V&A, Applied arts and design museum in South Kensington, London, England
The Victoria and Albert Museum is a large institution dedicated to applied arts and design in South Kensington, central London. Its collection spreads across more than a hundred rooms displaying furniture, jewelry, glass, textiles, ceramics, and fashion from many centuries.
The building opened in 1852 as the South Kensington Museum, months after the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park. Its current name was adopted in 1899 to honor the late queen and her consort, both of whom had supported the project.
The museum's name honours Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, who backed the project after the Great Exhibition of 1851. Its Cast Courts hold full-size plaster casts made in the late 19th century, among them the main portal of San Petronio in Bologna and the Portico of Glory from Santiago de Compostela.
The entrance sits on Cromwell Road, a short walk from South Kensington Underground station. Most permanent galleries are free to enter, and the building stays open until late afternoon every day, with extended hours on Friday evenings.
The Cast Courts hold full-size plaster casts made in the late 19th century, among them the main portal of San Petronio in Bologna and the Portico of Glory from Santiago de Compostela Cathedral. The museum also keeps a 1699 violin by Antonio Stradivari and an oboe that belonged to Gioachino Rossini.
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