Museum. 1860 by Sir Henry Cole and
Captain Fowke. Unique facades of the quadrangle form the heart of the
Museum. Terra-cotta decorations by Godfrey Sykes and mosaics by Townroe.
West side 1861-63. North side 1864-68. On ground floor are the old
Refreshment Rooms built by 1867, consisting of the central Refreshment Room
decorated by Sykes and Gamble, the Green Dining Room decorated by William
Morris, and the Grill Room designed in 1869 by D J Poynter and completed in
1874. Also the staircase leading up to first floor, designed by F W Moody
with a mosaic portrait of Henry Cole 1868-76. On first floor the old Ceramic
Gallery completed about 1868 with elaborate decoration including
ceramic-faced columns by Minton. (Dismantled 1914). East side completed by
late 1890's and connected up with south side which is the library side and
built in 1884. The south courts of iron construction were built in 1862.
They are now boxed in to make the present museum restaurant and tapestry
court. The decoration of these courts was completed by 1874. The lunettes at
either end of the eastern court were decorated by Lord Leighton in 1880 and
1886. The main entrance hall and staircase designed by Aston Webb in 1891
and built 1899-1901. Queen Victoria laid the foundation stone, the last
major ceremony she performed, and the south front was completed in 1909.
Colonnade connecting with Royal College of Science (now Henry Cole wing).
Much of the Museum's interior has recently been restored.
The North Court
The original entrance to the Museum was through the north side of what is
now the John Madejski Garden. In 1869 all that stood between this door and
Cromwell Road was a stretch of grass.
The pediment on the north façade is decorated in monochrome mosaic. Cole
intended this to convey the message that the museum was intended for our
instruction in art and science in relation to an industrial world, the most
important member of which was Great Britain. The background silhouette is of
the Crystal Palace, site of the Great Exhibition that celebrated Britain's
greatness as a manufacturing nation. Before this stands a goddess-like Queen
Victoria, dispensing wreaths. The names of the nations that took part in the
Great Exhibition are on the borders of the pediment. On the right are the
symbols of Art - palette, violin, etc. On the left symbols of Science and
Invention, and possibly the only railway engine ever done in mosaic. To
reinforce the educative message, the two sculpted figure groups on top of
the outer ends of the pediment represent Instruction.
Warm brick and terracotta, mosaic decoration and pantiled roofs combine to
create an imposing frontage for the north facade that recalls the elegant
proportions of Northern Italian Renaissance architecture. The choice of
building materials, colour and scale contrasts strongly with the later, more
formal, buildings. The humanity of this building reflects Cole's character
and his desire that this should be a museum for ordinary people.
The bronze doors (made in 1868) were to have been the main entrance of the
South Kensington Museum. Three figures from the history of science on the
left door are balanced by three from the arts on the right, illustrating
Cole's belief that in a modern world art and science should always be taught
together. (Ironically in 1893 the South Kensington Museum was split into two
institutions, the V&A and the Science Museum, divided by Exhibition Road.)
Above the door the inscription 'Better is it to get wisdom than gold' is an
example of Victorian enthusiasm for a good maxim. Their love of allegory is
shown in two terracotta figures, one representing Science, the other Art.
In the profusion of terracotta figures and other decorative details, some
elements are repeated. Little cherubs and the casings for the columns were
to show the Three Ages of Man. These were sculpted moulds were taken from
the originals and then numerous casts were made in clay. After they had been
fired in a kiln, they could be used as decorative building components. These
reproductive forms were exactly the sort of good cheap design Cole was
trying to foster in industry.
Examples of allegory, such as the Three Ages of Man, were widely used at
South Kensington as a means of communicating the aims of the Museum. Through
biblical characters or classical mythology Cole hoped to reach both the
uneducated working classes that he wished to attract to the Museum and the
better educated middle classes who made up most of the Museum's visitors.
For instance, the three-coloured mosaic roundels underneath the arches of
the portico portray the Muses representing Poetry, History and Philosophy.
Many nineteenth-century visitors would have recognized them immediately from
their attitudes and the objects that they hold.
Later, the North Court was divided into two storeys, with Rooms 103-106
above and an exhibition space below. The South Court was also divided, with
storage above and Rooms 38, 38a, 39 below. You can see the roof of the South
Court through a peephole in Room 102.
The South Court
The South Court was intended to house smaller items than the North Court, so
its layout was different. With its space divided in two by an arcaded
corridor, the court had a more intimate feel than its twin. Opened in June
1862, this court was a success with architectural critics, despite the fact
that its inaugural show was an awkward jumble of loaned art works.
In the 19th century, convention dictated that public buildings needed to be
dignified with fitting ornamentation. The Museum's newest spaces,
particularly the bravura South Court, were decorated in an elaborate
combination of wallpaper, mosaic, friezes, painted panels, stained-glass
windows and dramatic paint contrasts (in the North Court, 'deep blood red'
competed against 'cold purple grey').
Fowke sketched out many elements of the decoration, but his untimely death
of heart failure in December 1865 (aged just 42, like Prince Albert) passed
the responsibility for these plans to his successor, Henry Scott, another
Royal Engineer. Many of the decorative schemes in the North and South Courts
were the work of Godfrey Sykes, a highly respected young artist drafted in
by Cole (it was Sykes who had influenced Fowke's choice of terracotta as the
signature decorative material for the Museum). But Sykes was able to
complete only a year's work at South Kensington before he himself died
prematurely in 1866.
Four decorative schemes in this area of the Museum are particularly
important. The first comprised 35 mosaic portraits placed in the arcade
niches running around the upper level of the South Court. They were designed
by invitation by a number of leading contemporary artists and executed by
students of the Museum's art schools in glass or ceramic tile. This sequence
was dubbed the 'Kensington Valhalla' by the 'Builder' because it featured
members of the artistic pantheon such as Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael.
Another important mosaic scheme, mounted in a cloister on the ground floor
between the North and South Courts, featured portrait heads of the Lords
President of the Museum's governing council.
Two lunettes in the South Court featured twin frescoes painted by Lord
Frederic Leighton, one of the era's most celebrated artists: 'The Industrial
Arts as Applied to War and The Industrial Arts as Applied to Peace'. Created
using an experimental medium, spirit fresco, Lord Leighton's epic images
were to cause the Museum many problems in later years when cleaners' dusters
and the umbrellas of careless visitors dislodged paint from their unstable
surface.
Most of the mosaics were removed and put into storage at a later date, but
the portrait of Prince Albert is still above a doorway in Room 102. The
Leighton frescoes, recently restored, can be seen in the same room and also
in Room 107.
The
V&A website
tells us about admission charges and opening times:
Admission to the V&A is free.
Some exhibitions and events carry a separate charge.
10.00 to 17.45 daily
10.00 to 22.00 Fridays (selected galleries remain open after 18.00 )
Closing commences 10 minutes before time stated
Closed 24, 25 and 26 December
The tunnel entrance to the V&A is open from 10.00 - 17.40 Saturday to
Thursday and 10.00 - 20.00 on Fridays but may be closed on occasion on
the advice of London Underground.