Dr Margaret Maitland with the gilded mummy mask of Montseuf
Over the last fifteen years, the National Museum of Scotland has been undergoing an £80 million transformation of its iconic Victorian building. This has taken place in phases. The building closed in 2008 for significant structural interventions, re-opening in July 2011, with thousands of people queuing outside in Chambers street. Then, in 2016, ten further new galleries opened, devoted to science, technology, decorative art, design and fashion.
Over the period of this major redevelopment, the National Museum of Scotland has become the most popular visitor attraction in the UK outside London, welcoming over 2.3 million visitors in 2017. The transformation was completed on 8 February this year with the opening of three new permanent galleries: Ancient Egypt Rediscovered, Exploring East Asia and Art of Ceramics.