Victoria & Albert Museum

The Victoria and Albert Museum (the V&A) is on Cromwell Road in Kensington, West London. It specialises in applied and decorative arts.

The museum was established in 1852 as the South Kensington Museum, following the success of the Great Exhibition of 1851. It was renamed in 1899 in honour of Queen Victoria and her late consort Albert.

The building is Victorian and Edwardian. It covers 11 acres (45,000 m²), has 145 galleries and a collection of 4 million items. Entrance has been free since November 22, 2001.

One of the most beloved parts of the museum is the two Cast Courts, housing hundreds of
plaster casts of sculptures, friezes and tombs. One of these is dominated by a full-scale replica of Trajan's Column, cut in half in order to fit under the ceiling. The V&A also houses Britain's national collection of sculpture; although currently poorly displayed the highlights are Bernini's fountain of Neptune and Triton and Canova's Three Graces.

Recently, controversy surrounded the Museum's proposed building of an £80 million extension called The Spiral, designed by Daniel Libeskind, which was criticised as out of keeping with the architecture of the original buildings. The Spiral's design was described by some as looking like jumbled cardboard boxes. In September 2004, the Museum's Board of Trustees voted to abandon the design after failing to receive funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The museum also runs Apsley House; the Museum of Childhood at Bethnal Green; and the Theatre Museum in Covent Garden.

The museum is close to the Natural History Museum and the Science Museum. The closest London Underground station is South Kensington.
, a 30ft high, blown glass, chandelier by Dale Chihuly was installed as a focal point in the rotunda at the V&A's main entrance.
dominates the cast room in the sculpture wing.

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