This module presents an overview of the history of museums from the earliest times to the start of the twenty-first century. From the libraries and repositories of cultural treasures of ancient times, to the rare and exotic Renaissance collections in the hands of princes, merchants, and apothecaries, to the national and civic museums of the nineteenth century displaying the great collections passed from private to public ownership in the crucible of revolution, and—beyond Europe—to the emergence of the museum as an agent of colonialism, the history of museums is closely tied to ideas about civilization, identity, and nationhood.
This module covers the following topics:
Between 800 BCE and 1300 CE, philosophy, medicine, and scientific thought flourished. Rulers established centers of learning in capital cities such as Alexandria and Baghdad. These were not museums as we would think of them today, but they often held manuscripts.
MoreDevelopments in seafaring brought new trade routes and opportunities to travel. As Europeans acquired objects from around the world, private collecting boomed in Europe, particularly among the aristocracy and emerging wealthy middle classes. Renaissance collections aimed to represent and make sense of the natural and manmade worlds.
MoreThe eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries brought industrialization, scientific advancement, and cultural shifts. Museums, too, began to change from private collections to public symbols of civic pride and identity.
MoreNumerous changes in society shaped European museums in the nineteenth century. Industrialization encouraged people to leave the countryside for work in towns and cities.
MoreThe pace of museum growth worldwide increased after 1900. During the two world wars, however, many museums in Europe were damaged in bombing raids, or their objects looted and destroyed.
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