![]() ![]() Londoners call it the “V and A ” The Victoria and Albert Museum in London, founded in 1852, is the world’s largest museum of decorative arts and design. First, is the Victoria and Albert, an initiative of the 1850s. The Victoria and Albertįrom Trafalgar Square, travel a mile or two to South Kensington, where you’ll discover a trio of world-class museums. Familiar images of Henry VIII, Mary Queen of Scots, Elizabeth I, and Shakespeare soon follow. Take a long escalator ride to the top of the buildingand then walk down through the centuries. The criterion for inclusion here is not the artist’s importance, as at the National Gallery, but the subject’s importance. It was founded in 1856 by a prominent politician, Lord Stanhope, and two of the era’s leading intellectuals, Thomas Carlyle and Thomas Babington Macaulay. Just around the corner from the National Gallery is the National Portrait Gallery. National Portrait Gallery The National Portrait Gallery was the first portrait gallery in the world when it opened in 1856. While you’re there, remember to look out for the Roman mosaics, but also for the spectacular stone carvings from Pre-Columbian Honduras and the incredible suits of Japanese armor. ![]() ![]() For sheer visual impact, don’t miss the museum’s Egyptian statues and mummies, of which there are dozens, and the Assyrian lions and wall carvings. They are a series of carvings that were taken from the Parthenon in Athens by Lord Elgin, British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. The most controversial objects on display are the Elgin Marbles. It now has more than 8 million holdings, only a fraction of which can ever be on display at the same time. It opened its doors to the public in 1759 and has been accumulating and displaying treasures ever since. Let’s start with the earliest of them: the British Museum. You can spend months exploring them, big and small. ![]() London is probably the best place in the world for museums and art galleries. Hover over BLUE text for more information about that item. You’ll also visit the Victoria and Albert Museum, the National Gallery, and the Tate Modern.Ĭlick on GREEN links to visit the highlighted location in Google Maps. Professor Allitt takes you to some of the world’s finest museums, including the British Museum, home to the controversial Elgin Marbles, once plundered from the Parthenon in Athens. Trade the calm of the country for the bustle of the city. ![]()
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