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Prince Albert and the Museums of South Kensington
South Kensington is home to an amazing array of institutions - the V&A,
the Science Museum, the Natural History Museum, The Royal College of
Art, Imperial College, the Royal College of Music, the Royal College
of Organists, the Albert Hall, the Royal Geographical Society and the
National Sound Archive. Their origins are to be found in the Great Exhibition
of 1851 when Prince Albert set up a Museum of Manufactures to house
the best objects purchased from the Exhibition. The Exhibition hosted
6m visitors in 5 months and made a profit of £180,000. The money
was invested in the purchase of the land to the south of the Festival
site in Hyde Park. The Commissioners of the Great Exhibition are still
sitting today and have made possible one of the greatest concentrations
of arts and science institutions in the world.
The area was once nicknamed Albertopolis and Albert insisted that projects
using the land should be useful to the public and provide educational
access to the masses. The idea of the new museum was entirely practical
- its theme was the 'application of Fine Art to Manufactures'. The first
director was Henry Cole, a small ball of energy, who was followed around
the Museum by his yapping dog (The dog was buried in what is now the
Pirelli Garden in the centre of the Museum). The original buildings
were the 'Brompton Boilers' an immense structure of corrugated iron
and steel which Prince Albert suggested should be painted with Green
and White stripes in order to lighten up the oppressive buildings. The
'boilers' are alive and well and form the Bethnal Green But the link
between art and science weakened over the years, the museum became known
as the Museum of Ornamental Art, the South Kensington Museum, and then
the Victoria and Albert Museum. Recently, the flamboyant director, Sir
Roy Strong, added a subtitle 'The National Museum of Decorative Art
and Design', to try to establish its purpose to the public and to restore
the link between art and science.
When you arrive at the Museum go straight to the Pirelli Gardens and
look at the buildings around the square which show the original South
Kensington style. The four sides of the square were built at different
times by Fowke and Scott. The original entrance is through the beautiful
door at the far side whose panels symbolize the link between the arts
and sciences. The designs on the walls are by Sykes, Gamble and Townroe.
The three horizontal divisions represent the Ages of Man. On the pediment
is Queen Victoria distributing Laurel crowns in front of the Crystal
Palace.
Next find your way to the Cast Courts Rooms. Room 46A has been restored
to the sumptuous Victorian interior decoration, and its plaster casts
of such huge monuments as Trajan's Column and the porch of the Cathedral
of Santiago Del Compostello must be seen to be believed. These casts
illustrate the amazing energy of the Victorians. Next, find the Ceramic
Staircase (room 11) where you will find more original Victorian designs,
and a portrait of Sir Henry Cole. Back down the stairs, through the
Italian renaissance gallery (looking at a few Donatello's as you go)
(rooms 13 and 15) enter the Morris, Gamble and Poynter Rooms. This was
at the old front entrance and shows how the first Director commissioned
architecture worthy of the contents of the Museum. The Green Dining
Room is by Morris with paintings by Burne- Jones. The central refreshment
room is now known as the Gamble Room, after its designer. The ecletric
mix of Arabian, classical, renaissance and modern features was abhorred
until recently, but now we can appreciate a truly stunning interior.
Note the quotation around the top of the walls, and the mouthwatering
quotations on the window. The Poynter room or Dutch Kitchen includes
the grill, in which chops and steaks were cooked, note the attractive
representations of the seasons around the walls.
Finally, walk via Rooms 11, 12, and Tippoo's Tiger.
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