Editing Victoria and Albert Museum (section)

===Edwardian period===
The main façade, built from red brick and [[Portland stone]], stretches {{convert|720|ft|m}} along Cromwell Gardens and was designed by [[Aston Webb]] after winning a competition in 1891 to extend the museum. Construction took place between 1899 and 1909.<ref>A. Stuart Gray, ''Edwardian Architecture: A Biographical Dictionary'', 2nd edition, 1988, p. 374.</ref> Stylistically it is a strange hybrid: although much of the detail belongs to the [[Renaissance]], there are medieval influences at work. The main entrance, consisting of a series of shallow arches supported by slender columns and niches with twin doors separated by the pier, is [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]] in form but Classical in detail. Likewise, the tower above the main entrance has an open work crown surmounted by a statue of fame,{{sfn|Physick|1982|p=228}} a feature of late [[Gothic architecture]] and a feature common in Scotland, but the detail is Classical. The main windows to the galleries are also mullioned and transomed, again a Gothic feature; the top row of windows are interspersed with statues of many of the British artists whose work is displayed in the museum.

Prince Albert appears within the main arch above the twin entrances, and Queen Victoria above the frame around the arches and entrance, sculpted by [[Alfred Drury]]. These façades surround four levels of galleries. Other areas designed by Webb include the Entrance Hall and Rotunda, the East and West Halls, the areas occupied by the shop and Asian Galleries, and the Costume Gallery. The interior makes much use of [[marble]] in the entrance hall and flanking staircases, although the galleries as originally designed were white with restrained classical detail and mouldings, very much in contrast to the elaborate decoration of the Victorian galleries, although much of this decoration was removed in the early 20th century.<ref>Cherry and Pevsner, ''The Buildings of England London 3: The North West'', 1991, p. 495.</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" heights="140px">
File:The V&A John Madejski Garden-8674 copy.jpg|North side of Garden, by Captain Francis Fowke, Royal Engineers, 1864–1869
File:London-Victoria and Albert Museum-05.jpg|Western Cast Court, by Henry Young Darracott Scott, 1870–1873
File:Intérieur du Victoria & Albert Museum 15.jpg|The Art Library, by Scott and other designers, 1877–1883
File:London - Victoria and Albert Museum - panoramio (1).jpg|Main Entrance, by Aston Webb, 1899–1909
</gallery>