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Who could determine what counted as theft when museums and countries and civilizations saw the spoils of conquest as rightfully earned?
She knew as well as he did—maybe better—what it was like to want more from the world than you were meant to have, to know that wanting wasn’t always enough.
Art and power. They were always one and the same.
Will had always known history was told by the conquerors. And yet it was another thing entirely to be here, surrounded by all that had been taken years ago, as the tour guide spoke of diplomatic gifts and priceless treasures as if this country had not promised China a truce and then burned the Old Summer Palace to the ground.
“History is an ongoing process, though, isn’t it?” Will asked. “And what we remember has always been determined by what museums choose to display.”
Art was many things, but in the end it was a question asked: What do you want to be remembered for?
