During the Enlightenment, the definition of a museum was quite
different than it is today. Museums of the Enlightenment were similar to
what we would call lyceums in current times. These establishments were
closer to universities or libraries with a main purpose of studying and
learning rather than observing and displaying. Professors gave lectures
at these museums, similar to what takes place at modern day
universities. The idea of a museum or a lyceum originates from
Aristotle’s lyceum in Athens, where students were meant to study
philosophy and “muse” upon complex ideas in his peaceful garden.
The museums of the Enlightenment contained everything from
records of achievements in science to ancient artifacts to works of art.
Armand-Guy Kersaint, a French sailor and politician, once said, “one
understands by this word [museum] the bringing together of everything
nature and art have produced.” The museums were not only considered
storage places for volumes of new information and relics of the past,
but also good spots for social gathering of the intellectual community.
The museums were seen as a combination of a salon (the gathering places
of the “philosophes” of the Enlightenment) and a library.
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| The ruins of Aristotle's lyceum Credit: University of North Carolina |
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| The Louvre during the Enlightenment Credit: Musée de Louvre/Henry Bréjat |
Museums and lyceums continue their legacy in modern times. The
Musée du Louvre, founded in 1792, was used as a place to study the
changing aspects of society as it modernized during the Enlightenment.
The same museum is still going strong today. No new additions have been
made to the building since its founding. The museum itself is a
preserved relic of the Enlightenment.# Lyceums spread across the United
States during the mid to late 19th century and are still in use today.
Although the idea of what a museum is has changed since the
Enlightenment, the basic goals of the institution remain in place.
Museums are a fun, hands-on way to learn about new things and discuss
ideas of the past.
A wonderful analysis of the origin of museums. I especially love the image of the Louvre with the dirt road in front. See if you can get the text to wrap around your images so that they feel more integrated as a whole package. Fascinating stuff!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite part was the comparison of the Encyclopedia and museums because it is so true, but I would have never made the connection between a book and a building! The picture of the Louvre is so pretty. It's interesting to read about how, like coffee houses, museums have changed into less social places.
ReplyDeleteI actually learned a lot of stuff from your post, like the etymology of museum (it comes from "muse") and how museums and lyceums represented values during the Enlightenment. Like Jessa said, I think it's interesting how before, museums were places for social gathering, while today they are places for silence and contemplation. I also like the photo of Aristotle's lyceum, because it's interesting to think that where there are now thousand year-old ruins, there was once a place where one of the greatest minds philosophized.
ReplyDeleteI thought the historical information surrounding museums was good, although it did not go over the idea of the cabinet of wonders, which (IIRC) was important in the historical development of museums. Also, a part comparing and contrasting the enlightenment versus the modern museum would have been interesting, and would have cemented it further into the present day.
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ReplyDeleteThis is one of my favorite posts. I especially enjoyed the first paragraph where you detail the differences between the definition of a museum in the Enlightenment compared with today. It's really interesting that museums were almost like universities with in-depth where people studied instead of simply looking at artifacts.
ReplyDeleteThe public aspect of these lyceums seems to also follow the Enlightenment trend of the wider spread of knowledge. More people were involved in deeper education at that point, and the lyceum's acting as a gathering place for knowledge shows how people showed much more interest in collecting knowledge.
ReplyDeleteI am impressed. I learned a lot from this post.
ReplyDeleteI think this is an awesome way to learn from our past and see how their traditons have changed over time!
ReplyDeleteI thinks this is an interesting article because it talks about how musuems started and how the used them :)
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