British Museum: Google Doodle marks 255th anniversary

The doodle shows the musuem's Great Court, which was redeveloped in 2001 to become the largest covered public square in Europe Photo: GOOGLE

British Museum: Google Doodle marks 255th anniversary

The British Museum has pride of place on the Google home page with a Google Doodle 255 years after it first opened

The British Museum, which opened its doors to the public 255 years ago today, has been celebrated with a Google Doodle.

By Alice Philipson 15 Jan 2014 / http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/google-doodle/10572969/British-Museum-Google-Doodle-marks-255th-anniversary.html

The doodle shows the musuem's Great Court, which was redeveloped in 2001 to become the largest covered public square in Europe. It is a two-acre space enclosed by a glass roof with the Reading Room at its centre.

The drawing also depicts the entrance to the museum, which is a Greek Revival facade with 44 columns closely based on those of the temple of Athena Polias at Priene, an ancient Greek holy city.

The museum was established largely on the collection of naturalist and collector Sir Hans Sloane, who amassed more than 71,000 objects which he wanted to be preserved after his death.

So he bequeathed the entire collection to King George II in return for a £20,000 payment to his heirs.

When the museum opened on 15 January 1759, it was housed in 17th-century mansion Montagu House, in Bloomsbury on the site of today's building. Entry was free and given to "all studious and curious persons".

The original collection consisted largely of books, manuscripts, natural specimens and some antiquities such as coins, medals, prints and drawings.

It comes a day after the museum announced 2013 was its busiest ever year. The museum hosted 6.7 visits in 2013, far outstripping its previous record, reached in 2008, of six million. Visitors numbers were 20 per cent higher than 2012.

Its success has been put down, in part, to two of its most high profile exhibitions of the year: Life and death in Pompeii and Herculaneum, and Shunga: sex and pleasure in Japanese art.

In 1759 the museum had around 75 visitors a day, while in 2013, it notched up 33,848 in one day.