victorial albert

p Title : Victoria and Albert Museum

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Introduction

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London is the world 's largest museum of decorative arts and design , housing a permanent collection of over 4 .5 million objects (Cecil 2003 . Named after Prince Albert and Queen Victoria , it was founded in 1852 , and has since grown to now cover some 12 .5 acres and 145 galleries . Its collection spans 5000 years of art from ancient times to the present day , in virtually every medium , from the

cultures of Europe , North America , Asia and North Africa . The museum is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Culture , Media and Sport (Cecil 2003

Discussion

According to Cecil (2003 ) the Victoria and Albert Museum has its origins in The Great Exhibition of 1851 , with which Henry Cole the museum 's first director was involved in planning initially it was known as The Museum of Manufactures , first opening in May 1852 at Marlborough House but by September had been transferred to Somerset House . The author argues that at this stage the collections covered both applied art and science

Several of the exhibits from the Exhibition were purchased to form the nucleus of the collection . By February 1854 discussions were underway to transfer the museum to the current site and it was renamed as The South Kensington Museum (Cecil 2003 . The official opening by Queen Victoria was on 22 June 1857 . In the following year , late night openings were introduced , made possible by...