Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Museum in London housing one of the largest collections of fine and applied arts in the world. It was founded as the Museum of Manufactures in 1852 at Pall Mall with the mission to cultivate good taste among the public, originally showing objects from the erstwhile Government School of Design, and items from the Great Exhibition of 1851 purchased using a royal grant. It was renamed  South Kensington Museum after its new location in 1857, and became the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1899, when the foundation for the main building was laid by the queen Victoria at the same site. Today it is also known as the V&A, and has a number of satellite locations. The museum houses over 2.8 million art and design objects spanning 5000 years, from across Europe, Asia and Africa — including seminal works by Auguste Rodin, Raphael and others — as well as the National Art Library. Its board of trustees is designated by the British prime minister.