The Cleveland Museum of Art

• This publication is part of the Director’s Choice series and is a unique selection by the director of the Museum
• The Cleveland Museum of Art is a personal and engaging guide with a unique approach to the works in one of the most important collections in the world

The word museum comes from the Greek word for a temple dedicated to the muses: history, astronomy, dance, music, comedy, tragedy, and lyric, epic, and religious poetry. Each of these muses is in evidence at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Few public collections can boast Cleveland’s concentration of quality, rarity, and worldwide renown. Dedicated in 1916 for the benefit of all the people forever, the museum is home to a constellation of masterpieces – works that define their medium, that define our experience of art. In The Cleveland Museum of Art new director David Franklin offers a personal tour of some of his favourite objects, selected from holdings that span 6,000 years of artistic achievement. Each entry offers a reflection on the work of art, explaining why it is one of his highlights. Works featured include Caravaggio’s The Crucifixion of Saint Andrew, Rembrandt’s The Blindness of Tobit: The Larger Plate, Degas’ Angel Blowing a Trumpet, Van Gogh’s Adeline Ravoux, and Bonnard’s The Dessert.

Other titles published by Scala for the Cleveland Museum of Art include: The Cleveland Museum of Art: Art Spaces, The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Treasures from the Cleveland Museum of Art

David Franklin was named the ninth director of the Cleveland Museum of Art in 2010. A renowned expert in the Italian Renaissance and baroque periods, he is a native of Canada and previously served as the deputy director and chief curator of the National Gallery of Art in Ottawa.