The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge Exhibitions, Learning Activites, public programming, News, links & pictures from the Fitzwilliam.
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The Fitzwilliam Museum is the principal art museum of the University of Cambridge, with world-class collections spanning centuries and civilisations. The Fitz’s treasures range from Ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman
antiquities to the arts of the 21st century, and include masterpieces by Titian, Canaletto and Picasso, illuminated manuscripts, Renaissance sculpture, medieval coins and outstanding

collections of Oriental and applied arts. Book your FREE timed ticket: https://tickets.museums.cam.ac.uk/overview/generaladmission

We also have a page for our Education Department, where you can find out more about all our learning projects: https://www.facebook.com/fitzeducation

Canalside stroll this evening? 🌇 The stylised colour, flat perspectives and whimsical mood of Stanislawa de Karlowska's ...
15/06/2026

Canalside stroll this evening? 🌇

The stylised colour, flat perspectives and whimsical mood of Stanislawa de Karlowska's street scenes echo eastern European folk art, suggesting an enduring connection to her Polish heritage.

The artist moved to England from Poland in 1897 after falling in love with a British artist and marrying only five months after they met. She went on to become a key player in the London art world in the early 1900s.

📍 See this painting and step into landscapes spanning the centuries in gallery 5. Visit for free and find out why we're shortlisted for Art Fund 🙌

🔍 Stanislawa de Karlowska, Lock on the Canal. Oil on canvas, 1915. Photo © the Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge

⚒️ This little box is part of a bigger story...During the Napoleonic Wars of the early 1800s, markets were created outsi...
14/06/2026

⚒️ This little box is part of a bigger story...

During the Napoleonic Wars of the early 1800s, markets were created outside prison camps holding French troops captured during the fighting. Prisoners created objects like this to***co box to sell to earn some extra cash or to simply keep their hands busy during confinement.

This box is made from wood and bone, and was created by a team of craftsmen working together in the Portchester Castle camp in Portsmouth on the south cost of England.

Each brought different skills, perhaps used previously in their civilian life - from bone boiling, preparation and bleaching, to woodworking, carving and decoration.

📍 Discover more objects made in times of war and the stories they can tell in our free 'War Craft' display, highlighting the experiences of individuals caught up in conflict across time.

🔍 Unknown French Prisoner of War, to***co box with panel decoration, early 1800s.

☀️ Free art + summer sun? Yes please! Take it all on on our front lawn – perfect for picnics, iced coffee dates and debr...
13/06/2026

☀️ Free art + summer sun? Yes please!

Take it all on on our front lawn – perfect for picnics, iced coffee dates and debriefs about your favourite paintings, sculptures, ceramics and more.

Explore our free displays, including 'Frank Bowling: Seeking the Sublime', 'War Craft' and 'Essence and Presence', alongside centuries of art from across the globe and see why we've been shortlisted for Art Fund

🍵 Coffee not your thing? Our cafe has plenty more to offer this summer, including elderflower iced teas and strawberry lemonades.

🔗 Plan your visit: https://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/plan-your-visit

📸 Photos 1,2,3 and 5 Lewis Ronald. Photo 4 Thomas Adank.

We're deeply saddened to hear the news of David Hockney's passing. We're reflecting on our fond memories of the iconic B...
12/06/2026

We're deeply saddened to hear the news of David Hockney's passing.

We're reflecting on our fond memories of the iconic British artist from our 2022 exhibition that showcased Hockney's drawings, paintings and digital artworks in conversation with the work of other artists. These photos from inside the exhibition were taken to mark the artist's 85th birthday.

“David Hockney was a tremendous artist, not just a great draughtsman and colourist, but also endlessly curious, restlessly inventive, and generous in his engagement with the history of art.

It was a huge privilege for the Fitzwilliam Museum to work with him on ‘Hockney’s Eye: The Art and Technology of Depiction’ in 2022 – an exhibition that revealed not only the extraordinary range of his artistic achievement but also the depth of his lifelong inquiry into how we experience the world around us and how artists can suggest our different ways of seeing.

We mourn his loss and celebrate a legacy, joyous and profound, that will continue to inspire and delight for as long as people are looking at art.” – Dr Luke Syson, Director and Marlay Curator

Our thoughts are with David's family and friends at this sad time.

📸 Steve Hatton / Electric Egg

🔎🌊 Zoom in to see the full stormy sceneAfter graduating from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, artist Carl Frederik...
08/06/2026

🔎🌊 Zoom in to see the full stormy scene

After graduating from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, artist Carl Frederik Sørensen embarked on a sailing trip around the Mediterranean, where he fell in love with life at sea.

Throughout his life, he went on almost annual sea voyages, reporting back on what he saw via paint and canvas. This oil painting from 1849 shows three mysterious figures taking in the crashing waves.

🧭 What do you think is happening in this scene?

🖼️ Carl Frederik Sørensen, Rough sea beside a jetty, 1849, oil on canvas Photo © The Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge.

🌦️ Rainy days getting you down? Escape to sunny Montmartre in Paris...This tree-lined street is in the bohemian quarter ...
05/06/2026

🌦️ Rainy days getting you down? Escape to sunny Montmartre in Paris...

This tree-lined street is in the bohemian quarter of the French capital, which was a popular meeting place and source of inspiration for artists in the 1880s.

🖌️ Here French artist Georges Seurat uses small, separate touches of colour to create a shimmering surface. It may be small, but there's lots to take in.

📍 Find this little painting in gallery 4

🔍 Georges Seurat, The Rue St. Vincent, Paris, in Spring. Oil on wooden panel, 1884. Photo © the Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge

💍 Marriage in the 1800s looked very different than it does today...These 1817 portraits reveal how marriage was often ab...
31/05/2026

💍 Marriage in the 1800s looked very different than it does today...

These 1817 portraits reveal how marriage was often about money, status and joining two families together – not just love. Paintings like these helped showcase a couple's new social standing.

💰 Mrs Tiolier is shown smiling softly beneath a tree, with a grand estate shining in the background. Meanwhile, in his own marriage portrait, her husband stands confidently beside their grand home with a ledger-like book, hinting at the financial side of marriage.

Together, the portraits reveal the very different roles expected of husbands and wives at the time.

🔗 Get an up-close look at both Mr and Mrs Tiolier in gallery 3. Tap the link in our bio to plan your visit.

👰François-Édouard Picot, Portrait of Adélaïde-Sophie Cléret, Mme Tiolier, c. 1817, oil on canvas © The Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge.

🤵 François-Édouard Picot, Portrait of Nicolas-Pierre Tiolier, c. 1817, oil on canvas © The Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge.

👀 What do you see in the textures of this piece? Scroll through to take a closer lookMade in 1989 by Claudi Casanovas, t...
30/05/2026

👀 What do you see in the textures of this piece? Scroll through to take a closer look

Made in 1989 by Claudi Casanovas, this sculpture is titled 'Long Bowl'. But we certainly wouldn't be eating our cornflakes out of it.

📍 Come and see this intriguing object in gallery 27, where you can discover pottery and ceramics from Europe

📆 We're open and our galleries are free to visit Tuesday - Sunday

🔍 Claudi Casanovas, 'Long Bowl'. Stoneware, 1989. Gift from the collection of Richard Sykes and Penny Mason through the Contemporary Art Society, 2023. © Claudi Casanovas.

🤦‍♂️🫡 You might have spotted little figures like this in the galleries, but why are they doing this pose?Standing just u...
30/05/2026

🤦‍♂️🫡 You might have spotted little figures like this in the galleries, but why are they doing this pose?

Standing just under 10cm tall, this small bronze figure is over 3,000 years old and was made on the Mediterranean island of Crete, part of modern-day Greece. Figures like these have been found in Minoan sanctuaries (places of worship).

We can't say for sure, but given where they have been found it's thought that they show religious observers performing a gesture of worship. The Minoan culture on Crete didn't leave written histories we can understand, so we can't rely on writing or inscriptions to tell us. Even today, a similar body language gesture can have lots of meanings for different people and cultures.

📍 Say hello to this figure and its friends and find out more about the Minoans in gallery 21.

🔍 Bronze figure of a worshipper, made on Crete around 1800-1200 BCE. Photo © The Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge.

👀 Got any weekend plans?Enjoy some art and culture at the Fitz. Explore our free display, 'Frank Bowling: Seeking the Su...
29/05/2026

👀 Got any weekend plans?

Enjoy some art and culture at the Fitz. Explore our free display, 'Frank Bowling: Seeking the Sublime', where you can experience the bold vision of a contemporary British painter.

⚔️ You can also explore our 'War Craft' and 'Essence and Presence' displays alongside centuries of art from across the globe.

🍹 And a sunny day out wouldn't be complete without an iced coffee or lemonade from our Courtyard café.

🔗 Visit our website to plan your visit: https://bit.ly/4eKfWjl

📸 Photos by Lewis Ronald. Photos 3 Thomas Adank.

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