> As a painter, yes, putting paintings behind glass makes me significantly less able to evaluate and appreciate them. Even as a non-painter who quite frankly d

> As a painter, yes, putting paintings behind glass makes me significantly less able to evaluate and appreciate them. Even as a non-painter who quite frankly doesn't really care about the technique of the painting style and more about the overall scene I find glass incredibly distracting. There's always some glare, and it just doesn't look right. In Den Bosch there's a wonderful little Hieronymus Bosch museum which has just replicas Bosch's paintings, but you can open and close the triptychs, sniff the canvas if you want, and all of that. I've also seen some originals over the years, all heavily protected by glass, and I'd much rather go see the replicas. From what I know, even many art experts have difficulties reliably distinguishing between an original and well-made replica. I wish more museums would use replicas of famous paintings; it would be a great addition to the originals.