Fitzwilliam Museum and boundary wall, plinths and gates to the north-east

The Fitzwilliam Museum stands on a large site facing Trumpington Street in Cambridge. What visitors see today is the result of multiple building campaigns spanning over a century. The original museum, now known as the Founder's Building, was designed by George Basevi and built between 1837 and 1843. After Basevi's death, Charles Robert Cockerell completed the work, with further internal alterations carried out by Edward Middleton Barry in 1875. Between 1921 and 1936, Smith and Brewer added extensive galleries to the south-east, and Atkinson and Partners built another extension in 1955. Later 20th-century additions by David Roberts (1963-1975) and an early 21st-century glazed infill by John Miller and Partners (2002-2004) are excluded from this listing, as is the external passage to Grove Lodge.

The Founder's Building

The two-storey Founder's Building exemplifies an enriched neo-Roman style in the Corinthian order. It is constructed of brown brick faced in finely jointed Portland stone with stone dressings. The principal north-east elevation presents a dramatic colonnade of thirteen bays flanked by narrow pavilions. The centre columns project forward to form an octostyle portico beneath a pediment. A flight of steps, bounded by pedestals projecting from the moulded podium supporting the colonnade and pavilions, leads up to the portico.

The entablature features enriched modillions and carved lions' heads and continues around the entire building. The pediment's tympanum is carved in high relief after Eastlake's designs, depicting the nine Muses, Pegasus and the Hippocrene fountain with an attendant nymph. Carved seated chimaerae occupy the acroteria at the lower extremities of the pediment. Behind the portico, the walls of the staircase hall rise to form an attic with bracketed cornice and blocking-course. Elsewhere, a panelled parapet wall divided into bays by pedestal-like projections caps the building.

The flanking pavilions have fluted Corinthian pilasters at the angles, spaced to match the colonnade bays. These frame a half-domed niche rising from a string enriched with guilloche ornament. Below the string is a panelled dado, and above the niche a square panel containing a wreath. Between the capitals of the pilasters, carved chimaerae face a candelabrum. The return-fronts of the pavilions are wider than their street-fronts, with angle pilasters and two square attached fluted Corinthian columns in the centre framing an opening the full height of the order. Steps flanked by carved lions on pedestals lead up to these secondary porticos, providing lateral access to the colonnade.

The back wall of the colonnade is divided into five bays by plain round attached columns and fluted pilasters, recessed in the three bays behind the main portico. The centre bay contains the main entrance doorway with side-pilasters bearing capitals carved with acanthus foliage. The entablature has an enriched cornice and a frieze inscribed 'Munificentia Ricardi Vicecomitis Fitzwilliam A.D. MDCCCXVI' in Roman capitals. Above this, a semicircular tympanum is carved in low relief with Phoebus in his chariot. The main doors are of bronze in two hinged and panelled leaves with framing enriched with Greek frets. Two original pedestals flank the main entrance door.

The side bays contain plain round-headed niches above a string decorated with guilloche ornament. The end bays have continuous panels of carved acanthus foliage between the capitals of the order. Below the niches flanking the door, rectangular openings contain bronze grilles decorated with pierced net-pattern and acanthus foliage, designed by Edward Middleton Barry in 1872-1875.

Nicholl carried out the elaborate plasterwork of the portico and colonnade, probably in 1842. The portico has a plaster frieze of scrolled foliage with putti. The ceiling is divided into twenty-one deeply sunk coffers by beams enriched with plaster leaves, fruit, flowers and guilloche ornament. The coffers are similarly enriched with egg-and-dart and Greek fret ornament and with a large open flower in the centre of each. The colonnade ceilings are more simply coffered. The interior treatment of the pavilions generally resembles that of the portico and colonnade.

The south-west front is divided into a wide centre and two narrower flanking bays by coupled fluted Corinthian pilasters on moulded plinths. The main entablature breaks forward over the pilasters. The ground-floor windows are uniform in detail. The middle window has three lights divided and flanked by pilasters with acanthus caps and an entablature pedimented over the centre light. To each side is a single-light pedimented window, and the window in each flanking bay is again tripartite but with some blocking. The upper floor has five shallow round-headed niches above a string enriched with guilloche ornament.

The north-west and south-east fronts are similar, though the latter is now partly covered by later buildings. Each has at one end the return of the front pavilion and at the other coupled fluted Corinthian pilasters. The three three-light windows on the ground floor and niches on the floor above are similar to those of the south-west front.

The Marlay Wing

To the left of the Founder's Building stands the seven-bay Marlay Wing (1921-1924) in a stripped neo-Classical style. Although it appears to be one storey, the upper-level gallery is lit by a glazed roof hidden behind the parapet. The tall multi-paned windows have metal glazing bars and are set in slightly projecting architraves with wide sills and narrow dentilled lintels. The cast-iron downpipes have hoppers bearing the ornate initial 'M' for Marlay and the date of 1922.

The rear (south-west) elevation is similar except the fenestration consists of five small windows in simple moulded surrounds with wide stone sills. The last two bays are covered by the two-storey Coin and Manuscript Rooms (1921-1926), which have a plain string running at first-floor sill level and plain stone cornice. The recessed windows have metal glazing bars in plain surrounds and retain external metal blinds.

The Courtauld Galleries

To the left of the Marlay Gallery is the north-east side of the courtyard, housing the two-storey Courtauld Galleries (1926-1931), also in a stripped neo-Classical style. They are dominated by a double-height pavilion lit by a tall, recessed, round-arched window with metal glazing bars which radiate at the top. This is set in a round-arched surround of two plain orders with voussoirs and an elongated keystone that extends upwards to the architrave. The window is flanked by square, panelled pilasters and square corner pilasters, followed by another pair of recessed corner pilasters, all on plain bases supported by a continuous plinth. The entablature has a plain frieze and a dentilled cornice, surmounted by a shallow unadorned pediment. The entablature continues around the return-walls.

On the right return-wall is the side of the pavilion, which has a round-headed niche flanked by square, panelled corner pilasters. This is followed by two ground-floor windows in the same style as those on the Marlay Wing. The cast-iron hoppers bear the initial 'C' for Courtauld. The left return-wall is obscured by the single-storey, four-bay Henderson Gallery (1936), which has a shallow plinth and a parapet enriched with a rectangular form of egg-and-dart. The windows are similar to those already described and retain their external metal roller blinds. Rising behind the Henderson Gallery is the entablature of the Courtauld Wing.

The rear (south-west) elevations have a plain string running at first-floor sill level and plain stone cornice. The fenestration consists of recessed windows with metal glazing bars in plain surrounds, mostly vertical but with some horizontal windows on the upper floor. Some have external metal blinds and others have security bars.

Interior of the Founder's Building

In the Founder's Building, the mezzanine-level staircase hall extends up to roof height and has two flights of ascending and descending stairs, around which a set of five galleries are arranged on each floor. Below the portico and staircase hall are a series of rooms, some barrel-vaulted, originally designed as stores and service rooms but enlarged and remodelled in the 1990s to provide offices, workrooms and lavatories.

The design for the staircase hall was modified by both architects employed on the building after Basevi, and the extent of each architect's work is only broadly definable. The hall now consists of a central stairwell with two flanking flights of stairs rising to a balustraded landing which returns round the two sides of the hall to form balconies. These are separated from the stairwell by open screens of composite columns and square attached columns, each of three bays. The columns and their responds on the walls behind the screens support lintels from which rise semicircular barrel-vaults with their outer ends pierced to form lunettes providing clerestorey lighting from the sides.

Over the stairwell is a large circular lantern with Hermes figures against the drum and a balustraded walk. The marble doorcase of the entrance to the main gallery at the head of the stairs has flanking caryatides modelled upon those of the Erechtheion supporting an enriched architrave and cornice. The doors to the side galleries are plainer but have elaborate cartouches above containing the arms of the University against a pedimented backing. On the upper level around the entire hall there are twelve niches with small flanking Ionic columns and curved pedimented entablatures. Below the balconies secondary flights of stairs lead down to the lower galleries.

The floors are laid with elaborate tesselated pavements based upon Roman models. A wide variety of marble and polished stone was used in the internal decoration by Cockerell, but important changes in the colour scheme, notably the predominance of red, were made by Barry.

On the ground floor Basevi specified the style of the lower rooms to be Grecian Doric. The gallery in the north-east corner, known as the Gayer-Anderson Room, has a plaster cornice and panelled ceiling. The gallery in the north-west corner is divided into three bays by square panelled Roman Doric columns on pedestals supporting a trabeated plaster ceiling with the arms of the University in a wreath in the centre and guilloche-enriched panels in the end bays.

The middle, long south-west gallery is divided in length and width into three bays by fluted Roman Doric columns and panelled pilasters on low pedestals supporting an enriched trabeated ceiling. In the ceiling-panels down the centre of the room and contained within wreaths of bay leaves are the arms of the University and Fitzwilliam. The smaller south-west gallery is generally similar to the north-west gallery but with modern openings into the new extension. The windows have panelled soffits and jambs.

The fittings of the Library, which occupies the south-east side, were designed by Cockerell in 1846. The three internal walls are lined from floor to ceiling with oak bookcases, and there are projecting bookcases along the north-west wall with panelled ends and enriched cornices returned across the same wall. Above cornice level the wall-cases are recessed and divided into bays by panelled pilasters spaced to coincide with the projecting bookcases below.

The external wall is lined with oak panelling, with fluted columns flanking the windows and panelled pilasters between the window-lights. The white marble fireplace has scrolled side-brackets supporting a moulded shelf, and the steel grate has applied brass enrichments. Above is a mirror in a gilt frame surmounted by a carved cartouche with the Fitzwilliam arms, scroll-work and a coronet under a segmental head. The whole is flanked by panelled pilasters supporting an enriched pedimented entablature.

On the first floor, Gallery I has a dado of scagliola marble and the walls are each divided into three bays by panelled composite pilasters supporting plastered ceiling-beams with enriched soffits. It is lit by three glazed domes with shallow moulded plaster drums enriched with foliage and female masks. In the north-east wall is a panelled apsidal recess with plaster enrichment of banded garlands of leaves, fruit and flowers over the archivolt of the semi-dome.

Gallery II has scagliola doorways and dado and panelled scagliola pilasters with caps carved with honeysuckle and acanthus supporting arches with scroll-work on the soffits. The dome has panelled pendentives and a plaster Medusa-head in the centre of the lantern above. The north-east doorway has a lugged architrave and flanking pilaster-strips and consoles supporting an entablature with laurel-leaf frieze. The south-east doorway has panelled side-pilasters with enriched caps supporting a semicircular over-door with plain plaster tympanum.

Gallery III, known as the Founder's Gallery, was altered in 1932 by the insertion of bulkheads to form display-bays and a narrow wall-gallery above. Around the cornice is a plaster-cast of the Parthenon frieze, bought on Basevi's recommendation from the Trustees of the British Museum in 1837. The plaster ceiling is original and of much elaboration, consisting of a deep cove rising to a long rectangular lantern. The cove has a network of diagonal panelling divided into bays by vertical bands enriched with spirals of acanthus foliage, the corner bays containing amphorae and foliage. The lights in the vertical side-walls of the lantern are divided by enriched pilasters with winged figures on pedestals in front and, in the corners of the lantern, standing plaster candelabra. The roof of the lantern is panelled and coffered and has three small domed lights with enriched pendentives.

Galleries IV and V are generally similar to Galleries I and II respectively. Gallery IV has a modern opening to the Marlay Gallery.

Interior of the Marlay Wing

In the Marlay Wing, the Lower Gallery has an unadorned coffered ceiling and woodblock floor laid in herringbone with a limestone margin around the edge. The oak panelled doors are set in doorcases of polished, buff-coloured marble. A semi-circular niche is positioned between the two doors at the south-east end. The brass-framed display cases along the north-east and south-west walls are original, as are the lattice heater grilles below the windows.

In the Upper Gallery, the coffered ceiling has a clerestorey of sloping windows which allows light to enter at an angle most suitable for illuminating paintings. The gallery is divided into three by projecting bays with brass-framed display cases on timber brackets. The walls are covered in the original Japanese gold hessian wallpaper. The skirting boards, narrow floor boards and lattice heater grilles are all of oak.

At the south-east end of the Marlay Galleries, the Coin Room and Manuscript Room are lined with fitted oak bookcases which have cupboards below dado height.

Interior of the Courtauld Galleries

In the Courtauld Galleries the ground-floor galleries are similarly detailed with woodblock floors laid in herringbone; polished, buff-coloured marble doorcases; brass-framed display cabinets; and hessian wall coverings. The coffered ceilings have varying levels of enrichment: some are plain whilst others have delicate classical detailing, including egg-and-dart and bead-and-reel.

The Henderson Gallery, along the north-east side, is clad in 'Black Bean' plywood. The Art Deco Imperial staircase in the north corner, lit by the large semicircular window in the pavilion, has travertine-lined walls and Portland stone steps with brass handrails. The apsidal ends create an oval ceiling with a dentilled cornice. At the top of the staircase are metal balustrades formed of uprights and diagonal crosses, and a screen consisting of four pairs of polished, buff-coloured marble columns with Egyptian-style capitals.

The first-floor galleries also have a hessian wall covering and oak skirting boards but the floors are laid in narrow oak boards and the doorcases are of polished travertine. Some of the galleries have coffered ceilings with subtle classical detailing, and all are top-lit by angled windows. The long north-west gallery is divided into three by projecting tapered bays with brass-framed display cabinets on the end sections.

The Charrington Print Room on the north-east side has a coved ceiling lit by three rooflights and plywood-lined walls which retain built-in cupboards with mesh and brass lattice strips. The adjoining private office is lined with built-in bookcases and cupboards. The Graham Robertson Room, on the north-west side, also retains the original built-in bookcases and reception desk, both with a zebrawood veneer.

Boundary Features

The boundary wall of the site facing Trumpington Street has stone balustrading on a moulded plinth divided into bays by pedestals and protected on the outer face by chevaux-de-frise on scrolled cast-iron brackets. The pedestals flanking the gates are larger than the others and the two centre pairs have wreaths carved on the dies. The whole dates from 1841-1842.