Ashmolean Museum, Art museum at Beaumont Street, Oxford, United Kingdom
The Ashmolean Museum is an art museum on Beaumont Street in Oxford, United Kingdom, displaying more than two hundred thousand objects across several floors. Collections range from ancient civilizations to contemporary art and are housed in themed galleries presenting sculptures, paintings, archaeological finds, and decorative arts from different periods.
The museum opened in 1683 as Britain's first public museum, beginning with the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole donated to Oxford University. Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, numerous donations and acquisitions expanded the holdings significantly, requiring several renovations and extensions to the building.
The building'sname comes from Elias Ashmole, who donated his collection of curiosities to Oxford in the late seventeenth century. Visitors today walk through rooms arranged by theme and period, from Egyptian mummies to Renaissance paintings, reflecting how generations of scholars and collectors shaped what people can see now.
The museum opens from Tuesday to Sunday between ten and five, with late hours until eight on the last Friday of each month. All floors are accessible by lift, and toilets and seating areas are available on every level.
Conservators work in open studios within the building, and visitors can watch through large windows as ancient objects are cleaned and repaired. These studios also prepare works for international loans, offering a glimpse into the technical work behind exhibitions.
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