18世纪后半叶,特别是在法国大革命和拿破仑征服欧洲之后,公共艺术博物馆首次变成重要的机构;与此同时强烈的反对博物馆之声也不断涌现。反对者认为博物馆虽然宣称其为贮藏、保护艺术而服务,实际上却破坏了艺术的真正目的。在博物馆内,那些用以感动虔诚信徒的画作就可能与激起观者肉欲的绘画并列而置。不仅如此,一旦这些画从卧室或教堂移到博物馆内空旷而洁净的墙上,就与原环境失去了联系,这些艺术品也丧失了其实际功能。这些博物馆的反对者们忽视了一个明显的事实,那就是在公共博物馆出现之前,艺术收藏已存在了近二百年之久。16、17世纪的收藏家大肆为其私人画廊收集各种宗教和世俗画作,虽然有时可能是作品原主人出于真诚的情感之需,要求回收作品(因此是一种正当的功能), For the first time in the second half of the 18th century, especially after the French Revolution and Napoleon’s conquest of Europe, the Museum of Public Art became an important institution; at the same time, strong opposition to museums continued to emerge. Opponents argue that museums, while claiming that they serve the storage and preservation of art, actually undermine the true purpose of art. Within the museum, the paintings used to impress devotees may be placed side by side with the paintings that stimulate the viewer’s sensuality. Not only that, once the paintings were moved from bedrooms or churches to the empty, clean walls of the museum, they lost touch with the original environment, and the artworks lost their practical function. Opponents of these museums ignore the obvious fact that art collections have existed for almost two hundred years before the appearance of public museums. Collectors of the 16th and 17th centuries wantonly collect all kinds of religious and secular paintings for their private galleries, though sometimes the original owner of the work may, for a genuine emotional need, ask for the work to be recycled (and therefore a legitimate function)