Neil MacGregor, outgoing director of the British Museum, was on sparkling form last night at his leaving party. He began his speech by recalling one of his first days working there in 2002, when he spent a day manning the information desk in order to discover what visitors were asking. Most of the questions were about where to find the Rosetta Stone or Harrods, but one woman asked for the Prints and Drawings department. He gave the directions. The baffled visitor, who obviously felt sorry that MacGregor had apparently left his previous post for this more humble position, then asked him with some surprise: “Didn’t you use to be director of the National Gallery?”
