What’s The Right Temperature For Art?

“No one would argue that environmental fluctuations should be allowed to occur unchecked within a museum. But the question is this: given the scientific evidence that works of art made from multiple categories of media have not been shown to sustain damage from the incremental fluctuation of relative humidity to a greater extent than currently prescribed, is it time to arrive at an international consensus on loosening environmental strictures?”

Nic McGegan’s Custom-Tailored Harpsichord

The Philharmonia Baroque director, like many of his colleagues, often leads his band from the keyboard. “The catch is that neither conducting while seated nor standing hunched over a low-lying keyboard is an optimal posture. The solution is a custom-built instrument that comes with two separate sets of legs – one for use while standing, another for sitting. ‘I was measured for it, like a Savile Row suit’.”