1. Describe the main features of the Gothic style in architecture

Architectural style in Europe that lasted from the mid 12th century to the 16th century, particularly a style of masonry building characterized by cavernous spaces with the expanse of walls broken up by overlaid tracery. In the 12th – 13th centuries, feats of engineering permitted increasingly gigantic buildings. The rib vault, flying buttress, and pointed (Gothic) arch were used as solutions to the problem of building a very tall structure while preserving as much natural light as possible. Stained-glass window panels rendered startling sun-dappled interior effects. One of the earliest buildings to combine these elements into a coherent style was the abbey of Saint-Denis, Paris (c. 1135 – 44). The High Gothic years (c. 1250 – 1300), heralded by Chartres Cathedral, were dominated by France, especially with the development of the Rayonnant style. Britain, Germany, and Spain produced variations of this style, while Italian Gothic stood apart in its use of brick and marble rather than stone. Late Gothic (15th-century) architecture reached its height in Germany's vaulted hall churches. Other late Gothic styles include the British Perpendicular style and the French and Spanish Flamboyant style. 2.  Describe the main features of the Gothic style in paintings

Architecture, sculpture, and painting that flourished in Western and central Europe in the middle Ages. It evolved from Romanesque art and lasted from the mid-12th century to the end of the 15th century. Its loftiest form of expression is architecture, as in the great cathedrals of northern Europe. Sculpture was closely tied to architecture and often used to decorate the exteriors of cathedrals and other religious buildings. Painting evolved from stiff, two-dimensional forms to more natural ones. Religious and secular subjects were depicted in illuminated manuscripts. Panel and wall painting evolved into the Renaissance style in Italy in the 15th century, but retained its Gothic features until the early 16th century elsewhere in Europe.  3. Enumerate the main British museums and give details about The British Museum and one more you choose

MUSEUMS 1. The British Museum 2. The British Golf Museum (St. Andrew, Scotland) 3. The British Museum of Human History and Culture 4. The British Empire and Commonwealth Museum 5. The British Museum of Natural History 6. Imperial War Museum (based on historic sites) 7. Victoria and Albert Museum 8. The National Army Museum 9. The Bedford Museum 10. The Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology (University of Reading) 11. The Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology 12. Whipple Museum of the History of Science 13. King Edward Mining Museum (Camborne) 14. The Museum of London 15. Wallace Collection 16. The Natural History Museum of Tring 17. The British Commercial Vehicle Museum 18. The Museum of Island History (Isle of Wight) 19. Dover Castle 20. The Dover Museum 21. The Tower of London 22. The Westminster Abbey 23. The Buckingham Palace 25. The Computing History Museum (Havernhill)

The British Museum is a museum in London, founded in 1753. It contains one of the world's richest collections of antiquities and (until 1997) one of the largest libraries in the world: British Library. The British Museum's collection of seven million objects representing the rich history of human cultures mirrors the city of London's global variety. It includes monuments of primitive and antique culture, Ancient East culture, the richest collection of engravings, pictures, ceramics, coins. The British Museum library is now named the British national library. It was formed in 1973 from the British Museum library and other national collections. It has a copy of every book that is printed in the English language, so that there are more than six million books there. They receive nearly two thousand books and papers daily. The British Museum Library has a very big collection of printed books and manuscripts, both old and new. You can see beautifully illustrated old manuscripts which they keep in glass cases. You can also find there some of the first English books printed by Caxton. Caxton was a printer who lived in the fifteenth century. He made the first printing-press in England. In the reading-room of the British Museum many famous men have read and studied. Charles Dickens, a very popular English writer and the author of 'David Copperfield', 'Oliver Twist', 'Dombey and Son' and other books, spent a lot of time in the British Museum Library. In no other museum can the visitor see so clearly the history of what it is to be human.

Victoria and Albert Museum Museum of decorative arts in London. It was conceived by Prince Albert as a way to improve the standards of British design by making the finest models available for study. The core collection, consisting of objects purchased at the 1851 Crystal Palace exhibition, was originally called the Museum of Ornamental Art and was opened by Queen Victoria in 1857. A new building was later designed by Sir Aston Webb, and the museum was renamed when Victoria laid the cornerstone in 1899; it was opened to the public by Edward VII in 1909. It houses vast collections of European sculpture, ceramics, furniture, metalwork, jewelry, textiles, and musical instruments from medieval times to the present; remarkable Chinese ceramics, jade, and sculpture; the premier collection of Italian Renaissance sculpture outside Italy; and the outstanding national collection of British watercolours, miniatures, prints, and drawings. It is regarded as the world's greatest decorative-arts museum. Its branch museums include the Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood and the Wellington Museum. The Theatre Museum was also a branch until January 2007, when it was closed.