The agreement between Italy and the Getty for longterm loans is becoming a trend. “Though long-term loans have been around for decades, the new twist is that the loan is becoming part of a resolution. That has to be a good thing, in that it allows the object still to have a very broad degree of public access in more than one country. That’s what museums are all about: providing a way for people to experience great works of art directly — unmediated through their computer screens and books and other things — in the context of other great art.”