Carnegie Mellon Museums

This substantial building in the Oakland area of Pittsburgh is part of the very large complex of nineteenth century buildings which together make up the Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History and the Carnegie Music Hall.

Close to Carnegie Mellon University, and the Carnegie Library, which he also founded, these museums were created to house the collections of the millionaire philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie.

Originally a poor immigrant from Scotland, he made his fortune in the steel industry based in Pittsburgh and set himself the task of bringing knowledge and education in arts, science and music to the American people - particularly those who were unlikely to be able to afford to travel.

The buildings are both grand and solidly built.  Here the grand staircase of one of the museums, below is the very ornate music hall - now a popular wedding venue as well as hosting concerts and shows.

The length to which Andrew Carnegie was prepared to go in order to bring history and culture from Europe to the people of America is perhaps most strikingly illustrated in the Hall of Architecture of the Museum of Art...

It was quite a shock, initially, to see these huge pieces of Renaissance and ancient architecture from Europe - bronze doors from Florence, stone porticoes from French cathedrals, classical pillars from Greece and Rome as well as pulpits, statues and tombs, all standing in a large gallery room.

Closer inspection of the descriptive labels reveals of course that these are replicas!

The 'plaster' casts were commissioned by Carnegie to be created from the originals then shipped in many crated sections to the United States.  Quite an undertaking in itself!

In a circle in the centre of the Hall of Architecture was a completely up to date exhibit by the Chinese sculptor Ai Weiwei.

A series of twelve rather fierce animal heads cast in bronze - and they are apparently valued at more than $3 million each, based on one or two that have been sold at auction.   So I took care not to reverse into any of them whilst standing back to try to capture the big pieces!