history quote of the day

eyes closed, originally uploaded by duetramonti.

I'm still mostly living in a cave and writing papers, but I ventured out to work today and came across this fantastic quote in the New York Times. In answer to the question why should we care who painted a centuries-old Netherlandish work:

"We should care because, commerce and the usual scholarly nitpicking aside, the debate is itself an excuse for looking closer, and because piecing together any great artist’s legacy is a bit like composing a novel, every chapter part of the artist’s grand narrative, without all of which the story is incomplete. And, well, also because good mysteries beg to be solved."

the photo is unrelated to the article, I just like it better than I do Netherlandish paintings :oD