Skip to main content
You are here:

Medicine: The Wellcome Galleries

Featuring three thousand objects and covering an area equivalent to 1,500 hospital beds, Medicine: The Wellcome Galleries is the magnificent new home for the most significant medical collections in the world.

Showcasing extraordinary medical artefacts from the collections of Henry Wellcome and the Science Museum Group, including the world’s first MRI scanner, Fleming’s penicillin mould, a professional pianist’s prosthetic arm and even robotic surgery equipment, the galleries explore our relationship with medicine and health through more than 500 years of history. 

Throughout the galleries you’ll find specially commissioned artworks, including 'Self-Conscious Gene', by Marc Quinn, a bronze sculpture by Eleanor Crook, a series of portraits by award-winning photographer Siân Davey and an installation by Studio Roso, as well as  interactive displays, films and audio recordings. 

A ceramic artwork by celebrated artist Grayson Perry, ‘Alan Measles – God in the time of Covid-19’, is now part of the COVID-19 display in the gallery. This artwork along with the COVID-19 testing kits and signage from the Government’s daily briefings present a reminder of our huge national effort to save lives and protect the NHS.

If you’d like to learn more about the worldwide effort to develop vaccines quickly and effectively to combat the pandemic, Injecting Hope: The race for a COVID-19 vaccine showcases various objects and stories from this global challenge, including the empty vials of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines used for the first mass vaccinations worldwide.

With five vast and visually stunning galleries containing more than 3,000 medical artefacts, striking artworks, interactive games and immersive experiences, Medicine: The Wellcome Galleries brings the history of medicine to life.

Take a closer look at what's on display in Collection Online

Designed by WilkinsonEyre Architects, the five galleries cover more than 3000m². Watch the team from WilkinsonEyre Architects discuss their approach to the project.

Title funder

Supported by

Principal sponsor

Major funder

Major sponsor

Funders

Art Fund

Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF)

Thanks to

Britford Bridge Trust

Medical Sciences Historical Society

Dr Martin Schoernig

An anonymous donor

Media Partner