Holburne Museum of Art, Bath (must see)

The Holburne Museum of Art is an important cultural landmark located in the Bathwick area of Bath. Situated in the picturesque Sydney Pleasure Gardens, at Sydney Place, the museum's building has a rich history. Originally designed as the Sydney Hotel by architect Charles Harcourt Masters, it was built in 1795. Over the nineteenth century, the building underwent various changes in both its purpose and structure. It was eventually transformed into the Holburne Museum between 1913 and 1916, under the guidance of architect Sir Reginald Blomfield. This historic building is recognized as a Grade I listed building by English Heritage, underscoring its architectural and historical significance.

The museum's collection is particularly renowned for its impressive array of over 250 British and continental oil paintings, predominantly from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The core of this collection was established by Sir Thomas William Holburne (1793–1874), a naval officer and Baronet who resided at 10 Cavendish Crescent in Bath with his three sisters. Holburne's personal collection, comprising 200 paintings, also includes a rich variety of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century silver and porcelain, Italian maiolica and bronzes, portrait miniatures, books, and furniture. This collection forms the heart of the museum's offerings.

Throughout the twentieth century, the picture collection was significantly enhanced through bequests, gifts, and acquisitions. These additions include eighteenth-century British portraits by artists such as Ramsay, Stubbs, and Gainsborough. One of the notable recent acquisitions of the Holburne Museum is a substantial part of the Somerset Maugham collection, which features eighteenth-century theatrical portraits, including five works by Zoffany.