London Museums

LONDON MUSEUMS

Words and Pics by Allison O’Donoghue

Victoria and Albert Museum.

The Victoria and Albert Museum is a must see while visiting London. Set up by the Queen and Duke after the worlds fair the museum holds wonderful works of art spanning the ages and is dedicated to the fine and applied arts of all countries, all styles and all periods from the1500’s to contemporary artworks.

The Dress Collection will have fashionistas salivating with an extraordinary display of the finest Haute Couture throughout the ages. The1920’s collection is breathtaking with classic pieces in mint condition, from the Flapper to the more elegant eveningwear. As well as magnificent ball gowns dating from the 1800’s. The intricate detail of the work puts our ready to wear throwaway fashion the shame.

Different levels divide up the museum with each level devoted to diverse disciplines from ceramics, glass and jewelry to musical instruments and a dedicated art deco section. Worth a look is the Raphael Gallery which has six massive paintings commissioned by Pope Leo X in 1515. The Sculpture Gallery has original works by Rodin and other great artists. The Cast Gallery has replicas of Michelangelo’s David and Trajan’s’ Collum if you can’t see the real thing then the cast version will suffice. 

The Asian collection is amazing and vast and it takes up a whole floor. As does the North American Indian displays with a complete Indian Chief dressed in an original costume and artifacts brought back by the colonists of the Americas during the British invasion of the US.

The Henry Cole Gallery houses the best of British art as well as Rodin bronzes and the finest miniature portrait gallery in the world. The exhibitions will take quite a few hours so if you need to rest you can relax in the courtyard café.

Main entrance is on Cromwell Rd in Kensington and Earls Court. Take the tube to South Kensington station. Open daily 10 am to 5.30 pm. Tours meet at the main entrance and vary throughout the day.

www.vam.ac.uk

Natural History Museum

Just down the road from the V&A is the Natural History Museum, which houses the largest collection of Charles Darwin’s work in the world. Stands to reason – he was British and was responsible for the discovery of Natural Selection and the survival of the fittest ideology, which has yet to be challenged, even though he was ridiculed and judged throughout his lifetime for his views. A panel of experts originally rejected his work however he persisted and is now hailed as the resident genius. And is celebrated and idolized within this museum with proud displays of busts, statues and plaques of Charles Darwin everywhere.

The Natural History museum is home to a dazzling array of all creatures great and small, from a mechanical T-Rex to a complete skeleton of a Tricretops. Miniature and large test tubes display fascinating unearthly critters in formaldehyde. Complete with an interactive Human Biology Gallery. 

The butterfly and bug collection is vast and varied. Colourful displays of minerals, rock and all things geological as well as stuffed animals from every place on earth. This is a fun place for young and old to enjoy. 

Outside is a butterfly atrium, which you can enter, and mill around observing these beautiful short-lived creatures as they rest on your shoulder.

The History Museum building itself is enormous with elaborate architecture befitting a museum of world stature.

Cromwell Rd. Kensington. Open daily 10am to 5.30pm. Free entry Sunday.
www.nhm.ac.uk
Ticket sales: 7942 5000

British Museum

You enter into the Great Court an open expansive area swallowed up by a newly built special exhibition space, although the hall can accommodate it, as it is huge. The magnificent staircase takes you into the main museums, which is, choked full of collections form around the world.  Give yourself plenty of time, as there is so much to see, it’s worth devoting a day. If you want some peace and quite then the ornate reading room is worth a look with ancient books on display in atmosphere controlled exhibition display boxes.

The British Museum houses over 50,000 items spanning the globe with vast collections of Egyptian, Iranian and Persian sculptures, artworks and artifacts. And of course the contentious Elgin Marbles taken from the Parthenon. There is a disclaimer before you enter of how the Elgin marbles came to be in British hands. The museum somewhat justifies its position, explaining the marbles were disintegrating and in need of repair and restoration which the Greeks at the time could not or would not invest in. And they go on to defend the right to retain the marbles and not give them back to Greece. The Greeks continue with their campaign to have the marbles returned to Greek soil, however the Brits justify the need to keep them in Britain.

I have been to the Parthenon and at the time (2008) the new museum had not been completed. It begs the question where would the marbles have been housed if they were kept in Greece up until 2008. The Brits have offered casts of the marbles however the Greeks want the originals back and the British museum to have the replica cast of the marbles instead. The debate still rages.

A must see is the Rosetta Stone, if you can get close enough with six rows deep of people scrambling to get a glimpse of this priceless, historic artifact. I went back a few times to get a better look. The British Museum also houses a vast collection of Roman antiquities.

Great Russell St, Russell Square. Bloomsbury. Open daily from 9am to late.
www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk
Ticket sales: 7323 8000