Fitzwilliam Museum (Cambridge)

 museum, University of Cambridge

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www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk

The Fitzwilliam Museum is the principal museum of the University of Cambridge. Its core purpose is to safeguard the collections, to make them accessible for study and enjoyment and to preserve them for future generations. The Museum houses world-class collections of works of art and antiquities spanning centuries and civilisations.

The Fitzwilliam Museum was described by the Standing Commission on Museums & Galleries in 1968 as "one of the greatest art collections of the nation and a monument of the first importance". It owes its foundation to Richard, VII Viscount Fitzwilliam of Merrion who, in 1816, bequeathed to the University of Cambridge his works of art and library, together with funds to house them, to further "the Increase of Learning and other great Objects of that Noble Foundation".

Highlights include masterpieces of painting from the fourteenth century to the present day, drawings and prints, sculpture, furniture, armour, pottery and glass, oriental art, illuminated manuscripts, coins and medals and antiquities from Egypt, the Ancient Near East, Greece, Rome and Cyprus.

The Hamilton Kerr Institute is a department of the Museum and undertakes the conservation of easel paintings for public and publicly shown collections as well as for the Museum.

Tel: 01223 332900
Fax: 01223 332923