Victoria and Albert Museum

VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM

A special exhibition entitled ‘Raphael: Cartoons and ‘Tapestries for the Sistine Chapel’ is currently on at the Victoria and Albert Museum between September 8 and October 17. The exhibition was planned to mark Pope Benedict XVI’s state visit to Britain in September 2010. Four of the ten tapestries woven according to Raphael’s designs hang for very first time alongside the original cartoons, or templates inside the V&A. The Raphael Cartoons have always been a highlight of the museum. They make up seven of the series of ten, drawn by Raphael for Pope Leo X and are amongst the most important surviving examples of High Renaissance art.  King Charles I bought the cartoons in 1623 and they are on loan to the museum from the Queen.

 The Victoria and Albert Museum, commonly shortened to the ‘V&A’ spans five thousand years of art, from ancient times through to the present day and consists of items collected from across the four compass points of the globe. The Victoria and Albert Museum is located in an area of immense cultural, scientific and educational importance in West London. It is one of three large museums situated in South Kensington, the other two being the Natural History Museum and the Science Museum. The museum is spread over seven miles of corridors and it is where one can view the finest collection of applied and decorative arts in the world.

An astonishing six and a half million objects are under the museum’s care. Many are contained in the one hundred and forty-five galleries of the museum. Some of the collections are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world.  The vast quantity of exhibits determines that only a small percentage is ever on display. Nevertheless, the twelve and a half acres of exhibits is enough to keep visitors occupied for a full day and even then, it is only possible to scratch the surface.

The V&A’s collection of decorative arts and design was founded in 1852 and was partly built up with profits from The Great Exhibition of 1851. In the early years, the collection covered science and a number of exhibits were purchased from The Great Exhibition to form the nucleus of the collection. It was the first museum in the world to include a refreshments room, dating back to 1857.  A year later, late night openings were made possible with the use of gas lighting, which allowed the working classes to visit.

The museum we see today is faced in ornate terracotta, red brick and Portland Stone. Built by Aston Webb, the main façade is an eclectic mix of Renaissance and medieval influences. Aston Webb’s foundation stone was laid on the seventeenth of May 1899, unbeknown to those in attendance, the occasion was the last official public appearance by Queen Victoria.  During the ceremony, the museum’s name was changed from The South Kensington Museum to the Victoria and Albert Museum. Over the following decade, Aston Webb built onto the existing parts and his additions were opened by Edward VII in 1909. Sculptural images of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert are set into the external structure. Prince Albert appears on the main arch above the twin entrances with Queen Victoria seen above the frame around the arches and entrance.

The collection of art from Asia is one of the greatest in existence. It comprises more than one hundred and sixty thousand objects. The collections at the V&A are carefully grouped and subdivided. There are collections of furniture and furnishings, textiles, fashion, sculpture, metalwork, ceramics, glass, words and images, theatre and performance, prints, books, photographs, periods and styles, paintings and drawings, jewellery, cast courts, ceramics, architecture and many more.

The fashion and costume collection is the most comprehensive in Britain. There are more than fourteen hundred outfits, mostly dating from 1600 to the present day. In 2002 the museum acquired the Costiff collection of one hundred and seventy-eight costumes by the British fashion designer Vivienne Westwood. The purchase was made possible by the assistance of the National Art Collections Fund, which has funded many other acquisitions at the V&A.

On permanent display in the V&A, is the ‘Chelsea Carpet’ which is thought to date from the sixteenth century. Considered the most beautiful carpet in the world, it was bought on London’s fashionable King’s Road in the nineteenth century and its earlier history is entirely unknown. Another popular exhibit is the ancient 'Bed of Ware’, which was built for an inn in Hertfordshire. Dating to 1590, the bed is so large it could sleep fifteen adults. A curiosity from its earliest days, William Shakespeare mentioned the bed in ‘Twelfth Night’. Some of those who slept in the ‘Bed of Ware’ carved their names into the timber or applied their red wax seals, all of which are still visible today.

At the outbreak of the Second World War most of the collection was transferred  to a disused London Underground tunnel and also to a subterranean quarry in Wiltshire. Items too big to be shifted were bricked up ‘in situ.’ Fortunately, the museum survived the war with only minor damage, although sharp eyed visitors will pick out the pock marks still visible on the façade from shrapnel from bombs that fell nearby.

The museum’s curators not only care for the objects in the collection, but provide access to items that are not currently on display to the public. Indeed, much commitment is required in sorting the items in the repository that are not on display. Research continues to be maintained by the curators as an important area, despite underfunding. The museum runs an education department for both casual visitors and school groups. The various annex institutions are managed by the V&A’s own staff, including The Museum of Childhood in East London’s Bethnal Green.

Starting in 2001, the museum embarked on a major one hundred and fifty million pounds renovation programme. The major overhaul included the introduction of new galleries, shops, visitor facilities and the ‘John Madejski Garden’ that opened in 2005. However, a proposal for a spiral extension by the post-modernist architect Daniel Libeskind, caused a public uproar. Ultimately, the trustees voted to abandon the eighty million pounds project after failing to achieve a financial grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. From 2001 The Victoria and Albert Museum has been free of charge and it is open daily, from 10.00-17.45 (22.00 Fridays). The V&A is located on Cromwell Road, London SW7 2RL

Where to view 'Victoria and Albert Museum' and video clips of London. London in Motion has some of the best London Stock Footage and London Library Footage with moving clips of many of the above mentioned places to see, are available to browse through by simply visiting the ‘Victoria And Albert Museum’ category of this website.  New additions of London video clips are being frequently uploaded and further categories will be appearing over the coming months.