Museum sold to the city in 1661 and public since 1671 (now Kunstmuseum Basel). The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford opened on 24 May 1683 as the world's first university art museum. Its first building was built in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities Elias Ashmole gave Oxford University in 1677. The Uffizi Gallery in Florence was initially conceived as offices for the Florentine civil service (hence the name), but evolved into a display place for many of the paintings and sculpture collected by the Medici family or commissioned by them. After the house of Medici was extinguished, the art treasures
Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery Pagans Hill Roman Temple and the Orpheus Mosaic from Newton St Loe. There is a choice of galleries situated upstairs full of artworks: Old Masters, French School, British Collection, Modern Art and the Bristol School. In 2012, the museum was given the entire 50,000 piece collection of the former British Empire and Commonwealth Museum. The Friends of Bristol Art Gallery has supported the gallery since 1947, acquiring over 300 works of art for the gallery. The Friends of Bristol Museum and Art Gallery was founded in 1977 (first known as the “Bristol Magpies”) to support the principal sites of Bristol’s