For hundreds of years, encyclopedic museums have aspired to speak many languages, portray myriad cultures, and represent a comprehensive history of humanity. This impossible task, however, becomes more useful when understood as a flawed, fragmentary project.The legend of the Tower of Babel explains the origin of diverse languages as a divine punishment for human ambition: plans to build a tower taller than the skies collapsed after builders started speaking different languages. The tower remained unfinished, but amid the chaos and confusion, multiple languages and systems of communication flourished.

The Tower of Babel, c. 1637, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, gift of Mrs. Irene Salinger in memory of her father, Adolph Stern, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA