Fitzwilliam Museum

The Fitzwilliam Museum stands on Trumpington Street in central Cambridge, opposite Fitzwilliam Street. It is the art and antiquities museum of the University of Cambridge and was founded in 1816 under the will of Richard FitzWilliam, 7th Viscount FitzWilliam. The museum houses one of the finest collections of antiquities and modern art in western Europe. It contains over half a million objects and artworks, spanning world history and art from antiquity to the present. The collections include works by Monet, Picasso, Rubens, Van Gogh, Renoir, Rembrandt, Cézanne, Van Dyck, and Canaletto. A notable piece is a winged bas-relief from Nimrud. The museum is a partner in the University of Cambridge Museums consortium. It is one of 16 Major Partner Museum services funded by Arts Council England. The museum has five departments: Antiquities; Applied Arts; Coins and Medals; Rare Manuscripts and Printed Books; and Paintings, Drawings and Prints. The Egyptian Galleries reopened in 2006 after a £1.5 million refurbishment. They feature an immersive public display designed to help families and young visitors understand ancient Egyptian context and landscape. Visitors find five main departments to explore. The Antiquities department covers ancient Egypt, Nubia, Greece and Rome, and Western Asia. The Paintings department includes masterpieces by Simone Martini, Titian, Veronese, Rubens, Van Dyck, and Picasso. The museum also holds the largest collection of 16th-century Elizabethan virginal manuscript music. The Egyptian Galleries contain some of the best displays on Egyptian antiquities outside the British Museum. The Founder’s Building, designed by George Basevi and completed by C. R. Cockerell, features decorative carving, a pediment, and four lions by William Grinsell Nicholl.