London galleries and museums at home
posted on 06/04/20
From virtual tours of collections and exhibitions, to online classes and podcasts, we share how to enjoy a selection of London’s principal galleries and museums at home.
The Google Arts & Culture initiative has partnered with a number of London’s leading galleries and museums, offering an online platform from which to explore their collections. Those featured include the The British Museum, V&A, The National Gallery and Tate Britain.
The British Museum
The Museum of the World: History Connected interactive platform, allows you to travel along a timeline, scattered with select objects from the museum’s collections across the continents. Each featured exhibit offers further insight with a detailed biography, curator and researcher led audio descriptions, as well as links to related objects. There is also the option to filter the objects featured by themes - such as ‘religion and belief’ or ‘trade and conflict’. For a further exploration of the stories behind the objects, The British Museum Podcast, speaks to the experts and curators behind the collection.
The National Gallery
Home to such masterpieces as Jan Van Eyck’s Arnolfini portrait and Leonardo da Vinci’s Virgin of the Rocks, The National Gallery’s virtual tours open up the Central Hall, Sainsbury Wing and 18 gallery rooms. Showcasing European works from the late medieval, to the Renaissance and French Impressionists, each artwork featured includes a detailed description.
The National Portrait Gallery
Whether Tudor, Regency, Victorian or 20th Century portraiture, The National Portrait Gallery offers a wealth of online resources in which to explore this extensive collection. From virtual tours of the various gallery rooms, to a collection of 360° sculptures and objects available to view from all angles, as well as a series of podcasts celebrating the lives of pioneering women such as Emily Brontë.
The Royal Academy of Arts
With 360° views, this virtual tour allows you to revisit and thoroughly explore the acclaimed 2014 architectural exhibition, Sensing Spaces. Offering further active participation, an online life drawing tutorial provides the opportunity to walk in Leonardo da Vinci’s footsteps, as you study the anatomy of a male model and miniature horse. A wealth of further videos and features can also be found via the Royal Academy blog and podcast series.
Tate collection
With galleries closed and exhibitions postponed around the world, London’s Tate galleries seek to bring two of their blockbuster exhibitions to you. Curator led video tours will be available of both Tate Modern’s Andy Warhol exhibition (from 6 April) and Tate Britain’s Aubrey Beardsley exhibition (from 13 April). Other resources include Tate’s podcast series, discussing the lives of artists and the stories behind their work.
V&A
Whether ancient Chinese ceramics or Raphael’s Sistine Chapel cartoons, the V&A’s online collections open up 5000 years of creativity in a variety of mediums. From paintings and manuscripts, to costume and embroidery, highlights of each collection are selected, alongside informative features.
