Welcome

The front of the Museum against a blue and cloudy sky

PLAN YOUR VISIT

WELCOME

Open every day, 10am–5pm

Book a visit, become a Member, donate, or visit our Online Shop

The Ashmolean is the University of Oxford’s museum of art and archaeology, founded in 1683. Our world famous collections range from Egyptian mummies to contemporary art, telling human stories across cultures and across time.

Open every day. Admission is free.

PLAN YOUR VISIT

Detail from a painting by Rossetti of a woman holding a branch

MAJOR EXHIBITION – OPENS SOON

PRE-RAPHAELITES

DRAWINGS & WATERCOLOURS
15 JUL–27 NOV 2022

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JOIN US AS A MEMBER

Join today for priority booking, unlimited free exhibition entry, preview days & much more

Membership gives you unlimited free access to exhibitions, exclusive online events, members-only previews and curator-led events, a members’ magazine sent to your door, as well as discounts across our shop, restaurant and café. Join as a Member today and you will be supporting the Museum at a critical time.

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ASHMOLEAN ADVENTURE

A fun interactive family experience. Book your digital guide before you visit.

Rote Punkte (or Red Dots) print by Salome, 1995 - shows an almost naked with sunglasses and red lipstick against a green wash. Salome was a 90s German punk printer. Young & Wild? exhibition poster image

YOUNG & WILD? ART IN 1980s GERMANY

The 1980s saw the rise of the 'Neo-Expressionism' movement in Germany and ''Junge Wilde' artists like A.R. Penck, Georg Baselitz, Salomé and Ina Barfuss, inspired by sub-cultures and the Punk and gay scenes. This vibrant exhibition brings together a selection of their work. Opens 30 Jul.
Gallery 8, Lower Ground Floor.
FREE

Postcards from home exhibition montage. Photos by Manisha Gera Baswani

MANISHA GERA BASWANI: POSTCARDS FROM HOME

New Delhi-based artist Manisha Gera Baswani presents postcards of 47 artists from India and Pakistan, all with a shared history of the partition of India in 1947. Each postcard in her exhibition carries an image of the contemporary artists photographed by Baswani, accompanied by their reminiscences.
Gallery 29, First Floor
FREE

FESTIVAL DETAILS

FREE ARCHAEOLOGY & ART FESTIVAL EVENT

BIG FAMILY WEEKEND

SAT 16 & SUN 17 JULY. FREE

A black and white photograph of gentleman in a suit and tie analysing scripture on a plaque

TALK

12 Jul

CRACKING ANCIENT CODES

An in-person and online talk with Andrew Robinson, uncovering the deciphering of the mysterious Minoan script 'Linear...

An in-person and online talk with Andrew Robinson, uncovering the deciphering of the mysterious Minoan script 'Linear B' by architect Michael Ventris, marking his centenary....

An in-person and online talk with Andrew Robinson, uncovering the deciphering of the mysterious Minoan script 'Linear B' by architect Michael Ventris, marking his centenary. The second lecture in a mini-series...

An in-person and online talk with Andrew Robinson, uncovering the deciphering of the mysterious Minoan script 'Linear B' by architect Michael Ventris, marking his centenary. The second lecture in a mini-series about decipherment.

Ashmolean Museum and Online

Adoration of the Shepherds illustration by an anonymous Italian in pen and brown ink with brown wash, c.1570

MEMBERS ONLY TALK

13 Jul

DETECTIVE WORK AND DISCOVERIES

Explore our collection of Italian drawings from Leonardo to Piranesi and discover how a little detective work and...

Explore our collection of Italian drawings from Leonardo to Piranesi and discover how a little detective work and recent research can uncover their stories.

Online & at the Museum

A painting of a woman with red hair, in a purple dress, holding white flowers and resting on an open book

MEMBERS ONLY PREVIEW

14 Jul

PRE-RAPHAELITES MEMBERS' PREVIEW

An exclusive, Members-only preview of our Pre-Raphaelites 2022 exhibition.

Exhibition Galleries

Children in a craft activity smiling and holding up what they've made

FREE FESTIVAL

16 Jul

BIG FAMILY WEEKEND

Join us for a fabulous fun weekend for all the family. Saturday celebrates the Archaeology Festival and Sunday...

Join us for a fabulous fun weekend for all the family. Saturday celebrates the Archaeology Festival and Sunday is all about art.

At the Museum

Two ancient coins to explore on Archaeology Day at our Big Family Weekend in July 2022

TALK

19 Jul

FESTIVAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY 2022: PRE-ROMAN COINAGE OF THE ICENI

This talk will explore the captivating world of the Iceni, a pre-Roman community that inhabited present-day East...

This talk will explore the captivating world of the Iceni, a pre-Roman community that inhabited present-day East Anglia.

Online and at the Museum

Bronze lipped Celtic terret with ornament chased in relief and inset with red enamel - used for horses' harness

TALK

22 Jul

FESTIVAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY 2022: CELTIC ART

Get close to some of the most evocative and enigmatic objects of later European prehistory, known as Celtic art,...

Get close to some of the most evocative and enigmatic objects of later European prehistory, known as Celtic art, in this archaeological talk.

Online and at the Museum

TALK

25 Jul

FESTIVAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY 2022: LIFE AND DEATH IN THE EARLY IRON AGE

In this talk, discover the significance of Austria's important Hallstatt cemetery finds to understanding early...

In this talk, discover the significance of Austria's important Hallstatt cemetery finds to understanding early Iron Age society.

Online and at the Museum

Bath Road by Camille Pissarro 1897, oil on canvas

TALK

27 Jul

THE PISSARROS IN ENGLAND

Join art historian Kathleen Adler to explore the period the Pissarro family and Lucien, Camille's eldest son,...

Join art historian Kathleen Adler to explore the period the Pissarro family and Lucien, Camille's eldest son, spent in England.

Online and at the Museum

Portrait of John Ruskin standing by the stream at Glenfinlas, John Everett Millais, 1853

TALK

4 Aug

JOHN RUSKIN AND PRE-RAPHAELITE LANDSCAPE PAINTING

In this special talk, Pre-Raphaelite exhibition curator, Christiana Payne, discusses John Ruskin's ideas of...

In this special talk, Pre-Raphaelite exhibition curator, Christiana Payne, discusses John Ruskin's ideas of landscape painting against the backdrop of the other Pre-Raphaelite...

In this special talk, Pre-Raphaelite exhibition curator, Christiana Payne, discusses John Ruskin's ideas of landscape painting against the backdrop of the other Pre-Raphaelites.

At the Museum and Online

Making Japanese woodblock prints - here a scene of flowers is being made in black and white

WORKSHOP

7 Aug

BLACK & WHITE JAPANESE WOODBLOCK WORKSHOP

Join artist Ralph Kigell for this one-day workshop introducing water-based woodblock printing in black and whi...

Join artist Ralph Kigell for this one-day workshop introducing water-based woodblock printing in black and white.

At the Museum

Gustave Courbet 'Le bord de mer a Palavas', By The Seaside, 1853

TALK

31 Aug

THE SEA, THE SEASIDE!

Join art historian Juliet Heslewood to explore the different way artists have interpreted the sea and seaside through...

Join art historian Juliet Heslewood to explore the different way artists have interpreted the sea and seaside through the ages.

Online and at the Museum

MEMBERS ONLY TALK

15 Sep

DJED: THE ART OF MUMMIFICATION

This event, will take place both on Zoom and in the Headley Lecture Theatre at the Ashmolean Museum. Dr Bob Loynes...

This event, will take place both on Zoom and in the Headley Lecture Theatre at the Ashmolean Museum. Dr Bob Loynes describes the motivation for and the methods used for mummification,...

This event, will take place both on Zoom and in the Headley Lecture Theatre at the Ashmolean Museum. Dr Bob Loynes describes the motivation for and the methods used for mummification, throughout the long history...

This event, will take place both on Zoom and in the Headley Lecture Theatre at the Ashmolean Museum. Dr Bob Loynes describes the motivation for and the methods used for mummification, throughout the long history of ancient Egypt.

Online and at the Museum

Sitting in the Rooftop Restaurant in the summer

VISIT

NEW LUNCHTIME MENU

Take a look at our delicious new lunch menu for the Rooftop Restaurant.

Pre-raphaelites exhibition gifts in the Shop

SHOP THE RANGE

PRE-RAPHAELITE GIFTS

Discover gifts, books and jewellery designed to accompany our Pre-Raphaelites exhibition.
Every purchase supports the Museum.

DISCOVER SUMMER STORIES

HERE COMES SUMMER

Enjoy this sun-streaked selection of summer artworks from our collections as we welcome the longer, lighter days.

A pair of hands hold an ancient stone Sumerian statue

6 EPISODES

FINGERPRINTS

Uncover the invisible fingerprints left behind by makers, looters, archaeologists, soldiers, rulers, curators, and more. These stories of touch also reveal how forces of conflict and colonialism have shaped the Museum.

25 BITE-SIZED TALES

MUSEUM SECRETS

Our curators have been recording bite-sized tales of the wonderful, and sometimes unexpected, life of a museum. Explore time & asparagus, symbols of hope in challenging times, Ancient Greek manscaping, and more!

6 AUDIO ADVENTURES

OBJECTS OUT LOUD

From Uccello’s spine-tingling painting The Hunt in the Forest to poems woven into Japanese prints, this short series delves into the poetry and literature hidden in the collections.

Latest Pride colours flag June 2022 (including intersex people representation)

PRIDE STORIES

June is Pride Month and we're joining in the celebration.

Discover our Pride stories and the LGBTQ+ connections in our collections, as well as our Pride Progress flag inspired by colours from Ashmolean objects.

Also check out the Out in Oxford trail.

CELEBRATING PRIDE MONTH

ONLINE COLLECTIONS

Discover thousands of objects and artworks Take a journey through thousands of years of art and history with our online collection. There are currently more than 200,000 objects available to search and browse online.

Netsuke in the form of a rat, Kano Tomokazu, 1800-40

TREASURES

Take a look at a selection of the Ashmolean's most treasured objects, chosen by our curators.

landscape detail st jerome reading in a landscape by giovanni bellini with a tablet ashmolean museum wa1899 cdef p1

YOUR SUPPORT

A donation of any amount will help ensure that we remain open to the public, free of charge, and that we are able to continue to care for and showcase the collections share our knowledge.

MAKE A DONATION

Membership Card with logos and depictions of birds

JOIN ONLINE

GIFT MEMBERSHIP

Support the Museum and treat someone to free, unlimited access to a year of exhibitions, including Pissarro: Father of Impressionism, plus exclusive events and discounts.