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The oldest museum in the world, and one of London’s most fascinating, contains treasures and artifacts from all over the world.
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From Fra Angelico to Van Gogh, this is a complete art course in one manageable gallery. The core of the collection is the country’s finest Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works, amassed by a textile magnate, Samuel Courtauld (1876–1947). Many of them are instantly recognisable: Manet’sBar at the Folies-Bergère , Van Gogh’sSelf Portrait With Bandaged Ear , Gauguin’sTeRerioa and Manet’sDéjeuner sur L’Herbe .Visit Somerset House’s fountain courtyard and riverside terrace café for a drink afterwards.
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Based in a clean white 1930s building beside Tower Bridge, this museum is the only one in Britain devoted to 20th- and 21st-century design. Regularly changing exhibitions feature the very best of modern design from the museum’s collection, including both product and graphic design, fashion, furniture, architecture and engineering.
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If you have time, this suburban gallery is well worth a short train journey. Britain’s oldest art gallery, which had a face-lift for the Millennium, was opened in 1817. The important collection includes Murillo’sFlower Girl , Poussin’sTriumph of David and Rembrandt’sGirl at the Window .
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In this museum, which is housed in part of the former Bethlehem (“Bedlam”) Hospital for the Insane, a clock in the basement moves remorselessly on, recording the world’s war dead – a figure that has now reached 100 million. Six million of them are commemorated in the Holocaust Exhibition. Other displays include evocative re-creations of World War I trench warfare and the life of Londoners during the World War II Blitz. Now it is “total war” that we have to contemplate, and this, too, is explored.
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This majestic mansion with interiors designed by Robert Adam has a small but important collection comprising 17th-century Dutch and Flemish works, 18th-century English portraits, and a small French Rococo section. There are statues by Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth in the extensive grounds.
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In this former flower-market building, the history of London’s transport system is illustrated with posters, photographs and examples of early buses, tubes and horse-drawn vehicles. There are also interactive “KidZones” for children.
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This comprehensive museum located near the Barbican Centre provides a detailed account of London life from prehistoric times to the present day. It is particularly strong on Roman Londinium, but also has a model re-creating the Great Fire of 1666 and a reconstruction of a Victorian street including several original shopfronts.
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The world’s largest maritime museum, perfectly located in part of Wren’s Royal Naval Hospital, has much to offer. The 1805 Battle of Trafalgar is re-enacted, and Admiral Nelson’s fatally pierced tunic is on display. Antarctic expeditions are recalled and there is a collection of boats, from coracles to royal barges. State-of-the-art simulators give an idea of modern navigation and what it was like when theTitanicwent down.
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Life on Earth and the Earth itself are vividly explained here using hundreds of traditional and interactive exhibits.
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