Editor Pick
Fitzwilliam Museum
- May 6, 2006
- Rated 4 of 5 by
pabrams52 from Los Angeles, California
If one does nothing else in Cambridge, one should make a real effort to walk through the Fitzwilliam Museum. I was delightfully surprised to learn that it's free and undoubtedly the best deal in town. But after going through its amazing galleries, you'll want very much to leave a nominal donation for the fine collections they maintain. As the brochure states, "Founded in 1816 by the bequest of the 7th Viscount Fitzwilliam to the University of Cambridge, the Fitzwilliam Museum houses magnificent collections of works of art and antiquities of international importance spanning centuries and civilisations."
One of the aspects that caught my interest, was the rich assortment of antique furniture that the museum displays within each room. You see chairs, cabinets, benches, desks and stands from a variety of centuries, and you can hardly keep from wondering who sat in them and in whose houses they were. Oh, if they could talk, the stories they could tell. Besides the large array of paintings on their walls, you will be treated to collections of coins, rare manuscripts, pottery, plates and sculptures. It is a most enriching collection and though it really takes more than a day to fully appreciate, you can walk through in a couple of hours and still leave with a sense of having had an adequate exposure. I was awed by the depth and range of its contents and the experience is one I will long remember and definitely recommend.
From journal A Day in Cambridge, England