London Art Tours - for the visitor to London who wishes to view and experience the incomparable art and architecture of the city, via galleries and exhibitions.

Victoria and Albert Museum Cromwell Road, South Kensington, London SW7 2RL tel: 020-7942 2000 www.vam.ac.uk tube: South Kensington daily 10:00-17:45 (Weds to 22:00) admission: free (charges for temporary exhibitions)

Although named after Britain's longest-reigning monarch, Queen Victoria and her consort, Prince Albert, this museum is not about them. In fact it is the national museum of applied art and decorative design; also, the national collection of sculpture and part of the national collection of prints and drawings. Founded in 1852 it is the oldest museum of its kind in the world and has one of the most extensive collections. Its original purpose was to teach British designers by making available the finest examples of objects from around the world. The collection was financed by the proceeds of the Great Exhibition of 1851. Is it the sheer scope or the scale of the collections that overwhelms? Ranging from ceramics to silver, glass to jewellery, textiles to photographs, furniture, dress, paintings, sculpture, the range of this collection is awe-inspiring. Here you will find sculpture by Donatello, Bernini, Giambologna and, on loan from H.M. The Queen, The Raphael Cartoons, said to be the most important work of the High Renaissance outside Italy. The Cast Courts are themselves a record of past attitudes towards the study of objects containing, as they do, life-size plaster casts of famous works of sculpture and architecture. You will see copies of sculptures by Michelangelo, including his David (with detachable fig-leaf to spare the blushes of female VIPs) and a complete replica of Trajan's Column in Rome. It has to be sliced in two to stand in the gallery but it is a stunning sight nonetheless. In 2001 the British Galleries were opened to great acclaim. For the first time objects from different departments of the museum were brought together to form a chronological display of the development of style fashion and taste in this country from 1500-1900. Becket Casket, England, c.1180 Donatello, Virgin & Child with Four Angels, Italy, 1450s della Robbia, The Adoration of the Magi, Italy, 1500-10 Raphael, Cartoons, Italy, 1515-6 Arbidil carpet, Iran, 1539-40 Giambologna, Samson Slaying a Philistine, Italy, 1562 Great Bed of Ware, England, 1590 Melville Bed, England, c.1700 Tippoo's Tiger, India, late C18 Canova, The Three Graces, France, 1819 Constable, Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop's Grounds, England, 1823 Morris & Gamble Rooms, 1860s Frank Lloyd Wright, Office for Edgar J. Kaufmann, USA, 1935-7 If there is one museum in London that deserves to be visited by more people it is the V&A. It is a labyrinth of a building with an estimated 8 miles of galleries. Here, perhaps more than anywhere, you will find a London Art Tours guide essential to making the most of your visit.