Британский музей Лондона

British Museum
Plan

1 The museum's ancient Egyptian collection

2 Department of Antiquities of Western Asia
3 Art of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome
4 Department of Prehistoric Antiquities and Monuments of Roman Britain
5 Department of Medieval and Modern Monuments

Introduction

The oldest and largest museum in London is the British Museum.

The British Museum's international reach and its key role in promoting the world's national heritage make it one of the most visited public buildings in London, contributing to its cultural and economic life. Its collections began to take shape in the mid-18th century, but the building it now occupies, with its grand classical façade facing Russell Street, was built primarily from 1823 to 1852 by the architect Robert Smerk. One of the largest museums in the world, storing works of art of Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, products of medieval masters of Europe and Asia, collections of coins and medals, drawings, engravings, ethnographic collections. The museum collections occupy 94 galleries with a total length of more than 4 km. This collection is one of the most magnificent in existence today, spanning two million years of human history. And most importantly, access to the meetings is absolutely free for every visitor.

Chapter I. _ History of creation

The founder of the museum’s collection is considered to be the famous physician and naturalist, president of the Royal Society (English Academy of Sciences) Hans Sloane (1660–1753), who did not want to see that his life’s work (this is a collection of the library fund and a herbarium collection, approximately 71,000 objects) would be lost after his death. He suggested that King George II make his collection a national treasure, in return for paying £20,000 to his relatives; if the king did not agree to this proposal, then the entire fund of the collection should go to foreign academies of science for further study. Group of Guardians The collections of the fund mainly consisted of books, manuscripts on natural history, as well as antiquities (coins, medals, printed publications, drawings and ethnography). In 1757 King George II donated the "Old Royal Library" to the sovereigns of England, and with this privilege the museum acquired a new status. The museum was first housed in the 17th century Montagu House in Bloomsbury on the site of the current building. On 15 January 1759 the British Museum opened to everyone. With the exception of two World Wars, when parts of the collection were evacuated, it has remained open, gradually increasing the number of visitors from 5 thousand a year to today's 5 million. His collection of coins, antique gems, ancient manuscripts, sculptures, as well as stuffed animals, birds, herbariums, etc. was bequeathed to the state. His followers expanded the collection.

In December 1753, an act of parliament was adopted to found the British Museum, and on January 15, 1759, the museum received its first visitors to Montagu House in Bloomsbury.
The 19th century was a time of expansion of the museum. Previous entry restrictions have been lifted, especially on weekends. Masses of all ages and social classes flocked to the museum. While the Museum's academic work continued with the publication of a large series of catalogues, many of the Museum's curators took an interest in expanding its audience through excursions. The first complete catalog of the Museum's collections was published in 1808 and contained more than sixty editions of detailed illustrated books. The Museum also actively participated in excavations abroad. His Assyrian collections formed the basis for the decipherment of the wedge-shaped sign, which ended with the decipherment of the Egyptian hieroglyphic language. Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks (1826-97) made major contributions in 1851 to such fields as British and European prehistory, ethnography, oriental art and archaeology.
In the 1880s the natural history collections were moved to a new building in South Kensington, which later became the Natural History Museum. This departure and the construction of the White Wing (Montague Street) increased congregations for some time. The King Edward Galleries, opened in 1914, the Duveen Gallery (1939/62) and the New Wing (1978) provided additional storage space for the library and the rest of the collection. This, however, did not solve the Museum's need for additional space and further transfer of the collections was proposed. The Ethnography Department moved temporarily to Burlington Gardens (now closed) in 1970, and in 1973 the library's departments became part of the new British Library organization. Early 19th century – time for rapid expansion of the collection. 1802 – a collection of Egyptian antiquities captured by the English army from the French during the capture of Alexandria. 1805 - antique marbles were acquired, 1814 - a relief frieze of the Temple of Apollo in Bassae (Peloponnese), 1816 - Parthenon sculptures taken from Athens by the English ambassador to Turkey, Lord Elgin. At the same time, the library, graphics and numismatics departments were replenished. Enormous growth of the collection in the first quarter of the 19th century. demanded new exhibition space.
The museum building, built in 1823–1852 according to the design of the architect Robert Smerk (1781–1867) in the spirit of English neoclassicism, occupies an area of almost six hectares and is located on one of the central streets of London, Great Russell Street. For the constantly expanding library, a round Reading Room and adjacent book depositories were erected in 1854–1857. The hall is covered with a dome 32.2 m high and 42.7 m in diameter. The famous reading room of the museum library, covered with a dome 42 meters in diameter, was erected in 1856-1857 by Robert's brother, Sidney Smirk.
In 1881–1883, the huge collections of flora and fauna, geological and paleontological collections that were part of the British Museum were transported to a specially built building of the Natural History Museum. In 1881-82, some museums: zoological, botanical, geological, mineralogical and others - were transferred to a separate special premises in Southampton.
During the Second World War, the exhibits were evacuated. The museum building was damaged by air raids: several halls were destroyed and the dome of the library reading room was damaged. Over the course of many years, the museum restored its halls and exhibitions.