Vadodara museum and picture gallery is situated at Sayajibaug in Vadodara, Gujarat. It was established by Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III of Gaekwad dynasty of the Marathas in the year 1887 for the education and welfare of his subjects. The museum has a unique and diverse collection of artefacts, chosen by the Maharaja himself. He had personally procured and selected the works of art connoisseurs and scholars and had enriched the museum with the most fascinating and rare exhibits. The museum has a world wide fame of being amongst the best museums of east India.
Foundation of Vadodara Museum and Picture Gallery
The foundation stone of the museum was laid in 1887 and the construction was completed in 1894. The year 1904 marked the initiation of the picture gallery construction, which finished in 1914. However, due to the World War, the opening of the gallery got delayed as the transport of European paintings to India got delayed.
Architecture of Vadodara Museum and Picture Gallery
Two separate two storey buildings house the museum and the picture gallery and are constructed in Indo-Saracenic architectural style. Two English architects designed the buildings, namely R. F. Chisholm and Major R. N. Ment, the then Consulting State Architect. The basic outline of the buildings has reflections of traditional local Maratha architecture which comprised of brick walls filled wooden framework. The ground floor of the buildings has been designed in pure European style having a cornice embellished with a plaster copy of a Parthenon frieze. Various Mughal arts adorn a large flight of steps leading to the south porch. The building of picture gallery is smaller than that of the museum, structured in simple European brick style. On its roof, it has open pavilions and Indian columns. A covered bridge passage connects the two buildings.
Artefacts of Vadodara Museum and Picture Gallery
Foundation for Cultural Inventory, has compiled the collection of artefacts of the museum. Huge collection of ethnology, ethnography, sculpture and art has been well preserved in the museum. The picture gallery has some of the masterpieces of art by various British painters which attracts tourists from different parts of the globe. The major attractions of the museum include skeleton of a blue whale, Egyptian mummy, Akota bronzes belonging to 5th century AD and an assemblage of Mughal miniatures. It also hosts a gallery of Tibetan art and oil paintings by European masters.
