# Why frame paintings under glass?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-frame-paintings-under-glass/262252>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [August 30, 2004, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-frame-paintings-under-glass/262252 "2004-08-30T16:04:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/90db22/32.png) [@Earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthling)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-frame-paintings-under-glass/262252/1 "2004-08-30T16:04:34Z")

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Just went to a museum exhibit this weekend. Nice show, but I noticed a relatively large number of paintings were framed under glass, and I couldn’t figure out why. I realize that works on paper are usually placed under glass, but these were oil paintings (presumably on canvas, but I wasn’t paying attention to that part), and not particularly old (they date from the early 20th Century), so I would assume that age and fragility aren’t factors. Any clues?

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**Author:** ![Papermache\_Prince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@Papermache\_Prince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Papermache_Prince)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-frame-paintings-under-glass/262252/2 "2004-08-30T16:11:36Z")

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Maybe acts like [this](http://www.tamu.edu/mocl/picasso/archives/1999/opparch99-206.html) could be a reason.

Tuesday, May 18, 1999 Picasso work slashed in Holland  
By WILLIAM J. KOLE  
The Associated Press  
– AMSTERDAM, Netherlands

"It can happen so fast, not even an alert security guard can prevent it: A vandal tosses acid at a masterpiece or unsheathes a knife and carves the canvas into ribbons.

A weekend slashing attack at Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum of Modern Art that severely damaged a Picasso valued at up to $7.5 million stunned museum officials. The vandalism by an escaped mental patient has curators conceding little can be done to protect artworks – short of turning galleries into glass-cased fortresses."

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**Author:** ![Earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/90db22/32.png) [@Earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthling)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-frame-paintings-under-glass/262252/3 "2004-08-30T16:24:09Z")

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Maybe, but there were other paintings in the show – more valuable ones, I’d even guess (bigger, older, more famous – or all three) – that were not under glass.