Good art Gone bad

When I lived in and traveled in Europe for a semester in college (thanks again, parents!) I visited lots of art museums and famous places, and was often disappointed that I couldn’t get closer or see better the great works of art and famous relics that exist to be enjoyed. I could see them, but they were often roped off or set behind bullet-proof glass or protected by mean yet sleepy-looking security guards. I couldn’t even get a good picture of Michelangelo’s Pieta – a marble statue of Mary the mother of Jesus holding the crucified Christ, which sits on display at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican – because of the huge walls of glass encasing it.

Apparently, some years ago, a crazy nationalist took a hammer to this priceless work of art, and while the Vatican artists were able to restore the statue to a state very near its original condition, it now sits in an inaccessible place, one that makes it difficult for the viewer to become immersed in the art.

What is it about people that makes us so destructive to the things we love most?

Have you noticed this trend? We love land, so we overdevelop and therefore destroy it. We love our children, so we spoil them into little brats who can’t handle it when they don’t get what they want. We’re the most horrible to the people closest to us because we can get away with it, and if we tried that crap at the office or in public we’d get fired or shot.

B says that we all have a gene that makes us want to complicate our lives. Sometimes I think she’s right.

Do you agree? What is it?