Hunt Museum, Art museum in Limerick, Ireland.
The Hunt Museum occupies Limerick's former Custom House, a Palladian-style limestone building designed by Davis Ducart in 1765 and completed between 1765 and 1769. Its grey stone facade has ten tall white-framed windows in regular rows, a dark pitched roof and three stone chimneys, with gold lettering reading "THE HUNT MUSEUM" across the front. Inside are about 2,500 artefacts from Ireland and abroad, from Stone-Age pieces and ancient Egypt to the Antrim Cross and drawings by Picasso.
The Hunt Museum opened in an exhibition room at the National Institute for Higher Education in Limerick in 1978, after John and Gertrude Hunt sought a permanent home for their collection. The Hunt Museums Trust, set up in 1974, later joined a public-private partnership that acquired the 18th-century former Custom House. The building, designed by Davis Ducart and completed between 1765 and 1769, was restored by the Office of Public Works and opened as the museum on 14 February 1997.
The collection reflects John Hunt's interest in early Christian art, with the Treasury Room holding the Arthur Cross and Arthur Chalice, the Antrim Cross, the Cashel Bell and the Hohenzollern Crucifix. It also includes 45 pieces by Irish designer Sybil Connolly, most donated by Gertrude Hunt, among them the "Heiress Dress" and "Pink Ice Dress".
The museum occupies the 18th-century former Custom House on Rutland Street, on the bank of the River Shannon where it meets the Abbey River. The building was restored by the Office of Public Works, a restoration completed in 1996. Each 14 February, the anniversary of the 1997 opening, is marked as Open Day with free admission, talks, tours and workshops.
The bronze horse in the collection was long attributed to Leonardo da Vinci as a design for a large monument. Its provenance was disproven in 2009; it resembles the Budapest horse. The museum also holds the Antrim Cross, an early 9th-century cast bronze and enamel cross.
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