Page:The museum, (Jackson, Marget Talbot, 1917).djvu/130

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106
THE MUSEUM

ductions shown with the originals are always confusing, and clarity must be maintained in a museum. It is unfortunate that it is not possible to obtain equally successful reproductions of paintings. A collection of photographs is of inestimable value to the director and staff in a museum, but gives so little idea to the ordinary layman that the exhibition of photographs is a questionable means of education. Their use in lectures is, of course, an entirely different matter. Excellent reproductions of gold and silver finds have been made by the electrolytic method in a number of museums and by several well-known firms in Germany and elsewhere. One of the most complete installations for the reproduction of these objects may be found at the museum of St. Germain near Paris. This museum is especially rich in prehistoric and archæological material and has produced some very remarkable replicas of bronze and silver and gold objects in its collection.

Most people in thinking of an art museum have in mind a picture gallery, and the museum director who only collects minor arts or sculpture would be very unpopular; on the other hand, it is not well for the public to forget that all art is not painting and good collections of the other classes of material are essential.

The difficulty of selecting from a mass of