Apparently we aren’t the only ones who thought the appointment of a young tapestry curator, Thomas Campbell, as the ninth director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art was an inspired choice. According to the outgoing director, Philippe de Montebello, Mr. Campbell received a minute-long standing ovation from museum staff at a reception on Tuesday afternoon, after the trustees voted to confirm his appointment.

Mr. Campbell drew laughs at yesterday’s press conference when he said, of his lack of managerial experience, that the last thing a smoothly run institution like the Met needs is “another wonkish manager.” To which the Met’s president, i.e., Wonk-in-Chief, Emily Rafferty, smiled and said, “Thank you, Tom.” And then to the audience: “We’re off to a great start, as you can tell.”

Despite the slip, Mr. Campbell was right: What the Met needs, and what it seems likely to get in Mr. Campbell, is a scholar who can also lead — someone who can harness the talents of the staff and who has the background such that, when two curators come to him with objects they want to acquire, and the museum can only afford one, he can decide which is the better work of art and the more important acquisition in the context of the museum’s collection.

It will no doubt be a steep learning curve, and Mr. Campbell arrives at what is not an easy time for any cultural institution in this city. Corporate donations are in decline, along with city budgets. The issue of antiquities and cultural patrimony will no doubt rear its head again. At yesterday’s press conference, Mr. Campbell declined to say what position he would take in this debate, averring that he had a lot to learn about the issue, both from Mr. de Montebello and from the Met’s legal department.

Everyone at the museum and everyone involved in the decision seems to be happy that the new director came from inside. The Met’s chairman, James Houghton, said yesterday the appointment “reminds us that there is no greater incubator of talent than the Metropolitan Museum,” and Mr. Campbell, in his remarks, emphasized the brilliance and accomplishments of the staff.

Mr. Campbell did say that he thinks the museum can use the Internet and technology more fully to engage with audiences, both before and during their visits. “I think we’re at a very exciting point of departure,” he said. After one reporter facetiously noted that studying tapestries hardly seemed a sure ticket to the top, and asked whether he had learned anything from tapestries that explained his success, Mr. Campbell responded that, in fact, he had.

As a form of propaganda, tapestries were a way for “rulers to project ideas that they wanted to be associated with,” Mr. Campbell explained. “One of the constant themes you find rulers of the day coming back to time and again is the issue that good leadership depends on good advice. Even Henry VII,” he noted, “projected himself as someone who listened to his advisers — before he cut off their heads.”

At one point Mr. Campbell spoke about how he found that the Met’s funding and resources “allowed it to take on exhibitions, publications, acquisitions, and installations on a scale and of a richness that most European institutions can only dream of,” he said. “And perhaps the most exciting thing,” he added, “was this gung-ho mentality, this can-do mentality, on the part of the staff. Anything seems possible here. You have opportunities beyond any other comparable institution. That’s why I wanted to come work here. That’s why this is a dream come true.” To which we would add only that in America our great museums are mostly private institutions that reflect the dynamism and vitality of our free market in business and philanthropy.