The following paragraph is taken from page 14 of Vatican. The reasons which led the Popes to collect works of art in the 18th century were very different from the reasons that motivated their predecessors in the 16th century. In the 18th century their main aim was to put a stop to the sale abroad of works of art and to organize collections in public buildings so as to offer the public an opportunity to see them; whereas in earlier times the Popes had acquired works of art purely for reasons of aesthetic pleasure or in order to decorate palaces and gardens. The new policy was a government action aimed at safeguarding public property, rather than the expression of a ruler who wanted to increase the prestige of an institution.
