# Why aren't most paintings in museums behind glass? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 26, 2015, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-most-paintings-in-museums-behind-glass/718550 "2015-04-26T02:10:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-most-paintings-in-museums-behind-glass/718550/21 "2015-04-28T09:58:17Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Do Museums use copies very often? I’ve heard the priceless original is in a vault and they display a high quality copy. The topical case is that the Dulwich Picture Gallery in London has in recent months replaced one of its paintings with a fake as a challenge to visitors to spot it. [They have just announced which it was](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-32493860). The most interesting finding from this experiment is that 10% of visitors guessed correctly. Which neatly demonstrates that a significant minority of visitors can tell the difference. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-most-paintings-in-museums-behind-glass/718550/22 "2015-04-28T14:59:55Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > The Louvre keeps the Mona Lisa behind glass. But (just about) every other picture in the Louvre is out in the open. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-most-paintings-in-museums-behind-glass/718550/23 "2015-04-28T15:52:45Z")
> [@bonzer](#): > > A myth. Indeed what happened with the London galleries is an extremely famous part of the folk memory of the Blitz and is very well documented. > The Crown Jewels were moved to a secret location in a country house and the Tower closed to the public for the duration (and indeed used as a prison for German spies). > Most famously the entire contents of the National Gallery were moved to a slate mine in Wales, initially leaving an empty building. However, in a morale-boosting move, the gallery was then used as a venue for a celebrated series of lunchtime concerts of classical music. In order to symbolically maintain its role as an art gallery, the director Kenneth Clark arranged a programme of small exhibitions of contemporary art, usually based on the work of the official war artists. He also instituted the policy of bringing a single famous Old Master back from Wales each month to display in splendid isolation for the duration of that month. The whole point being that that was a risk limited enough to be worth taking. > The other major museums and galleries also evacuated the main parts of their collections and basically closed down. That’s awesome. Thanks for sharing. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-most-paintings-in-museums-behind-glass/718550/24 "2015-04-28T17:32:53Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > I remember going to the museum with my class as a youngster. Whenever one of the kids would edge too close to a painting, some security guy would chime in over the PA system: “PLEASE STEP BACK FROM THE PAINTINGS”. > > By the end of our tour it became somewhat of a joke to some of the kids as they would intentionally reach their hands out towards the paintings just to get a rise out of the guy on the loud speaker. > > Thinking back on it, it’s pretty impressive how vigilant those security guys were. Several years ago, I was at my local art museum, and was leaning against a wall to take notes on an interesting painting. I hadn’t written but a few words when a security guard came out of nowhere and told me that I couldn’t lean on the wall. I asked her, “How did you know I was doing that?” :o and then saw a very tiny camera in the corner. I thanked her for her vigilance and used my wallet as a hard surface. p.s. A few years before that, this same museum had “American Gothic” on display - out in the open, protected only by a velvet rope a foot or so out from the wall. ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-most-paintings-in-museums-behind-glass/718550/25 "2015-04-28T18:49:11Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > But (just about) every other picture in the Louvre is out in the open. Well, up to a point. The Louvre actually has a reputation for being keener on glazing its paintings than most other major European museums. Much in the way that it tends to be less keen on cleaning or re-varnishing them. One factor that hasn’t been mentioned is that of frames. Those can be important in their own right. If so, that can complicate the possible options. On the one hand, this can make it difficult for glass to be added. Indeed, in some cases, the frame can be part of the panel. But, conversely, some frames were always designed to take glass. Not including the glass can look odd. For wooden panels, another issue can be warping. If the painting surface isn’t flat, glass can look particularly obtrusive. So even where museums have a preferred approach, they can rarely apply it consistently - the decision as to whether to glaze or not to glaze can really only be done on a case-by-case basis. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-most-paintings-in-museums-behind-glass/718550/26 "2015-04-28T19:01:42Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > If only museums would put sculptures behind glass – then I wouldn’t have hit my head on [“Lever No. 3” at the National Gallery of Art](http://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/Collection/art-object-page.71271.html). Looks like a snail or a roll of Scotch tape to me. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-most-paintings-in-museums-behind-glass/718550/27 "2015-04-29T21:18:39Z")
> [@TSBG](#): > > I’m surprised anyone could visit any museum and not notice the highly obtrusive security guards EVERYWHERE. Who will follow you around sometimes. This is simply not true, at least not universally. I’ve been to more than one museum with first-rate art where the security guards were, essentially, petite middle-aged women loafing around the various rooms in a rather bored manner. It was not like there was always one of them present in each room at any time, and even if one was there, chances were they were sitting in a corner. I bet there were also cameras in place, and if I had started to mess with displays guards would show up soon, but by the time they’d arrive the damage would already be done. ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-most-paintings-in-museums-behind-glass/718550/28 "2015-04-29T21:24:57Z")
> [@Schnitte](#): > > This is simply not true, at least not universally. I’ve been to more than one museum with first-rate art where the security guards were, essentially, petite middle-aged women loafing around the various rooms in a rather bored manner. It was not like there was always one of them present in each room at any time, and even if one was there, chances were they were sitting in a corner. I bet there were also cameras in place, and if I had started to mess with displays guards would show up soon, but by the time they’d arrive the damage would already be done. Try going with a small child–or watch what happens when a group of teenagers comes in. They will follow them around. Again, the point is not that they’re hulking Special Forces types. They are never going to deter or tackle a true maniac. They are there to make kids–and someone with a wild hair to find out what an oil painting feels like–think twice. ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-most-paintings-in-museums-behind-glass/718550/29 "2015-04-29T22:55:08Z")
Can I confess that I’ve been partially responsible for a well-known (unnamed) Doper accidentally colliding with a minorish, unglazed artwork in a major European collection? We were going round the Musée Carnavelet in Paris when we were confronted by a couple essentially blocking a corridor. I did a successful elegant bodyswerve around them. No problem. She, however, trying the same, just caught the frame of a painting on the next wall and knocked it askew. There was a guard immediately to hand and I must admit I was surprised about how nonchalant he was about the whole thing. He obviously realised that it was an innocent mistake and just readjusted the picture on the wall. Granted I’ve seen guards and curators completely freek out at the most minor irregularities at the various branches of the Tate in London. ---
**Author:** ![Emerald\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Emerald\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emerald_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-most-paintings-in-museums-behind-glass/718550/30 "2015-05-01T23:27:10Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > If I had had malicious intent I definitely could have managed to damage the painting before anyone could stop me, but I’m pretty sure that nobody was going to accidentally touch any of the art in that room. When I was at MoMA a few years ago, I was surprised how easy it would be for me to severely damage Van Gogh’s Starry Night before anyone could stop me. There were no guards in the room at all. And this is a work that I thought was nearly as famous as the Mona Lisa. This thread reminds me of the [theft of a Stradivarius last year](http://www.vanityfair.com/style/2014/11/stradivarius-violin-crime-milwaukee). It’s a multimillion dollar work of art you carry around with you and play in public. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-most-paintings-in-museums-behind-glass/718550/31 "2015-05-02T13:10:21Z")
> [@Emerald\_Hawk](#): > > When I was at MoMA a few years ago, I was surprised how easy it would be for me to severely damage Van Gogh’s Starry Night before anyone could stop me. There were no guards in the room at all. And this is a work that I thought was nearly as famous as the Mona Lisa. > > This thread reminds me of the [theft of a Stradivarius last year](http://www.vanityfair.com/style/2014/11/stradivarius-violin-crime-milwaukee). It’s a multimillion dollar work of art you carry around with you and play in public. And it happens from time to time. The Pieta is behind glass now after some looney tunes took a hammer to Mary’s nose. I think it was The Night Watch in Amsterdam that suffered several big slashes. But it seems that museum management recognize something helicopter parents don’t, that the dangerous crazies are very few and very far between. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-most-paintings-in-museums-behind-glass/718550.md?page=1)