| Ashmolean Museum |
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Information AboutAshmolean Museum |
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After the various specimens had been moved into new museums, the " Old Ashmolean " building on Broad Street was used as office space for the Oxford English Dictionary staff. Since 1935, the building has been established as the Museum Of The History Of Science , with exhibitions including the scientific instruments given to Oxford University by Lewis Evans (1853–1930), amongst them the world's largest collection of Astrolabe s. The present building dates from 1845 . It was designed by Charles Cockerell in a Classical style and stands in Beaumont Street. One wing of the building is occupied by the Taylor Institution , the modern languages faculty of the university. The main museum contains the original collections of Elias Ashmole and John Tradescant (father and son), as well as huge collections of Archaeology specimens and fine art. It has one of the best collections of Pre-Raphaelite paintings, Majolica pottery and English silver. The archaeology department includes the bequest of Arthur Evans and so has an excellent collection of Greek and Minoan pottery. The interior of the Ashmolean has been extensively modernised in recent years and now includes a restaurant and large gift shop. The Sackler Library , incorporating the older library collections of the Ashmolean, opened in 2001 and has allowed an expansion of the book collection, which concentrates on classical civilization, archaeology and art history. Highlights of the collection include:
On 31 December 1999 (New Year's Eve), thieves used scaffolding on an adjoining building to climb onto the roof of the Ashmolean to break through a skylight, stealing a painting by Cézanne . As the thieves ignored other works in the same room and it has not been offered for sale it is speculated that this was a case of an artwork stolen to order. NOTABLE KEEPERS OF THE ASHMOLEAN MUSEUM EXTERNAL LINKS |