page_title: Teylers Museum
section_title: Oval Room
hierarchical_section_title: Teylers Museum / Oval Room
caption_attribution_description: English: Leendert Viervant, Design for the Oval Room of Teylers Museum; 480 x 600 mm. Collection Teylers Museum, Haarlem, the Netherlands.
context_page_description: Teylers Museum is an art, natural history, and science museum in Haarlem, Netherlands. Established in 1778, Teylers Museum was founded as a centre for contemporary art and science. The historic centre of the museum is the neoclassical Oval Room, which was built behind the house of Pieter Teyler van der Hulst, the so-called Fundatiehuis. Pieter Teyler was a wealthy cloth merchant and banker of Scottish descent, who bequeathed his fortune for the advancement of religion, art, and science. He was a Mennonite and follower of the Scottish Enlightenment.
context_section_description: In 1779, Leendert Viervant started on the design of an "art and book room" behind Teyler’s residence. This neoclassical room, whose shape quickly led it to be called the Oval Room, was designed for research and study; here, scientific experiments would be conducted, public demonstrations held, and books, drawings, and prints viewed by the public. The Oval room was opened in 1784, with the scientist Martin van Marum as its first director.
  A showcase in the centre displays a mineralogical collection from the 18th century and the showcases around hold 18th-century scientific instruments. The upper gallery, which was designed to let in the maximum amount of light for viewing purposes, has 12 built-in bookcases, largely containing period encyclopaedias and periodicals.
caption: Leendert Viervant, design for the Oval Room of Teylers Museum
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