Founded in 1852 and named after Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, the V&A is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. Comprised in 145 galleries, the V&A collection spans 5,000 years of art, from ancient history to the present day, from the cultures of Europe, North America, Asia and North Africa. Their collection of ceramics, glass, textiles, costumes, silver, ironwork, jewellery, furniture, medieval objects, sculpture, prints and printmaking, drawings and photographs are among the largest and most comprehensive in the world, and holds the world's largest collection of post-classical sculpture, with the holdings of Italian Renaissance sculpture being the largest outside Italy. Overall, it is one of the largest and most spectacular museums in the world, and also boasts the world's first museum restaurant, where we started our morning with a cup of tea and croissant listening to local pianists before exploring portions of the V&A.
Since its inception, the V&A's buildings were intended to exemplify the best of contemporary architecture and design. They were to be a work of art in themselves, reinforcing the Museum's mission to educate and inspire its visitors. This philosophy has endured to create the richly varied set of buildings we see today. Each one now represents both a chapter of the V&A's story and a moment in British design history. To see even a small portion of the collection in one day is impossible. Having visited the V&A many times, one can only try and focus on a few galleries at time without being overwhelmed. When in doubt, we go out for a lovely long lunch, and explore a little bit more in the afternoon.
The Gamble, Poynter and Morris Rooms were opened in 1868,
although work continued on their decorations for many years
The Gamble Room by designer James Gamble, with walls and large columns
covered in large variety of colourful ceramic 'Majolica' tiles
listening to local pianists playing Chopin, Mozart and Bach's Goldberg Variations
creating a magical start to our morning
a quiet oasis in the elegant central courtyard
of the courtyard
The spectacular Whiteley Silver Galleries houses the nation's finest collection of silver,
with over 1,500 objects on view
the English textile designe and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement
was a beautiful wooden structure that I sat in and watched people go by
Carved Shell of "Diana on the Hunt' c.1850 from Italy
The magnificent plaster cast of Trajan's Column is one of the stars of the V&A collection, and has towered over the cast collection in two halves since the opening of the Courts in 1873
tomato and parmesan cheese
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