Concept in Definition ABC

In a library, books are sorted and classified, in a newspaper library newspapers are kept, in a music library sound documents are collected and in a picture library pictorial works are exhibited.

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 huesingular. Thus, in countries like Italy the term art gallery is used because in Italian culture the tradition Greco-Roman (pinacoteca 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One of the first historical references of these enclosures is found in the Acropolis of Athens, a place of religious worship for the Athenians and in which paintings were exhibited as an element decorative.

Although the Library of Alexandria (sometimes called the Museum of Alexandria) was intended primarily for the investigation and to written documents such as papyri, we must not forget that the word pinacoteca 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.

Art galleries in the world contemporary extend from the Illustration French. 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 a tool education 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.

At present, 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 the art through the network in a direct, comfortable way and within the reach of all budgets.

Photos: iStock - Bruce McIntosh