Books are sorted and classified in a library, newspapers are kept in a newspaper library, sound documents are collected in a sound library and pictorial works are exhibited in a gallery.
Pinacoteca, Gallery and Museum
The term art gallery is used as a synonym for gallery or museum. In fact, the three words are used interchangeably to refer to the permanent exhibitions of painting. However, each of them has a unique nuance. Thus, in countries like Italy the term art gallery is used because in Italian culture the Greco-Roman tradition is maintained (art gallery comes from the Greek pinax, which means painting or tablet and from theke, which means collection). An example of an illustrious art gallery is the Ambrosiana in the city of Milan. In Anglo-Saxon countries the word gallery is used more, such as the National Gallery in London. The word museum is also in common use to refer to the place where paintings are exhibited, as is the case with the Prado Museum in Madrid.
The origin and evolution of art galleries
One of the first historical references of these enclosures is found in the Acropolis of Athens, a place of religious worship for the Athenians and in which paintings were exhibited as a decorative element.
Although the Library of Alexandria (sometimes called the Museum of Alexandria) was primarily intended for research and for written documents such as papyri, it should not be forgotten that the word art gallery comes from pinakes, the plural of pinax. The pinakes were tablets from the Library of Alexandria in which the different branches of knowledge and the leading researchers in each area were arranged.
The art galleries in the contemporary world extend from the French Enlightenment. The great European powers were inspired by French art galleries, especially the Louvre Museum, which opened its doors at the end of the 18th century.
Art galleries have several functions:
1) express the cultural prestige of a nation,
2) are an educational tool of the first order, since in them it is possible to study the different pictorial movements and the main creators and
3) they are a tourist attraction of great importance.
Today the traditional art gallery continues to be a cultural reference, but in recent years they have appeared in a virtual version. The virtual or digital art galleries allow to know art through the network in a direct, comfortable way and within the reach of all budgets.
Photos: iStock - Bruce McIntosh
