A day and night at the museum

The worldwide community of museums will  be celebrating International Museum Day on and around 18 May 2017.

The theme chosen for 2017 is “Museums and contested histories: Saying the unspeakable in museums”. Let’s gaze at the panels of the famous museum around the world.

1. This Museum dates back to 1759. ‘Cupboard 55’ was created in response to the Obscene Objects Act (1857), and designated the ‘Cabinet of Obscene Objects.’ It had about 200 objects that were labeled as ‘abominable monuments to human licentiousness’. To enter the secretum, one needed a special permit. This was given only to gentlemen who could prove they were of ‘mature years and sound morals.’ Which museum are we talking about?

2. Bramante Staircase is the name given to two staircases in this Museum. Giuseppe Momo built the staircases in 1932, which became one of the most photographed pieces in a museum. These staircase, like the original, is a double helix, having two staircases allowing people to ascend without meeting people descending. Ironically it was created in a time before the double helix became a symbol for science and DNA. Identify the museum.

3. On August 21, 1911, three Italian handymen hid in a supply closet overnight in order to sneak into this museum and steal this portrait. One of them, Vincenzo Perugia, was the man who had installed the protective glass over the portrait. The newspaper coverage about it made the painting so famous that he couldn’t sell it without getting caught. So he hid it in the false bottom of his trunk for two years. He was arrested when he tried to sell it and the portrait was restored. Identify the museum and the portrait.

4. The winter sky in Ahmedabad is incomplete without this. A popular festival for this brings a lot of like minded lovers from different parts of the country. Bhanu Shah designed and founded a museum for this on February 26, 1984. He collected data from various sources and prepared the panels for his museum. He spent his whole life on researching about this which can be found in the museum. The museum is a dedication to which thing?

5. This must be one of the most bizarre museums in the world. It houses a collection of over 1000 different species of a particular thing which makes it so popular. The variants of every kind of shape, colour and texture from palatable looking morels to killer Amanita phalloides, black and white truffles are displayed here. The museum attracts a lot of people visiting the Ban Jelacic square in Croatia’s capital Zagreb. What does the museum contain?