Every day at school I walk through a small museum, a good portion of which is illuminated by red lights. This scarlet glow makes sense in the World’s Oldest Profession exhibit (just kidding), but I wonder if it serves a purpose in the rest of the museum. Are the people who run the museum just trying to create a certain kind of ambiance, or is there a practical reason for the red lights? Mostly this red light is focused on a section that has animal fossils arranged around a replica of a mastodon skeleton. I believe I’ve also seen pottery, tools, and weaponry in this section of the museum at various times. Could “regular light” damage some of these artifacts in some way? I’ve seen similar lighting in other museums as well. So what’s the straight dope?
Well, light is very damaging to some types of artifacts… especially paper, cloth, and anything painted or dyed. Does a white (ie viewing) light trigger when someone comes near to look at it?
I recall seeing the Leiscter (sp?) Codex – a work of Da Vinci’s that Bill Gates bought – on display at the Museum of Natural History, New York. The pages themselves were in complete darkness unless a person walked up to them, then a dim light would turn on for about 10 seconds at a time.
The straight dope is that it’s probably a knee-jerk reaction.
That light fades museum artifacts has an element of truth, but also an element of urban legend.
Common items fade even when out of the sun, for example: watercolors, color photographs, and most ink jet prints.
However, many objects don’t deteriorate under moderate artificial light, even after decades of constant exposure.
Sunlight is quite a different matter. As a general rule nothing of museum quality should be placed where direct sun regularly strikes it.
Museums tend to go overboard – especially those who are not conservation experts, but which are just following “common museum wisdom”. For example, many museums will let patrons take pictures so long as a flash isn’t used. However studies have shown that the brief period of the flash has an unmeasureable effect on objects which are considered lightfast. (Many museums, however use the “flash argument” as a convenient way of stopping people from taking high quality photographs. They prefer you buy theirs.) The red museum light could also be a convenient way to stop people from taking quality photographs.
In short, there are various reasons for red lights. Unfortunately, you’re not liable to get a candid answer from the museum, since such matters tend to either be political or matters of security.
Wow. That must have been one heck of a museum. Was that ten-mile trek uphill both ways?
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor *
**Mephisto–I thought that, Prince Of Darkness that you are, you would be used to places lit in red & decorated with skulls. **
At home, yeah, but I didn’t expect it at school. Looks like my university’s gone to hell . . . (well, I tried).
Thanks for the info, Dopers. The museum politics and business concerns hadn’t occurred to me.