice. **[France]** [Exposition Universelle, Paris, May-Nov 1878] Statue of Liberty: gift from France. Symbol of welcome and universal solidarity. She was made at the time of the Universal Exposition in Paris, similar to the Crystal Palace: displaying its own progress and successes through its colonial successes. On either side of the pond, we see pavilions. Different architectural style, reflecting the regions that they were representing and or the styles of the sources that were being displayed. Some of the exhibitions showed humans. Precursor of the ethnographic museums: [Human Zoos] Saartjie Baartman was one of the exhibited of the human zoos. She was brought to Paris. She was promised a better life and its unknown if she came willingly. You see an angel on top of her buttocks. She was prominently because of her physical attributes. She was studies as a physical specimen. The scientists who studied her, she spoke 4 languages. While she was assessed as an intelligent human, her ears were considered that of ape, her remaining attributes were considered of a monkey. Racial profiling. Collections were based on measurements, skulls, remained in anthropology collections. - The idea of the savage. [Palace of the Trocadero], central palace of the Expositions Universelle. It became one of the early anthropology museums in Paris. African mask on the right. Decades later: avant-garde modernist movement. Cubist painting, Pablo Picasso. This is among his most famous paintings. The mask inspired him, and he even collected African masks. The subject of the painting: prostitutes from a brothel. Their physiques are represented in geometrical forms, triangles, they are kind of pieced together. Two on the right: their faces are really inspired by the African masks. Influence of the non-Western enters the modernist canon. Another example of the variety of exhibition sites/pavilion that were first built for world fairs. [Musée de l'Homme ] Bones, animals, nature \> idea of evolution and connections non-Western collections to collections of pre-history and animals that are extinct. Collected and displayed alongside skeletons of animals. Only 11 years later, UN adopted the universal declaration of human rights [Musee du Quai Branly, 2006] Reinterpretation of ethnographical museums but attempted to revise the narratives. It has key objects from Musee de l'homme and Musee national des Arts d'Afrique e d'Oceanie. Burkino Faso -- Macron who says in 2017: "African cultural heritage can no longer remain a prisoner of European Museums". This is the narrative we have been born into. But it is important to know where it all is coming from. Macron was on tour then. But we haven't seen many returns since then. Action has not been taken as much from there. Felwine Sarr and Bénédicte Savoy were asked by Macron to write a report on what to do. They wrote it in 2018, a proposal for a bilaterial agreement between France and certain African countries: 1. To restitute, 2. Restitutions and Collections, and 3. Accompanying Returns. - But it has not been acted out. African Reborn, Black Indians. No longer is it simply antique or historic object, but contemporary art makes its way in the ethnographic museum. [Stedelijk Museum] Museum of modern art. Expressionism Colonialism. This exhibition looked at the relationship between these 2 German artist and people and works of art from extra-European areas. **[Germany]** [Berlin Ethnological Museum] Founded 1873, opened its doors 1886 as Royal Museum for Ethnology, with roots to the 17th-century Kunstkammern of the Brandenburg-Prussia rulers - Gold pendant, reconstructed Melaneias houses, and Throne of Nsangu of Bamum. Cultural history that was collected and celebrated for their manufacture and esthetic value. They are no longer in the earlier buildings. Moved to the; [Humboldt Forum] Both reconstruction of Baroque Prussian (17c façade filled with volume and elements of classical design) palace and modern extension. Sight of a royal Kunstkammer. This museum doesn't house anything owned by Germany. It has things that come outside of Europe and Asia. Past and present of Africa, Asia and Oceania. Columns that hold statues from the earlies building. Old and new with each other. [British Museum (founded 1753)] Benin Bronzes: subjects of great conflict, also in the Humboldt Forum. They were looted, seized. By the British in the 19^th^ century, made of bronze. This is a historic photo where soldiers removed plaques in Benin. To take control over the territory. Colonial revenge because of the resistance of the people. 2022, restitution from Germany back to Nigeria. **[Wereldmuseum]** Not longer Tropenmuseum or Volkenkunde anymore. Ethnographic museums who came under one name: Wereldmuseum Roughly 40% of these collections were acquired in colonial contexts. Logo on the left. W and M are form of a human figure. Stakeholders in the museum, when people write these letters, they have difference, because people are different. Transformation -- their mission statement is that they exhibitions and activity consistently seek... - the narrative is changing. [Museum Volkenkunde] Established as a Dutch museum in 1937 with the von Siebold collection, making it one of the oldest ethnographic museums in the world. Japan collection. [Tropenmuseum] Colonial museum, as a positive thing. Opened with 300.000 objects. - To show Dutch overseas possessions. - In 1871 began research to increase profits to be made from the colonies, including improved means to produce coffee beans, rotan and paraffin \> all about industrial revolution - Ethnologists added information on the economy, manners, and customs of the inhabitants - After 1945 Indonesian Independence, museum shifts from the Dutch colonial possessions to many undeveloped colonial states in South America, Africa and Asia - 1970s expands scope to more social issues and Tropen Junior Wing added - Until 2014, the museum the museum was operated by the Royal Tropical Institute Exhibition on awkward conversations: Double Standards. Exploring the collisions between cultures. Between former colonized and formerly colonizers. Try to confront a very difficult history [Wereldmuseum Rotterdam] It was housed in the former club building of Royal Yacht Association. Building defines what is inside. Gifts from shipowners, scientists and collectors and displayed in the building. Revisionism in the museum. - *Collonial Rotterdam.* How colonialism lived among the diverse community in Rotterdam. - *Hairpower* -- diverse city and how it relates to the past. Their mission is to provide inspiration for an open view on the world and to contribute to world citizenship. *[Restitution in the Netherlands]* Return of a ceremonial dagger from Indonesia and Malesia. No place in the Dutch collection for objects that are acquired through theft -- van Engelshoven. Exhibition on Loot (Roofkunst) in the Mauritshuis. How they were looted Indigenous religious staff -- talking about the meaning of the staff as a descendant in the German ethnologican museum **[Missionary Museums]** Put under the Wereldmuseum umbrella, but Afrikamuseum closed: Based on a different kind of enterprise, which is religious missionizing. Objects are from the collections of the fathers and brothers of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit in Tanzania. The objects arrived in the Netherlands via missionaries, African laity and African embassies, and purchase. Like the Swedish museum from last week. Includes open-air museum with vernacular domestic building from throughout Africa. It is unknow how the congregation feels about the decolonizing. [Vatican Missionary Exposition, 1925, during the Jubilee.] Open air museum display in Rome. Today, this museum is not called the [Anima Mundi Museum] after the Universal Missionary Exposition launched by Pope Pius XI in 1925. Religious purpose behind the objects -- conversion, not about economics. It's mission in a museum whose center is the periphery. It is presented by the church as a powerful testament of a church with open doors. The narrative changes. [Tervuren Museum, inaugurated in 1910] Acquired cultural artifacts in the Belgian Congo via scientific missions, military expeditions, postings of territorial agents, evangelical enterprises. Founded on a confluence of all the reason we have talked about today. Baroque style palace. Artful storage areas in the display rooms. Spoons aligned in sizes, etc. Today: revisionism with the same collections. Aimé Mpane, bust of a Congolese figure. Older statues in bronze of figure of the Congo who were enslaved and now have been collected in a cluster to show a colonizing past. Antwerp Statue of king Leopold who was a brutal king in colonizing, removed from pedestal in 2020. To sum up: - *Continuity of universal expositions* - *Universal museums* - *Universality of museums* - *Long path of history looking at universal expositions and their establishment of ethnographic museums that were formed based on science, economy.*