Richard FitzWilliam was a Viscount who died in 1816 and left the university his collection along with the money to house it.
He explicitly stated that it was a donation to the public, which was markedly modern for the time.
Admission has been free ever since.
The collection has more than 500,000 objects, covering antiquity through to the present.
Paintings include work by Rubens, Monet, Van Gogh and Picasso.
The Egyptian collection is also famous for containing the painted coffin of Nespawershefyt, a senior temple official at Thebes, and the red granite sarcophagus lid of Ramesses III.
🕐 On your way to the next stop
Our last stop is only 2 minutes away - back up Trumpington Street and left into Bene't Street, where a drink at the Eagle after all that walking comes highly recommended!
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