V&A South Kensington
The world’s leading museum of art, design and performance.
The Victoria and Albert Museum grew out of the Great Exhibition of 1851 and Prince Albert's ambition to raise standards of art and design. First established in 1852, it moved to South Kensington in 1857 and took its present name in 1899. It is now the world's largest museum of applied and decorative arts and design, with collections spanning some 5,000 years.
The South Kensington site is a patchwork of Victorian and Edwardian buildings, from the richly decorated original refreshment rooms to Aston Webb's grand Cromwell Road facade crowned by its lantern tower, alongside contemporary additions such as the Exhibition Road Quarter. Galleries cover fashion, furniture, ceramics, sculpture, jewellery, photography and more, and entry to the permanent collection is free.
Highlights
- The Cast Courts with full-size casts of Trajan's Column and Michelangelo's David
- Fashion gallery
- Morris, Gamble and Poynter refreshment rooms
- John Madejski Garden
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