Portal:Museums

The Capitoline Museums in Rome in 2007

The Capitoline Museums (Italian: Musei Capitolini) are a group of art and archaeological museums in Piazza del Campidoglio, on top of the Capitoline Hill in Rome, Italy. The historic seats of the museums are Palazzo dei Conservatori and Palazzo Nuovo, facing on the central trapezoidal piazza in a plan conceived by Michelangelo in 1536 and executed over a period of more than 400 years. The Capitoline Museums, known for its exhibitions of works related to the history of ancient Rome and the Capitoline Hill, which was the political and religious center of the city, express the greatness of Roman civilization and its precious legacy that helped influence modern Western society.

The museums display works from the ancient world (Greek, Roman, Etruscan and Egyptian), the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. They house masterpieces such as the Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius, the Capitoline Wolf, the Dying Gaul, the Bust of Medusa by Bernini, ancient sculptures, paintings (with works by artists such as Caravaggio, Titian, Pietro da Cortona, Guercino, Velázquez, Rubens), coins, jewelry and archaeological finds.

The Capitoline Museum was established in 1471 under the observation of Pope Sixtus IV, who donated to the city a collection of important bronzes from the Lateran (including the Capitoline Wolf, the Boy with Thorn, the Bronze colossus of Constantine and the Camillus), which he had placed in the courtyard of the Palazzo dei Conservatori and in Piazza del Campidoglio.

In 1734 Pope Clement XII purchased the prestigious collection of antiquities of Cardinal Alessandro Albani, which was about to be purchased by English collectors, and opened the museum to the public, making it the oldest public museum in the world, the first place in the world that allowed ordinary people to enjoy art. (Full article...)

Collection maintenance is an area of collections management that consists of the day-to-day hands on care of collections and cultural heritage. The primary goal of collections maintenance or preventive conservation is to prevent further decay of cultural heritage by ensuring proper storage and upkeep including performing regular housekeeping of the spaces and objects and monitoring and controlling storage and gallery environments. Collections maintenance is part of the risk management field of collections management. The professionals most involved with collections maintenance include collection managers, registrars, and archivists, depending on the size and scope of the institution. Collections maintenance takes place in two primary areas of the museum: storage areas and display areas.

Collection maintenance and its tasks all work as a means to continually observe the condition of collections and ensure they are properly maintained and cared for. Because museums and repositories are stewards of cultural property in the public trust, they have a "responsibility to provide reasonable care for the objects entrusted" to them. Museum's collections maintenance tasks can also involve assessing and implementing strategies to improve storage areas and containers while continuously monitoring environmental conditions that may affect objects. (Full article...)

• ... that Susan Finnegan was the first female head of the arachnids section at the Natural History Museum, London, but had to resign her job to marry?
• ... that for fifteen years Joseph Henry Gest was both the director of the Cincinnati Art Museum and the president of the Rookwood Pottery Company, spending mornings at one and afternoons at the other?
• ... that the firm of Israel Sack supplied American antiques to leading private collectors and museums, including the Winterthur Museum, The Henry Ford, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art?
• ... that Gracie Mansion became New York City's mayoral residence after serving as a public toilet and a museum?
• ... that Boston's World's Museum was a theatre, an aquarium, a menagerie, and a freak show?
• ... that New York City's Bartow–Pell Mansion became a museum after its operator was restricted from importing and exporting plants?

For editor resources and to collaborate with other editors on improving Wikipedia's Museums-related articles, see WikiProject Museums.

A green museum is a museum that incorporates concepts of sustainability into its operations, programming, and facility. Many green museums use their collections to produce exhibitions, events, classes, and other programming to educate the public about the natural environment. Many, but not all, green museums reside in a building featuring sustainable architecture and technology. Green museums interpret their own sustainable practices and green design to present a model of behavior.

Green museums strive to help people become more conscious of the limitations of their world, and how their actions affect their world. The goal is to create positive change by encouraging people to make sustainable choices in their daily lives. They use their position as community-centered institutions to create a culture of sustainability. (Full article...)

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