Swiss break(s). Art collections in Switzerland, museums and modernity

In Switzerland, the first public museums were created during the seventeenth century, but their development remains slow until the industrial age, when the country becomes a great producer of goods at international level. Art Museums are almost never created by the state, but by private individuals or by art societies; their first priority is to buy contemporary art. The article shows that the Swiss museum landscape owes much to the country's history.