Ashmolean Museum

The **Ashmolean Museum** (in full the **Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology**) on Beaumont Street, Oxford, is the world's first university museum.  

Its first building was built in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University of Oxford in 1677. The museum reopened in 2009 after a major redevelopment. In November 2011 new galleries focusing on Egypt and Nubia were also unveiled. 

Ashmole's collection was based on the objects he got from the travellers and collectors John Tradescant the elder and his son of the same name. 
The museum opened on 24 May 1683, with naturalist Robert Plot as the first keeper.

The present building dates from the 1840s, and the original building in Broad Street is now the Oxford Museum of the History of Science. That building is the world's first purpose-built museum.

The interior of the Ashmolean has been extensively modernised in recent years. Between 2006 and 2009, the museum was expanded. The $98.2 million rebuilding resulted in five floors instead of three, with a doubling of the display space. It has new conservation studios and an education centre.

## Museum gallery 

File:BrightonPierrotsWalterSickert.jpg|'The Brighton Pierrots', painted 1915 by Walter Sickert
File:Alfred Jewel Ashmolean 2014.JPG|The Alfred Jewel
File:Edward Burne-Jones, ‘Music’, 1877. Oil on canvas.jpg|'Music' by Edward Burne-Jones
File:Ceremonial_Palette_from_Hierakonpolis-2.jpg|The "Two Dog Palette" from Hierakonpolis
File:Van Gogh - Das Restaurant de la Sirène in Asnières.jpeg|'Restaurant de la Sirène, Asnières', by Vincent van Gogh
File:Messiah Stradivarius.jpg|The Messiah Stradivarius violin
File:Edouard Manet - Portrait of Mademoiselle Claus.jpg|'Portrait of Mademoiselle Claus', by Edouard Manet
File:Narmer_Macehead.png|The Narmer Macehead
File:Paolo Uccello - The Hunt in the Forest - WGA23239.jpg|'The Hunt in the Forest' by Paolo Uccello
File:Sobek Oxford.jpg|Statue of Sobek, the crocodile god, from the pyramid temple of Amenemhat III
File:Leighton, Frederic - Acme and Septimius - c. 1868.jpg|'Acme and Septimius', by Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton
File:0 Gemma Tiberiana - Rubens - Ashmolean Museum - WA1989.74.JPG|The 'Apotheosis of Germanicus', a copy after an antique Cameo painted in 1626 by Peter Paul Rubens
File:Millais - Die Rückkehr der Taube zur Arche Noah.jpg|The Return of the Dove to the Ark, by Sir John Everett Millais
File:Tragic mask dating to the 1st century BC or 1st century AD, Ashmolean Museum (8400677139).jpg|A Greek tragic mask dating to the 1st century BC or 1st century AD. See Theatre of ancient Greece.
File:3 A lady singing 1740-45 Ashmolean Museum, Oxford - копия.jpg|'A lady singing', gouache painting with gold on paper 1740-45, Rajasthan, artist unknown
File:Jeanne Holding a Fan, c.1874, by Camille Pissarro. Oil on canvas, The Ashmolean Museum,.jpg|'Jeanne Holding a Fan', an oil on canvas painting by Camille Pissarro, c.1874
File:Heilige Familie mit dem Johannesknaben (Ashmolean Museum).jpg|'The Holy Family with St John the Baptist', brush and brown wash on panel by Michelangelo
File:Tombstone, the doctor Claudius Agathemerus and his wife Myrtale, from Rome, about AD 100, Ashmolean Museum (8401778336).jpg|Tombstone, the doctor Claudius Agathemerus and his wife Myrtale, from Rome, about AD 100
File:Raffaello, studio per la trasfigurazione 02.jpg|'Studies of the Heads of two Apostles and of their Hands', by Raphael
File:Oliver Cromwell death mask- Ashmolean Museum.jpg|A death mask of Oliver Cromwell
File:Millais Ruskin.jpg|Portrait of John Ruskin by John Everett Millais
File:Powhatan's mantle, lithography 1888.jpg|The ceremonial cloak of Chief Powhatan
File:Abingdon_Sword_2014.JPG|The Abingdon Sword
File:Paolo uccello, annunciazione, ashmolean.jpg|'The Annunciation', attributed to Paolo Uccello
File:The_oldest_writing_in_the_world_-_The_Sumerian_Stone_Tablet.jpg|The Kish tablet: plaster caste
File:Young Englishwoman, costume study by Hans Holbein the Younger.jpg|'Young Englishwoman', a costume study by Hans Holbein the Younger
File:Samuel Palmer - Self-Portrait - WGA16951.jpg|A self-portrait by Samuel Palmer
File:P._Oxy._LXVI_4499.jpg|Papyrus 115 (\mathfrak{P}115): a  fragmented manuscript of the New Testament

## References