... dined, and studied together. Museums dedicated to the arts and open to the public are relatively recent. The evolution of the cabinet of curiosities into the museum we know today took place in Germany in the first half of the nineteenth century. The setting and construction of monumental museum buildings revealed the emerging view that art was sacred and that the museum was not only a temple of art but a work of art itself. In Europe the proximity of the museum to the cathedral and palace reminded visitors that here was a national institution equal in standing to church and state. Works of art are the timeless currency in the exchange of human aspirations and values. It remains for our generation to decide whether we shall guarantee the ebb and flow of this currency or whether we, the temporary custodians, will debase one of the remaining measures of our immortality. It ...

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