Victoria and Albert Museum Photos
London, England
The Victoria and Albert Museum.
The script over the entrance reads:
'The excellence of every art
must consist in the complete accomplishment of its purpose'.
Also known as the V & A, 'the world's greatest museum of art and design' houses a fantastically diverse selection of decorative arts from around the world accumulated over hundreds of years, but with an emphasis on Europe's Medieval and Renaissance periods. Entry is free of charge.
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The museum's lobby.
On reflection, having visited all major museums and galleries in London during one summer, the bugcrew feels that the V and A is more entertaining, contains more amazing artefacts and is certainly a lot less crowded than our second favourite goodies store, the British Museum, though there are specific must-sees in the BM of course.
Within 100m of the V&A are both the Science Museum and Natural History Museum.
Over three pages we offer photos of varied exhibits to give an idea of the depth of the V&A's collections.
Tippoo's Tiger.
This life size music-box automaton tiger is gnawing on an imperial British warmonger in 1790 military uniform. A crank handle moved the man's arm and simulates groans. The tiger was owned by Tipu Sultan, 'the Tiger of of Mysore', one of India's most implacable anti-Brits. The tiger fell into British hands in 1799 when the Sultan was killed at the battle of Seringapatam.
Some fine marble statuary on display in the lower Sculpture Gallery. The nearby monument was created about 1615. For a more extreme use of marble, check out the next photo.
A detailed snow scene astonishingly created entirely in marble micro-mosaic.
The photo was taken, necessarily, from an acute angle so there's a little distortion in the image.
Panoramic View of Rome from the Janiculum Hill. Glass micro-mosaic, 1800-1825.
More Victoria and Albert Museum Pictures
At two metres wide, this picture of Rome, with Vatican City and St Peter's on the left, is entirely made of glass chips and took Antonio Testa 20 years to complete. Click here to see a close-up of the picture's bottom left. Tiny shards of glass are visible as Rome's founders, Romulus and Remus suckle from a she-wolf.
Official Site: V&A Museum
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