The Curator's Dilemma

Do we really want the Mona Lisa to smile

By ADRIAN GILBERT     March 02, 2005

I once posted to the archaeology newsgroups some observations about the Khafre Pyramid and the sun at the summer solstice. This was part of an experiment, to see what the response of the "scientific" community would be when a known "kook" presented physical evidence that it was built as a solar monument.

The result was predictable as the hyenas who inhabit usenet, (often to the detriment of their careers and personal relationships) immediately set to work to prove me wrong. This, I was later told, was science in action and that far from being displeased with such a response, I should be grateful that my ideas had elicited such interest. In reply to this interesting observation, I posted the following little parable for our times.


There was once a busy curator of the National Portrait Gallery who was beset with financial worries. On the one hand he wanted to do the best he could for his visitors and staff and on the other he was faced with dwindling resources. The government would not allow him to levy an entrance charge, fearful that this might upset voters but at the same time they would not increase his grants either. As a result he knew he would either have to lay off staff and scale down his operations or look to other ways of raising money. And this is what he decided he must do.

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