The first public museum is the creation of the French revolution. Of course, the name “museum” has been in use in the English language for nearly three centuries. The Ashmolean Museum of Oxford University, founded in 1683, was the first Western institution to call itself a museum. But the history of the first truly public museum began in France with the opening of the Louvre to the public.
House of the Muses
The word “museum” takes after the Greek mouseion which means house of the muses. The muses were the nine young goddess of classical times who watched over the welfare of astronomy, comedy, history, love poetry, music, oratory, tragedy, the epic and dance. Ptolemy Soter is believed to have founded the first museum in Alexandria around the third century BCE by establishing a centre of learning dedicated to the muses. The centre had some collection as well as a botanical garden and zoological park. It was primarily intended for the study of philosophy, science, art and literature. Thus, it was more a prototype university than a museum in the strictest sense.
14th Century Collections
After the first mouseion in Alexandria was destroyed (either by fire or earthquake), it took hundreds of years for the museum to re-emerge during the Renaissance paralleling advancements in commerce, arts and science. The rise of commerce in 14th century Italy saw the rapid growth of banking, trading, and mercantile activities, all of which helped create a powerful class of wealthy merchants. To culturally legitimize their economic status, these wealthy merchants amassed large collections of manuscripts, treasures and souvenirs. They began to use connoisseurship and ostentatious display to underline their economic power and social status.
The Galleria
Across the centuries, popes, church dignitaries and the nobilities, who aspired to the eternal fame and prestige of Alexandria, begun to collect paintings, sculptures, gems and manuscripts. As the collections grew in size and complexity, so did the need to house and organize them systematically. Access to visit these private collections was limited to members of high society. The powerful Medici family of 15th century Florence (during the time of Lorenzo the Magnificent) is credited for hosting the first galleria by displaying pictures of religious subject in a long narrow corridor at the Medici Palace. Also, the word “museum” (museo) appeared at this time to describe the collections of the Medici. Nonetheless, Ashmolean Museum was the first institution in Western Europe to call itself a museum.
Cabinet of Curiosities
Keeping private collections of curiosities of art and nature became the hobby of wealthy households in 17th century Europe. The collections of curiosities were often arranged in a cabinet, a practice which gave rise to the use of the term “cabinet of curiosities.” However, the collections by the rich nobilities were extensive and most times grew to the point that they overflowed the palaces. As a result, they had to be housed in buildings erected for that purpose. In fact, in as much as some of the renowned European museums today trace their beginnings to the rich collections that developed during the Renaissance, most of the important art museums in Europe began as royal collections.
Repository of Learned Curiosities
By 18th century, the word “museum” was well-established and found an entry in Samuel Johnson’s dictionary as “a Repository of Learned Curiosities.” Dr Johnson’s definition of the object of the museum as “learned curiosities” implied that visiting a museum was an exercise reserved for the elite – scholars, connoisseurs, collectors and the rich (who would mistake their wealth for knowledge). And this was the general practice until late 18th century barring a few exceptions. For instance, upon his death in 1694, Abbot Boisot bequeathed his collections to the Abbey of Saint Vincent in France with the provision that the public be admitted to visit them. And the British Museum, founded in 1753, opened its doors to thirty visitors daily for two hours.
The Public Museum
Though the effort to create a national art museum started with the opening of the Palais de Luxembourg in 1750, the history of the first truly public museum began on August 10, 1793, when the new French Republic opened the Louvre to the public. The emergence of anthropology, which had strong effect on museum thinking, as well as the growth of collections and expansion of museums is closely linked to imperialism and colonialism. For example, the Musee Napoleon at the Louvre was largely filled with Napoleon’s war booty as William Jackson Hooker’s botanical garden was full of flora collected from the British colonies. The museum as we know it today is a development of the last century, stimulated by the great world's fairs which originated with the 1851 Crystal Palace Exhibition.
References:
Alexander, Edward P. Museum Masters: Their Museums and Their Influence. Walnut Creek: Altamira Press, 1995.
Bazin, Germain. The Museum Age. New York: Universe Books, 1967.
Burcaw, G. Ellis. Introduction to Museum Work. New York: Altamira Press, 1977.
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