Final answer:
Early museums in the 1800s and 1900s contained natural history items, portraits, private and royal art collections, and artifacts from colonized territories. Museums like the Philadelphia Museum and European institutions such as the Louvre started shaping perceptions of art history and culture.
Step-by-step explanation:
Early Museums' Contents:
The early museums of the 1800s and 1900s significantly differed from today's institutions. In America, the Philadelphia Museum, opened by C.W. Peale in 1784, was initially a natural history museum with a collection of curiosities and a display of portraits portraying figures from the Revolutionary era. Europe saw the development of the modern museum concept during the same period, with institutions such as the British Museum, the Capitoline Museum, the Louvre, the Museo del Prado, and the Hermitage displaying a wide range of artifacts from artworks to archaeological finds.
Contained within these museums were objects representative of various cultures and epochs, often gathered through colonization. Museums housed diverse collections, including natural history specimens, royal and elite artworks, stolen or confiscated cultural items, and at times personal collections of the affluent. Major museums began influencing the perception of art and shaped the art market, determining which artists and movements gained recognition.
In summary, early museums contained natural history exhibits, portraits of significant personages, art collections that were formerly private or royal, and artifacts acquired from colonized territories. The curatorial decisions of the time, often made without consultation with the cultures represented, shaped how these collections were presented and interpreted for over a century.