iv. DEPARTMENTS
There are eight departments that the museum has:
1. Antiquities
The Fitzwilliam's Ancient World collections include the civilizations and cultures of
Greece and Rome, Cyprus, Egypt and North Sudan, and the Ancient Near East. These
rare survivors from the past – from pots to sculpture, textiles, statues, jewelry, or
inscriptions – have been amassed over the last 200 years by gift, bequest, and
purchase, and offer vivid glimpses of the lost worlds where they were made, as well
as the people who offered them to their gods or buried them in family graves. At the
same time, the collections serve as a case study in collecting, illustrating how, by
whom, and for what objectives collections like these were created, as well as how our
knowledge of them has grown over time. Galleries 19–24 exhibit the treasures from
the Ancient World.
2. Applied arts
Around 30,000 works of ornamental arts and sculpture from Europe, the Middle East,
India, and the Far East are housed in the Applied Arts collection. People in those
locations employed these artefacts in their everyday activities and religious rites, and
they provide as proof of their social traditions, beliefs, and artistic taste. They depict
the evolution of industrial processes like as weaving, potting, and metalworking, as
well as stylistic shifts brought about by cross-cultural exchange of ideas and talents.
Ceramics, porcelain and glass, textiles, fans, furniture, and lacquer work; clocks and
watches, domestic metalwork, including silver and pewter; jewelry and snuffboxes,
armor, and weapons; and sculpture in a variety of materials ranging from ancient
Chinese jades to twentieth-century European bronzes are the main categories of
objects.
Around 30,000 works of ornamental arts and sculpture from Europe, the Middle East,
India, and the Far East are housed in the Applied Arts collection. People in those
locations employed these artefacts in their everyday activities and religious rites, and
they provide as proof of their social traditions, beliefs, and artistic taste. They depict
the evolution of industrial processes like as weaving, potting, and metalworking, as
well as stylistic shifts brought about by cross-cultural exchange of ideas and talents.
Ceramics, porcelain and glass, textiles, fans, furniture, and lacquer work; clocks and
watches, domestic metalwork, including silver and pewter; jewelry and snuffboxes,
armor, and weapons; and sculpture in a variety of materials ranging from ancient
Chinese jades to twentieth-century European bronzes are the main categories of
objects. The Department's Non-Western holdings include an excellent collection of
Islamic rugs, pottery, and glass, as well as fine examples of Chinese porcelain,
bronzes, jade, and textiles, Japanese ceramics, lacquer, and sword furniture, and an
internationally important collection of Korean ceramics, thanks to the Gompertz Gift
in 1984.
3. Coins and medals
, The Department of Coins and Medals includes money in a variety of forms from
throughout the world and from ancient to present times, as well as medals dating back
to the Renaissance. The department is a center for numismatics study and education,
with its extensive collections and library. The Department of Coins and Medals'
permanent exhibitions are spread across the museum's galleries, each in the proper
cultural or aesthetic context with the artefacts of the other departments. The gallery
numbers in parentheses correspond to the numbers on the Museum map (view map).
4. Digital and IT
The Digital department of the Museum is made up of teams that work in the areas of
rights management, imaging, IT infrastructure and support, and applied digital in the
humanities.
5. Hamilton Kerr Institute
The Fitzwilliam Museum has a section called the Hamilton Kerr Institute. The
Institute oversees easel painting conservation for public and publicly displayed
collections, as well as the Museum. In this setting, the Institute aspires to provide the
greatest level of education for painting conservators while also contributing to
scientific, technological, and art-historical study. In addition to conservation services
and education, the Institute houses various archives and maintains an ongoing
program of inter-disciplinary research.
6. Learning
The Learning section of the Museum works in a multi-disciplinary context, including
all aspects of our competence - on site, in the community, online, and in the press.
7. Manuscripts and Printed Books
Under the cover of a fine arts museum, the Department of Manuscripts and Printed
Books has world-class holdings suited for a National Library, as well as two
internationally famous research initiatives. The Founder's Library, which is part of the
Founder's Building and opened to the public in 1848, is at the core of the department.
The library's original fixtures, which include carved wood bookcases, classical
columns and pilasters, and an enormous marble fireplace, were all meant to resemble
Richard, 7th Viscount Fitzwilliam's (1745–1816) gentleman's library. His bequest of
over 10,000 printed books, 130 manuscripts, and a wealth of musical scores and early
printed music has been enriched by the generosity of later benefactors like Frank
McClean (1837–1904) and Charles Brinsley Marlay (1831–1912), as well as the
purchases of scholarly directors like Sydney Cockerell (1908–1937), so that the
department's holdings now range from early printed books to modern literary
autographs, from novelists' and poets' archives to the archives. Conservators, curators,
and research associates in the department are working on advanced conservation and
research initiatives with the collections. Researchers can consult the Department's
There are eight departments that the museum has:
1. Antiquities
The Fitzwilliam's Ancient World collections include the civilizations and cultures of
Greece and Rome, Cyprus, Egypt and North Sudan, and the Ancient Near East. These
rare survivors from the past – from pots to sculpture, textiles, statues, jewelry, or
inscriptions – have been amassed over the last 200 years by gift, bequest, and
purchase, and offer vivid glimpses of the lost worlds where they were made, as well
as the people who offered them to their gods or buried them in family graves. At the
same time, the collections serve as a case study in collecting, illustrating how, by
whom, and for what objectives collections like these were created, as well as how our
knowledge of them has grown over time. Galleries 19–24 exhibit the treasures from
the Ancient World.
2. Applied arts
Around 30,000 works of ornamental arts and sculpture from Europe, the Middle East,
India, and the Far East are housed in the Applied Arts collection. People in those
locations employed these artefacts in their everyday activities and religious rites, and
they provide as proof of their social traditions, beliefs, and artistic taste. They depict
the evolution of industrial processes like as weaving, potting, and metalworking, as
well as stylistic shifts brought about by cross-cultural exchange of ideas and talents.
Ceramics, porcelain and glass, textiles, fans, furniture, and lacquer work; clocks and
watches, domestic metalwork, including silver and pewter; jewelry and snuffboxes,
armor, and weapons; and sculpture in a variety of materials ranging from ancient
Chinese jades to twentieth-century European bronzes are the main categories of
objects.
Around 30,000 works of ornamental arts and sculpture from Europe, the Middle East,
India, and the Far East are housed in the Applied Arts collection. People in those
locations employed these artefacts in their everyday activities and religious rites, and
they provide as proof of their social traditions, beliefs, and artistic taste. They depict
the evolution of industrial processes like as weaving, potting, and metalworking, as
well as stylistic shifts brought about by cross-cultural exchange of ideas and talents.
Ceramics, porcelain and glass, textiles, fans, furniture, and lacquer work; clocks and
watches, domestic metalwork, including silver and pewter; jewelry and snuffboxes,
armor, and weapons; and sculpture in a variety of materials ranging from ancient
Chinese jades to twentieth-century European bronzes are the main categories of
objects. The Department's Non-Western holdings include an excellent collection of
Islamic rugs, pottery, and glass, as well as fine examples of Chinese porcelain,
bronzes, jade, and textiles, Japanese ceramics, lacquer, and sword furniture, and an
internationally important collection of Korean ceramics, thanks to the Gompertz Gift
in 1984.
3. Coins and medals
, The Department of Coins and Medals includes money in a variety of forms from
throughout the world and from ancient to present times, as well as medals dating back
to the Renaissance. The department is a center for numismatics study and education,
with its extensive collections and library. The Department of Coins and Medals'
permanent exhibitions are spread across the museum's galleries, each in the proper
cultural or aesthetic context with the artefacts of the other departments. The gallery
numbers in parentheses correspond to the numbers on the Museum map (view map).
4. Digital and IT
The Digital department of the Museum is made up of teams that work in the areas of
rights management, imaging, IT infrastructure and support, and applied digital in the
humanities.
5. Hamilton Kerr Institute
The Fitzwilliam Museum has a section called the Hamilton Kerr Institute. The
Institute oversees easel painting conservation for public and publicly displayed
collections, as well as the Museum. In this setting, the Institute aspires to provide the
greatest level of education for painting conservators while also contributing to
scientific, technological, and art-historical study. In addition to conservation services
and education, the Institute houses various archives and maintains an ongoing
program of inter-disciplinary research.
6. Learning
The Learning section of the Museum works in a multi-disciplinary context, including
all aspects of our competence - on site, in the community, online, and in the press.
7. Manuscripts and Printed Books
Under the cover of a fine arts museum, the Department of Manuscripts and Printed
Books has world-class holdings suited for a National Library, as well as two
internationally famous research initiatives. The Founder's Library, which is part of the
Founder's Building and opened to the public in 1848, is at the core of the department.
The library's original fixtures, which include carved wood bookcases, classical
columns and pilasters, and an enormous marble fireplace, were all meant to resemble
Richard, 7th Viscount Fitzwilliam's (1745–1816) gentleman's library. His bequest of
over 10,000 printed books, 130 manuscripts, and a wealth of musical scores and early
printed music has been enriched by the generosity of later benefactors like Frank
McClean (1837–1904) and Charles Brinsley Marlay (1831–1912), as well as the
purchases of scholarly directors like Sydney Cockerell (1908–1937), so that the
department's holdings now range from early printed books to modern literary
autographs, from novelists' and poets' archives to the archives. Conservators, curators,
and research associates in the department are working on advanced conservation and
research initiatives with the collections. Researchers can consult the Department's
