John Ruskin and the Idea of a Museum

PI: Marcus Waithe, School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics
Funder: University of Sheffield KT Project Fund

Now held at Sheffield's 'Ruskin Gallery', the collection of the Guild of St George was originally established by Ruskin at Walkley in the 1870s. This project will develop an online, virtual reconstruction of the Walkley Museum using contemporary evidence (original photographs). Users will be able to interact with the museum and access high-quality images of the original exhibits alongside contextualising information. A small resource area will be established to provide access to visitors of the physical Gallery. The current project relies mainly upon exhibits already photographed; at future stages, it will involve virtual reconstruction, digitisation and resource enhancement. The project should not be confused with schemes that create digitised catalogues of items already in existence. By exploring principles of display that can no longer be achieved physically, it turns virtual experience into a basis for research