Detail View: Archivision Base to Module 9: Victoria and Albert Museum

Preferred Title:	Victoria and Albert Museum
Alternate Title:	V&A
Image View:	Interior, Entrance Hall and Rotunda (by Webb)
Creator:	Aston Webb (British architect, 1849-1930); Henry Young Darracott Scott (British architect, 1822-1883)
Location:	site: Victoria and Albert Museum [South Kensington] (London, England, United Kingdom)
Location Note:	Cromwell Gardens, South Kensington
GPS:	+51.496667-0.171944
Date:	enlarged 1899-1909 (alteration); opened 1857 (creation)
Cultural Context:	British
Style Period:	Nineteenth century; Renaissance Revival
Work Type 1:	art museum
Classification:	architecture
Material:	red brick; Portland stone; tile
Subjects:	decorative arts; rulers and leaders; Art museums; art education
Description:	The world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects. Named after Prince Albert and Queen Victoria, it was founded in 1852, and has since grown to now cover 12.5 acres (51,000 m2) and 145 galleries. Originally named The South Kensington Museum, the museum on the current site opened in 1857. Webb also contributed three major buildings in South Kensington, London. The first, won in an invited competition (1891), was for a major addition to the Victoria and Albert Museum with a façade to Cromwell Road. With this design, Webb stretched his talent for mixing Renaissance styles to its limit, creating a skyline broken by pavilion domes, campaniles and, at the centre of the principal façade, a column-tiered tower supporting an open crown. The laying of the foundation stone to the left of the main entrance of the Aston Webb building, on 17 May 1899 was the last official public appearance by Queen Victoria. The opening ceremony for the Aston Webb building
Collection:	Archivision Addition Module Six
Identifier:	1A1-WA-VAM-A17
Rights:	© Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.