1. Industrial Gallery: [Galleries 2-7]

This was the major exhibition area of the original 1885 gallery. The items on display were models of design intended to inspire Midlands industrial craftsmen. The displays include ceramics; stained glass; jewellery; glassware; and metal work. If you walk along the balcony, towards the end there is some impressive European wrought-iron work. In addition to a rather lovely bird's-eye view of the Edwardian Tearoom.

Go back through the Round Room to the art galleries. Look for temporary exhibitions in galleries 12 and 13. And then move on to Gallery 17.

2. Ford Madox Brown:The Last of England(1852-55):

The Birmingham Museum and Art gallery is famous for its Pre-Raphaelites paintings. This picture was inspired by the emigration movement and shows a middle-class couple bound for Australia. They are leaving everything behind. The husband is bitter and disappointed; his wife grieves and grips the baby's fingers sadly and poignantly. Also in this gallery there is an interactive computer which gives you information about other Pre-Raphaelites painters.

Go to gallery 30

3. An English kitchen in the 1900:

How different it looks from today's kitchens. Perhaps you have heard old relatives talk about how their domestic chores were? A hundred years ago, the kitchen was the centre of the home. Is it still? - or have things changed?

Go to the top of the staircase to Gallery 34

4. Egyptian Mummy mask(1000-600 B.C):

Now we travel back nearly 3000 years. The Ancient Egyptians hoped for an afterlife and immortality. The soul survived on earth, resting in a preserved (mummified) body. During mummification, the internal organs would be removed thorough the left side of the body, and the brain through the nose - and this was only the beginning!
In this mask there is a linen covering which is then covered with plaster, painted and finally gilded.

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At this point you might like to go through the 'Light on Science' gallery, since it is on the same floor...

Go downstairs to Gallery 32

Bronze Hércules Figures (1-300A.D):

Have you heard of the Twelve Labours of Hercules? Hercules was a very popular deity and became a god in reward for all his great accomplishments on earth. All these figures display his superhuman power.

Stay in this Gallery

Lamps of the 6th -5th century B.C:

Olive oil was a very common fuel in the ancient world. Unfortunately, mice also disappeared rather fast! The holes were made smaller, as you can see in this picture. Twists of linen were used as wicks, each wick giving off as much light as a candle - so you can guess how much light was given of by the three-nozzle lamp...

Go to Gallery 33

'The Meeting Ground of Cultures' covers a wide range of beliefs, values and customs and art, united in one room. There are interesting and extraordinary displays on areas such as body decoration, signs and symbols, textiles and, as pictured here, masks. You can amuse yourselves by experimenting with various faces....

Go to Gallery 25

Claude Gelée(Le Lorrain): Landscape near Rome with a view of the Pont Molle(1645):

Claude's idyllic pastoral scenes of the Roman countryside greatly influenced British landscape painting. He used a formula which included elements such as foreground trees silhouetted by golden sunlight, romantic historic buildings, and distant rivers and mountains. There is also usually a foreground figure dressed in blue. Can you see this style in any other paintings?

A great deal of Western art over the centuries has been based on themes of Christian faith. We will take a look at two of them:

Go to gallery 24

Pieter Aertsen: Preparations for a Feast (1507/8-1575):

The table in the background refers to The Last Supper. The simplicity of the disciples' meal is contrasted with the plentiful food displayed in the foreground (what do you prefer?!) This contrasts worldly pleasures with eternal and spiritual values.

Go to gallery 23

Bartolome Esteban Murillo: Christ as The Good Shepherd (1617-1682):

Here, Murillo uses the traditional imagery of shepherd and sheep to symbolise the relationship of believers to Christ as a sweet and innocent child protecting his lambs makes the painting more poignant. Or is it too sentimental for modern tastes? How does it strike you?