London: Victoria and Albert Museum

The Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington is one of the largest museums in the world and one of the amazing places to visit in London.  It was inspired by the Great Exhibition of 1951 and was opened as the Museum of Manufacturers in 1852 in Marlborough House and then Somerset House on a temporary basis before opening the initial galleries on the current Cromwell Road site in 1857 under the name of the South Kensington Museum.  It was established as a practical museum of applied art and science, that could educate workers and inspire innovative and beautiful design.  In 1899 it was renamed the Victoria and Albert Museum.

There is much to see in the V&A.  I enjoyed walking through the above Medieval and Renaissance gallery but also challenged.  The first sculpture is of Samson and the Philistines by Giambologna in 1560.  To the left of it is a sculpture of The Rape of Proserpina by de Rossi in the 1500s.  Wow!  The art glorifies murder and rape which are respectively depicted as ok if you are facing an enemy or a god.  These notions are still with us, but a little more complex than in ancient stories.

Given our hotel was in Kensington, London, my sister Chris suggested we drop into the V&A to see the Japan: Myths to Manga exhibition.  We thought it might have some Ghibli but found that the exhibition was at its Young V&A in Bethnel Green.  Sadly there was not time for a trip across London to the Eastend. 

So we browsed the gift shop and brainstormed where we wanted to go.  The V&A is huge and I could not remember what I had loved on previous visits.  We didn't have much time so I looked a picture in the visitors map  and asked where it was.  That's how I ended up at the Casts Courts.

I love museums and I also love the history of museums.  The Casts Courts are fascinating both because they are beautiful and also because they give a fascinating insight into Victorian museums.  The casts are reproductions of original sculptures.  It was difficult for many people to travel to see such wonders so the casts were the next best thing.  Apparently it was common in the Nineteenth Century (and maybe the British Museum could do some casts of the Elgin Marbles) but the V&A courts - opened in 1873 - is oe of the few museums with an intact cast collection.  There is some discussion of the casts being out of context but also that it preserves examples of places which are destroyed or weathered.

It was odd to see Michelangelo's David after being in Rome and seeing so many souvenirs featuring the image.  Apparently the nudity of the statue shocked Queen Victoria and there was a ceramic fig leave to be strategically placed when she visited.  Apparently it is now part of the exhibition.  I read some of the signage which was interesting in reflecting on the location or colour of the original but I missed the fig leaf!  I really just love to cast an eye over the room and imagine Victorian ladies and gentlemen strolling through the exhibition with top hats and hooped skirts.

Imagine the wonder of seeing these sculptures in real life as a worker who had never left London.  The V&A was open late with gas lighting so that workers could visit after work.  Given how tired I can feel after work, I wonder how many had the energy after the long hours that were usual back then.  I also wonder how much the casts influenced art and design in London.

I loved this pulpit with all the amazing detail.  If you saw it every Sunday and more at your church would you take it for granted or would you marvel at it every time you saw the great art.  And those stairs!   They do not look like they would pass today's health and safety standards!

The Cast Courts are 25 metres high to accommodate the cast of Trajan's Column in two parts.  The amount of detail in these is incredible.

I was struck by the many different hats in this relief called Christ Bearing His Cross by Hans Breuggeman c 1514 .  The signage says that unusually this plaster cast was not coated so it is behind glass.  It also shows the joins between the parts of the cast that have been put together like a jigsaw.  But mostly I noticed the hats.  I am sure they would put to shame any  Wear-a-silly-hat day!

Perseus holding up Medusa's head.

St George slays the dragon.

I wss struck by the face on this bishop.  Also I wish I had had time to go up the stairs and look down on on the casts from the balcony like the two people in the photo.  I managed to convince Sylvia to come and see the Cast Courts but we had to get back to the gift shop to meet Chris as we had plenty more of the London to see.

Chris had been to look at Renaissance art and a Theatre and Performance section.  The V&A has a lot to see, and a great gift shop.  I loved these William Morris biscuit tins.

Before leaving we went outside to beautiful John Madejski Garden to enjoy a spot of sunshine.  In the middle is a pond with a sign saying "paddling is permitted but please keep clothes on" that amused us.  So British!

It was such gorgeous winter weather than a lot of people were seating outside at the cafe tables.  We never thought to go into the cafe.  I had had a glimpse of it in the courtyard at the back and it looked pretty ordinary. 

I had read about the historic V&A cafe but had was not clear where it was.  Later I was disappointed to see I could have gone in there if I had gone through the cafe door by the pond and walked through to the Gamble Poynter and Morris Room, one of the first museum cafes.  Instead we admired the architecture outside.

Then we walked through the entrance hall which is spectacular.  It has an ornate glass sculpture hanging over the information desk.  It seemed we went through the museum backwards as this was our last place we went.

We went int the back entrance opposite the long queues to the Natural History Museum.  It was so impressive it might have been mistaken for the front.  The details of the building were impressive.

But when we exited out the front entrance we could see this was every grander than the other parts we had seen.  It was a lovely last view of the great museum before we caught a bus into the West End.