Oxford is home to one of the oldest art museums in Britain, the Ashmolean. It is not just an art museum, of course. In fact, when the museum started, as the personal collection of Elias Ashmole, it was almost entirely natural history artefacts. When Ashmole first bequeathed these artefacts to Oxford University for display, the idea of a museum was unknown, and even rejected by some academics, who resented having artefacts on display to the general public. Despite this criticism, the museum was opened in 1683, consisting of a natural history gallery, lecture theatres, and science laboratories. The museum expanded, obtaining archaeological treasures from Egypt, Greece, and Rome. The Alfred Jewel was added in 1718, and as its name suggests, it may have once belonged to King Alfred, due to the inscription on it: ‘King Alfred made me.’ The museum merged with the Oxford University art collection in 1904, and there are many thought provoking paintings, several of these based on religious ideas, such as: ‘The return of the doves to the ark,’ by John Everett Millias, and ‘A converted British family shelters a missionary,’ by William Holman Hunt.

The true birth of the Ashmolean was at an exhibit of natural history treasures by the Tradescents (John Tradescent father and son), at their house in South London. These artefacts were later passed on to Elias Ashmole.