Tiffany Jenkins

Viewpoint – Valuing culture

How should we measure the value of a work of art? Let’s take, for example, Michelangelo’s statue of David in the Accademia in Florence.

How should we measure the value of a work of art? Let’s take, for example, Michelangelo’s statue of David in the Accademia in Florence.

How should we measure the value of a work of art? Let’s take, for example, Michelangelo’s statue of David in the Accademia in Florence. The 17ft marble figure attracts a huge number of visitors from all over the world, so the box denoting popularity gets a tick. The revenue box gets ticked as well because of the gallery’s entrance fees and the money spent on accompanying T-shirts and postcards. And also to be considered is the amount this piece would fetch in a hypothetical sale.

Crunching these numbers is one method of assessing the work’s value, but it is clearly pointless: ‘David’ is a (priceless) masterpiece. Knowing what the Galleria dell’Accademia raises in euros, its audience figures and its immense appeal as a tourist site does not capture the worth of the work — that is down to its unique artistic qualities.

Philosophers have long struggled with this problem. What constitutes a success? Is it long queues or quality? How do you know if something is good, and who decides anyway? Reaching a verdict can never be done scientifically because every assessment of worth is relative and to a degree subjective.

Most people accept that government should support the arts for the sake of the public good, recognising that the vagaries of the market do not always produce excellence. So public funding requires a leap of faith and a shared agreement that a civilised society will finance an artwork that is not always predictable, profitable or even popular in the hope that something astounding — beautiful, truthful, provoking — might be created. But the Department of Culture Media and Sport and other bodies that fund the arts think otherwise.

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