Royal West of England Academy

The Royal West of England Academy was the first art gallery to be established in Bristol, and is one of the longest-running regional galleries and art schools in the UK. Its foundation was initiated by Ellen Sharples, who secured funding from benefactors including Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Prince Albert, and the building was ultimately financed by a bequest of £2,000 from her will in 1849. At first, the core of the academy was a group of artists, known as the Bristol Society of Artists, who were mostly landscape painters, including William James Müller, Francis Danby, James Baker Pyne, John Syer, Edward Villiers Rippingille, and John King. with the reigning monarch as its patron, and by…

The building is Grade II* listed and was constructed in 1857 as the city's first public art gallery, also encompassing an art school. It opened in 1858. The interiors are by Charles Underwood and facade by JR Hirst, altered in 1912 by SS Reay and H Dare Bryan. The first floor is in three sections, the outer ones articulated by paired Corinthian pilasters flanking large shell head niches with statues of Flaxman and Reynolds. A large carving of three female figures - the three graces - crowns the parapet. The interior includes coloured marble and a replica of the Parthenon Frieze.