Fitzwilliam Museum

Our View

Cambridge’s foremost museum with over half a million exhibits, the Fitzwilliam is one of the finest in Europe. It was founded in 1816 by the wealthy musical antiquarian and art collector, Richard Fitzwilliam, the seventh Viscount Fitzwilliam of Merrion (1745–1816), who was an alumnus of Trinity College. He felt the university needed its own art museum and library, and on his death donated a priceless collection of works including Renaissance pieces by Italian painters Palma Vecchio, Titian and Veronese, 144 rare Dutch paintings, engravings by artists such as Rembrandt and sheet music signed by German composer Handel. The Fitzwilliam became the museum of the University of Cambridge, and remains to this day one of the oldest public museums in Britain. You’ll easily find it along the main thoroughfare, Trumpington Street, for it is housed in a monumental neoclassical mansion, a Cambridge landmark. Its magnificent collection has grown over the years and spans centuries and civilisations from as far back as 2500 bc to the present day. Among the exhibits are works by Rubens, Constable, Picasso and Monet, along with antiquities from Ancient Egypt, Greece and Cyprus, rare Oriental works of art and medieval coins. The museum’s own Courtyard Cafe serves morning coffee, light lunches and afternoon tea, and is sure to provide a welcome break.