British National Museum in London. A Brief History of the British Museum British Museum London Square
Address: UK, London, Bloomsbury area, Great Russell street
Museum foundation date: 1753
Museum opening: August 10, 1759
Second most visited art museum in the world
Coordinates: 51°31"10.0"N 0°07"36.8"W
London, the capital of Great Britain, is rich in attractions located in it. And one of them is the British Museum.
The museum was founded at the end of the 18th century, or rather, in 1753, by the parliament of the empire. It is the central historical and archaeological museum of the Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The exposition of the museum has 94 galleries, stretching for 4 km.
British Museum from a bird's eye view
As for the sources of museum exhibits, they were the collections of three prominent and famous Britons: Dr. Hans Sloan, aristocrat Robert Harley, who at that time had the status of an earl, and Robert Cotton, who is a well-known antiquary. A considerable number of books of the latter served as a springboard for the creation of the famous British Library.
Initially, the museum was located in the aristocratic mansion of Montague House near the capital of the British Empire and was closed to the public. The doors of the museum were opened to the general public only 6 years after its creation, in 1759.. Since then, it has become more and more rich in a variety of exhibits collected around the world.
Main entrance to the museum
Antique vases, marbles, rare and valuable minerals, priceless works of art of ancient Greece were brought. The most striking exhibits are the works of the Parthenon and other historical values from the collections of Greville, Townley, Elgin, Hamilton, etc.
However, not all museum exhibits were obtained peacefully and legally in the modern sense of these words. Britain, as a colonial empire, exported valuable artifacts from its dominions. States such as Egypt and Greece are asking for the return of exhibits that were taken out during the days of colonialism, until now.
Great Court of Queen Elizabeth II
The 19th century was the peak of the development of the British Museum. It was at this time, due to the diversity and large number of exhibits, that the museum had to be divided into departments. The entire collection of the museum no longer fit in the building, so many departments were transported to another location, and in 1847 the Montagu House building was demolished. Instead, a new building was built using the classicist style. The construction was led by Robert Smork, which is the repository of museum artifacts to this day. Due to effective excavations in Mesopotamia in the 20th century, the collection of the British Museum was replenished with a host of new exhibits from the Middle East.
Reading Room of the British Museum Library
The museum now hosts frequent guided tours that originate in the Paul Hemlin Library. She is popular with children. On Sundays there is a club meeting called "Young Friends of the British Museum". Also, the museum building often hosts events called "Nights at the Museum", in which visitors stay overnight and participate in a thematic performance aimed at immersion in a particular culture (for example, "Japanese Night").
Moai from Easter Island
Despite the fact that the museum is owned by the British, it contains exhibits from all over the world that were once subject to the British colonial empire. So, for example, the collection of Egyptian valuables occupies the most museum space (92 meters long and several large halls). It is considered one of the largest collections in the world and includes such rarities as the granite head of the ruler of Egypt, Thutmes III, a priceless sculpture of the Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II, as well as stone sarcophagi and several copies of the famous Book of the Dead.
Expositions of the British Museum:
Facade of the Nereid Temple
Greco-Roman exposition
It occupies 12 rooms in the British Museum and consists of numerous monuments to the existence of the Roman Empire and Greek democracy. The most prominent representatives: Lycian sculptures, remains from the ruins of the famous temple of Diana from Ephesus, works of art such as Phigalion Marbles, examples of luxury goods of the Roman Empire, in particular the values of its rulers. In 1872, the museum received a priceless collection of stones from the era of antiquity called the Castellani Collection, thanks to which this department has become one of the largest museum departments in the world.
Shedu
Department of Art of Ancient Greece and Rome
Egyptian exposition
As mentioned above, this is one of the largest collections of artifacts from the country of the pharaohs. Most of the exhibits in this collection date back to 3000 BC. until the 7th century AD An important part of the Egyptian exposition is occupied by priceless ancient writings on papyrus. Among them are chronicles, works of literature, various pagan myths and other valuable historical documents that have survived to this day.
Bas-reliefs of the Ancient East
Department of Antiquities of the Near East Region
This section contains very interesting and rare exhibits. There are a number of such invaluable things as the cylinder seals of C. Townley and W. Hamilton, collections of historical monuments collected by researchers R. Kerr Porter and C. J. Rich. These scholars specialized precisely in the ancient history of Persia and Mesopotamia. The sources of many exhibits in this department are the excavations of Nineveh, the ancient Assyrian capital, the exploration of the Eastern Mediterranean and the famous Hittite culture.
Department of the East
This section of the British Museum is rich in sculptures, ceramics, various engravings and unique examples of painting from the Far East. Here you can find bronze Buddha statues, ritual vessels of ancient China, bronze products, hieroglyphic writings 4000 years old and other values of the ancient East.
Not deprived of the attention of the creators of the museum and Britain under the rule of the Romans. Numerous monuments of the Celtic culture and all subsequent peoples that inhabited the British Isles, examples of medieval temple building and jewelry widely cover these periods of history that Great Britain once went through.
The museum also has less voluminous, but also significant and valuable departments.
Hall of Ancient Egypt
The British Museum has a huge collection of coins and valuable medals, which are a godsend for any numismatist. It consists of 200 thousand copies, some of which date back to the 7th century BC. e. There are also modern coins in the museum.
The Department of Ethnography has collected household items of peoples discovered for Europeans by navigators James Cook and Christopher Columbus. These are African, American and Australian populations.
The collection of the most valuable engravings and drawings can be compared with the wealth of the Louvre. Here are the works of such creators as Verrocchio, Dürer, Raphael, Van Gogh, Michelangelo, Gainsborough and other creators.
The British Museum is one of the largest in the world. Founded in 1753, it reflects the history of mankind from its very beginnings.
People's Museum
The museum began with the collection of the British physician and scientist Sir Hans Sloan, who collected plants, books, manuscripts, and medals all his life. Sloan bequeathed them to the nation, Parliament passed a special act, according to which the collection, together with the royal library, was opened to the public. The British Museum became the first museum of a new kind in the world - owned not by the monarch or the church, but by the people.
At first, the museum was located in Montague House, which was specially bought for this purpose. But the collection quickly expanded through private collections (for example, the publisher George Thomason, who donated more than 22,000 documents from the English Civil War) and museum acquisitions (the results of the expedition of James Cook, Egyptian and Greek treasures). In the first half of the 19th century, the dilapidated Montagu House was demolished, in its place, Sir Robert Smike built one of the largest buildings in Europe, performing it in a neoclassical spirit.
British Museum collection
The collection was intensively replenished with treasures that Britain, the superpower of the 19th century, brought from all over the world. After the defeat of Napoleon in Egypt in 1801, the British got the famous Rosetta Stone, thanks to which Champollion deciphered Egyptian hieroglyphs. The stone was brought to London aboard a captured French frigate, and since 1802 it has been exhibited in the British Museum. At the beginning of the 19th century, the museum received such unique exhibits as the colossal bust of Ramesses II from ancient Thebes, the priceless marble friezes of the Athenian Parthenon, Assyrian and Babylonian antiquities from the collection of the British diplomat Claudius Rich.
In 1840, the museum began its own archaeological excavations in Asia Minor. This is how the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, was discovered, and its statues became one of the gems of the collection. A library of cuneiform tablets of King Ashurbanipal (VII century BC) was opened.
Now there are almost eight million exhibits in the British Museum. Many of them are unique. This is a Minoan gold treasure from the island of Aegina, the legacy of the deceased one and a half thousand years BC. e. highly developed civilization. The “treasures of Oxus”, the gold and silver items of the Achaemenid era (5th century BC), are amazing - until Benvenuto Cellini, jewelry did not reach such perfection. A well-preserved gilded mummy of Katebet of the 18th dynasty (about 1250 BC) was taken out of Egypt. The Lewis chess pieces, finely carved from walrus bone and whalebone, depict the upper strata of Norwegian society in the late 12th century.
At the end of the last century, the museum complex was reconstructed according to the project of Norman Foster, the Great Courtyard with a mosaic glass roof appeared - the largest covered space in Europe. The museum is huge, its departments freely accommodate both overall Egyptian antiquities and drawings by Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, Rubens, Rembrandt.
On a note
- Location: Great Russell Street, London.
- Nearest underground stations: "Holborn", "Tottenham Court Road", "Russell Square"
- Official website: http://www.britishmuseum.org
- Opening hours: daily from 10:00 to 17:30, except January 1, December 24-26. On Thursdays and Fridays, some departments are open until 20:30.
- Tickets: Admission is free.
This is one of the largest museums in the world, which stores works of art, Ancient Greece, Mesopotamia, Ancient Rome, Ancient Egypt, amazing products of European and Asian masters of the Middle Ages, collections of medals and coins, engravings, drawings, ethnographic collections. All museum collections are located in 94 galleries with a total length of more than four kilometers.
Brief historical information about the British Museum
Hans Sloan (1660-1753), the famous physician and naturalist, president of the Royal Society, is considered to be the founder of the museum's collections.
The museum building was erected over 24 years (1823-1847) according to the project of Robert Smerk in the style of English neoclassicism located on a plot of 6 hectares.
During the 2nd World War, museum exhibits were taken out, as the building was partially destroyed by air raids. Museum halls and expositions have been restored over the years.
Unique collections of the museum
Collection of Ancient Egypt. It consists of more than 66 thousand exhibits from the period of 3 thousand years BC to the 11th century BC. The richest section is devoted to the monumental sculpture of the New Kingdom. But what you should pay attention to in the museum is the granite head of Thutmes III and the sculpture of Pharaoh II.
At the very entrance in one of the halls, the Rosetta Stone (196 BC) is on public display. The text of a decree in the name of King Ptolemy V is carved on it.
The Egyptian collection also consists of papyri (about 800 documents) that introduce us to the world of literary works, theological works, religious myths and hymns, scientific treatises, historical events, personal and business correspondence and other documents. The museum also contains a set of magic spells, the so-called Book of the Dead, consisting of 180 chapters.
There are also exhibits of wooden sarcophagi (more than 100) with well-preserved mummies of sacred animals in them.
The department dedicated to the antiquities of Asia Minor consists of collections of works of the ancient peoples of the Near East (Sumer, Babylonia, Akkad, Urartu, Palestine, Ancient Iran, etc.). This department contains magnificent monumental reliefs of Assyrian art. For example, monuments depicting scenes of hunting, battles, campaigns, ritual scenes depicting a winged deity with an eagle's head, a wounded lioness, hunting for wild donkeys, a dead lion, and 250 different reliefs.
The Department of Antiquities also contains the world's largest collection of clay tablets with hieroglyphs (more than 150,000). But the pride of the whole museum is the world-famous library of King Ashurbanipal from Nineveh, with its 20 thousand tablets of various contents.
The Ancient Roman and Ancient Greek Art Collection consists of magnificent works created at the end of the Roman Empire. There are also monumental sculptures from the sanctuary of Apollo, reliefs from the tomb of Xanthus.
The collection of ancient Greek ceramics is very widely represented: the red-figure dish of Epictetus, the black-figure amphora of Exekias, the Athenian red-figure crater, the Panathenaic amphora.
Ancient Roman works of art provide all museum visitors with a unique chance to see the sculptural portraits of Emperor Augustus, the bust of Emperor Hadrian. As well as wall paintings from the Villa Boscoreale, the mosaic floor of a Roman house from Herculaneum or Pompeii.
Looking into the prehistoric antiquities department of Roman Britain, you will be surprised by the primitive tools on display, bronze vessels, a bronze mirror from Desborough, a two-horned helmet, a unique 34-piece silver hoard from Mildenhall, as well as formidable military armor.
The department of numismatics will acquaint everyone with the first coins up to the present day. There are also Greek electrum coins, and a series of medals dedicated to the events of historical England, and other famous personalities.
The department of drawings and engravings, in its size and value, occupies a place next to the collections of the Louvre. All artistic splendor is collected here: the Holy Family (Michelangelo), the Arc de Triomphe (Dürer), Abundance (Sandro Botticelli); drawings and sketches by artists of the 15th-20th centuries. - Michelangelo Buonarroti, Raphael Santi, Peter Paul Robens, John Constable, Antoine Watteau, Rembrandt Van Rijn, Vincent Van Gogh and many other famous European artists.
The museum always has guides who speak Russian.
The museum is open daily from 10.00 to 17.00. Entrance is absolutely free!
The museum can be reached by metro: Tottenham Court Road (500m); Russell Square (800m); Holborn (500m); Goodge Street (800m).
By Bus: Stop at New Oxford Street, route no. 1,7,8,19,25,38,55,98,242;
Stop at Southampton Row, route number 59,68,91,168,188.
The current museum building, dating from 1823, is a fine example of 19th century neoclassical architecture. The groundwork for the exposition was laid in 1753 when Hans Sloan offered a huge collection of art and antiquities to Parliament for a sum far less than their combined value. Gradually other collections were added, including the Royal Library, donated by George II. Soon the museum could no longer accommodate everything, and Robert Smork began work on the building that we see today.
In the 1880s the natural science collections were moved to a new building in south Kensington and the British Museum in Bloomsbury managed to place more emphasis on collecting, housing and protecting treasures from all over the world. In recent years, new changes have taken place - the British Library was taken out of the building, the place that it previously occupied was transformed into a courtyard with a huge glass and steel roof, designed by Norman Foster. The new premises opened in 2000. In the center of it is the famous reading room with a dome - now the multimedia information center is located here, as well as a public reading room.
Exhibits
The museum has many priceless artifacts, including antiquities from the Parthenon, the Rosetta Stone, a stunning collection of ancient Egyptian art, a giant head from Easter Island, and many other treasures. In total, including engravings and drawings, the museum has more than 7 million exhibits.
The museum exposition is located on three floors: halls 1-34 are located on the main, ground floor, halls 35-73 and 90-94 at the top, halls 77-89 in the basement. Of course, it is impossible to see everything in one visit, so we advise you to get a floor plan from the information desk and choose what attracts you the most.
The Portland vase from the collection of the Duchess of Portland was transferred to the museum for temporary storage in 1810. In 1945, the museum bought it
Room 8 displays the excellent marble reliefs of El Jin. These are fragments of the Parthenon frieze of the 5th century. BC, which were brought from Athens to London in 1801-1804. Lord Elgin, British Ambassador to Constantinople. In 1816, the British government bought the marbles from him for $35,000, and since then the Greek authorities have insistently, but so far to no avail, demanded that they be returned to their homeland. The frieze is magnificent: it depicts horsemen during the solemn procession of sacrifice. Room 14 displays art from the Hellenistic period, including a marvelous golden wreath of oak leaves perched on tiny golden cicadas and a bee (circa 350 - 300 BC).
In hall 7 you will see a reconstruction of the tombstone of the 5th c. BC e. in the form of an Ionic portico with statues of Nereids, discovered at Xanth in western Turkey.
The Rosetta Stone is named after the city at the mouth of the Nile, where it was found in 1799.
The famous Rosetta Stone is on display in Room 25. This is a basalt slab on which the decision of the council of priests of 196 BC is carved. e. in parallel in Greek and ancient Egyptian (demotic and hieroglyphic writing).
The discovery of the stone allowed scientists to unravel the mystery of Egyptian writing.
Room 33 displays Oriental art including Tibetan inlaid jewelry, 16th-century Vietnamese altar vases, 8th-century Indian gods and demons, Chinese warrior and horse tombs, jasper, and fragile Ming vessels.
In the Mexican gallery in room 33c, you can see amazingly colorful, full of inner strength mosaics and sculptures of the Aztecs and Mayans.
The ceremonial helmet from the Sutton Hoo burial has a gilded bronze breastplate and eyecups inlaid with garnets.
Rooms 37 and 68 display hoards of gold coins, bracelets and other jewelry found during excavations throughout the British Isles. In room 41 there is a treasure from Sutton Hoo (Suffolk County): found in 1939, the burial boat of the Saxon king. Among the exhibits are a sword adorned with precious stones, gold scabbards, a helmet covering the entire face with gilded bronze plates, fragments of a lyre, a huge bronze cauldron, a scepter with a bronze deer and a gold purse decorated with cloisonné enamel.
Be sure to visit room 42, where the Lewis chess is located. The chess pieces were carved in the 12th century. on about. Walrus bone Lewis in the form of broad-faced warriors, bishops and kings. Next, go to room 49 and inspect the Mildenhall Treasure, found in Suffolk during the war years. These are Roman silver vessels made with great skill, including a large dish with a scene of worship of Bacchus.
In room 61 you will see ancient Egyptian mummies in sargophagi, exquisitely painted with figures of cats, snakes, ibises, crocodiles, falcons and people. In the adjacent rooms - examples of Egyptian jewelry and Coptic art.
www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk
Entrance to the British Museum is free for all visitors (except exhibitions)
The museum is open daily 10.00–17.30, Fri. until 20.30
Nearest metro is Holborn or Tottenham Court Road, Russell Square
One of the largest museums on the planet is located in the very center of England. The Central British Museum in London began its existence in 1753. It was then that the English Parliament was destroyed. More than 90 museum galleries stretch over a distance of 4 kilometers. The main expositions are considered to be huge collections of famous people of Great Britain: Earl Robert Harley, doctor Hans Sloan and antiquary Robert Cotton. By the way, Cotton's collection of books was the beginning of the creation of the British National Library.
Development of the British Museum in London
Despite the fact that the museum was founded in 1953, for the first time a person had the opportunity to visit only 6 years later. It was originally located in Bloomsbury, where the Montagu House mansion was located. Every year the museum was replenished with various valuable exhibits brought to England from all over the world. There are also exhibits in the collection that were not acquired in the most honest way. Thus, the ancient statues of Greece and Egypt were taken out of the countries by illegal means.
The development of the museum was especially noticeable in the 19th century. Then all the collections were divided into departments. Some of them were even moved to South Kensington. From 1823 to 1847 there was a gradual demolition of the Montague House mansion. But in its place, a modern building was erected to store the collections. At the beginning of the 20th century, large excavations took place in Mesopotamia, thanks to which the museum's collections were significantly replenished with exhibits from the Middle East.
British Museum in London today
Today, this museum is extremely popular. There are regular tours here. "Night at the Museum" takes place 4 times a year. At this event, people are near the exhibits all night, listening to educational stories and playing games. Each of the Nights at the Museum has a specific theme. For example, "Egyptian Night". It was Egypt that brought the museum one of the largest expositions. This state here occupies almost a hundred meters.
What's in the British Museum London?
As mentioned above, the Egyptian collection in the museum occupies the largest place. Here you can look at the ancient statues of the pharaohs and rulers of Egypt. In addition, a person runs the risk of seeing stone sarcophagi, manuscripts on old papyrus papers, including myths, works and documentation. There is also a rare old exhibit - the Book of the Dead. It is decorated with ancient inscriptions, miniatures and pictures.
A rather large collection from Rome and Greece. It occupies as many as 12 halls. Among the exhibits you can see old manuscripts, monuments and figurines, as well as parts of the temple, located in the antique. There is also a hall with jewels and stones.
In the eastern section there are ancient expositions of the Ancient East and South Asia. So, among the exhibits you can see Buddha statues, ancient scriptures and jewelry. Some of the museum exhibits date back to 2 thousand years BC.
The museum has a section related to more modern life. This includes the work of famous artists, writers and architects. Basically, these are exhibits of the late 18th - early 19th century.
Huge library
Do not deprive attention of the fact that the British Museum in London is also a kind of library. However, you can’t take books home here, but you can look at the works with your own eyes. The entire collection of books and manuscripts reaches several million. There are also ancient documents, maps, books and much more. It is noteworthy that many exhibits are in several copies, namely in different languages. In total, the collection occupies 6 large reading rooms with seats for readers.
How to get there?
There are several ways to get to the museum:
- Metro;
- Bus;
- Taxi.
In the first case, you will need to get to one of the stations: Tottenham Court Road, Russell Square or Holborn. The fare will cost about 2 pounds if you pay with a special smart card. Cash fare is 2 times more expensive.
In principle, you need to go by bus and taxi to the same metro stations, but the fare will cost more. By taxi - more than 2 pounds per mile, and by bus 2.5 pounds in cash.
The exact address of the British Museum in London is WC1B 3DG, London, Great Russell Street. The museum is open from 10 am and closes at 5:30 pm. However, on Thursdays and Fridays, many departments operate until 20:30. It is noteworthy that the entrance to the museum is Free! You can book an excursion to the British Museum.
