The V&A

The Victoria and Albert Museum is the world's leading museum of art and design.

[findlight]

Beatrix Potter, Landscape near Sidmouth, with cottages surrounded by fields and woods, early 20th century.

[conchrisoulis-deactivated202307]

I’m your Venus! Botticelli Reimagined @VAmuseum

#venus #aphrodite #botticelli #victoriaandalbertmuseum #enlightenment #painting #sculpture #photography #instagram #instalike #instagood #parody #fun (at Victoria and Albert Museum)

[melancholiceuphoria-deactivated]

at Victoria and Albert Museum

[deaddevon]

at Victoria and Albert Museum

[jemappellechantelle]

how’s revision going they ask (at Victoria and Albert Museum)

[167ace-deactivated20160706]

Science fiction novel ‘Venus on the Half-Shell’ by Philip José Farmer 1975

‘The Birth of Venus’ painting by Sandro Botticelli 1484–1486

@victoriaandalbertmuseum

[victoriaandalbertmuseum]

The Ceramic Staircase was designed by Frank Moody, a master in the Schools of Design, together with his students. The first two flights of stairs were totally encased in 'Della Robbia' ware and mosaic, while the ceilings, domes, panels and spandrels were decorated with vitrified ceramic painting.

Much of the meaning of the ceramic paintings on the staircase, which would have been quite clear to someone who had received a classical education in the nineteenth century, is obscure to us today. On the way to the first landing the barrel vault has a painting of 'The pursuit of art by man'. The two domes on the landing show Ceres, Mercury and Vulcan as Agriculture, Commerce and Manufactures around a terrestrial globe in one, with Apollo and Minerva and Poetry, Music and Art around a celestial globe in the other. The floor is a pavement in Roman style, with a river god in the centre, designed by Moody. The pieces of mosaic were cut and assembled by women prisoners in Woking Jail, an enterprise that brought savings in cost. // Victoria and Albert Museum

[victoriaandalbertmuseum]

Nixon - La Peste Dehors! poster, unknown artist, France, ca. 1969. // Victoria and Albert Museum

This poster criticises (newly elected) U.S. President Richard Milhous Nixon's role in escalating conflicts during the Vietnam War. In 1969, Nixon pledged to continue military support for South Vietnam, engaged in a brutal conflict against North Vietnamese Communists. This poster was probably produced by protesting French students. While many such protest posters were produced by dissenting American youth, the French also had strong ties to Vietnam, where France excercised colonial rule until 1954.

[victoriaandalbertmuseum]

¡Venceremos! (We Shall Overcome!) poster, unknown artist, around 1970. // Victoria and Albert Museum

Ernesto "Che" Guevara became an icon of resistance and rebellion throughout the world. Originally a doctor from Argentina, Guevara helped Fidel Castro in the guerrilla-style coup to overthrow the pro-American Cuban President Batista. He also travelled to Africa to assist in anti-imperialist struggles before eventually returning to South America where he was assassinated in Bolivia. Images of Guevara's intense gaze, rugged youthful face and military cap have immortalised him as the ultimate symbol of protest.

[victoriaandalbertmuseum]

The Shannongrove Gorget was found in a bog in Shannongrove, Co. Limerick, sometime before 1783, but dates back to 800 BC-700 BC. There are at least ten similar pieces from Ireland. We know that some of them come from the lower Shannon area, but we do not know exactly what they were used for - though most likely ceremonial purposes. // Victoria and Albert Museum

[victoriaandalbertmuseum]

In the course of World War II, an enemy bomb exploded outside the Exhibition Road entrance of the museum, where evidence of the shrapnel blast can still be seen. A report on the damage stated: 'The museum suffered considerable damage. Two powerful bombs hit in the vicinity on Exhibition Road. It has practically wrecked the west side of the museum. The surface of the masonry was badly knocked about and the Exhibition Road doors were blown in. Practically all windows, frames and iron grilles were destroyed and we have lost most of the glass roofing on that side of the museum.'

Once the main damage had been rectified the stone blast holes were left since they were not affecting the structure of the building. In 1985 an American tourist contacted the V&A about the war damage asking why it had been left. Not long afterwards the V&A contacted David Kindersley, a calligrapher to do a tablet as a memorial. Kindersley thought that it would be better to use the stone itself rather than attaching something to the wall. After various attempts at the wording he managed to arrange the cutting of the stone around a bomb blast on one of the stones. It was finally finished in 1987 and can be seen on the right hand side of Exhibition Road entrance. // Victoria and Albert Museum.

[victoriaandalbertmuseum]

In the course of World War II, the Natural History and Science Museums played host to a temporary RAF training college, while food for this college was to be served in the V&A. Sir Eric Maclagan, the Director of the Museum, was apparently not fond of this decision, as he worried that the humidity of the canteen would affect the Raphael Cartoons that were at the time bricked up near the old restaurant: 'I have no wish to be unnecessarily alarmist, but after thinking over the whole business again I still feel that it ought not to be allowed.' // Victoria and Albert Museum.

[victoriaandalbertmuseum]

Shoe Fragments from The Stein Collection. The Limes Watchtowers, China, 200 BC - 400 AD. // Victoria and Albert Museum

These shoe fragments originate from The Limes Watchtowers, part of an area now referred to as the Silk Road, a series of overland trade routes that crossed Asia, from China to Europe. The most notable item traded was silk, but the Silk Road was also important for the exchange of ideas – while silk textiles travelled west from China, Buddhism entered China from India in this way.

These items were brought back from Central Asia by the explorer and archaeologist Sir Marc Aurel Stein (1862–1943). The Victoria and Albert Museum has around 700 ancient and medieval textiles recovered by Stein at the beginning of the twentieth century, ranging in date from the second century BC to the twelfth century AD.

[victoriaandalbertmuseum]

Men sandbagging immovable objects in the Museum to protect against enemy bomb blasts, 1939. // Victoria and Albert Museum.

[victoriaandalbertmuseum]

A pair of flat, brown leather child's shoes, Egyptian, ca. AD1500-1800 (possibly). // Victoria and Albert Museum

Coptic footwear was primarily made with leather, often using the turned technique, to produce a slipper or shoe with a straight sole. Footwear was highly decorated in geometric and floral designs, often having a variety of techniques used in combination, with the most popular being dyeing, gilding, openwork and appliqué.

[makeitjackdanielstime]

sundates (at Victoria and Albert Museum)

[freelancechlo]

facebook . instagram