This representative selection of exhibits introduces the main themes of the exhibition ‘I Turned it into a Palace: Sir Sydney Cockerell and the Fitzwilliam Museum’ (The Fitzwilliam Museum, 4 November 2008 - 17 March 2009).
Cockerell’s fame rested - and still does - on the insatiable appetite with which he amassed treasures for his museum. His first point of call was his immediate circle of writers, artists and collectors, and the museum benefited from his capacity for nurturing life-long friendships. He cultivated new patrons too, starting with members of the University and forging new alliances with those who lacked formal Cambridge connections.
