Wikipedia:Today's featured article/July 30, 2020

The decorated ceilings of the Natural History Museum in South Kensington, London, are in its main Central Hall and smaller North Hall. Designed by the museum's architect Alfred Waterhouse, they were unveiled at the building's opening in 1881. The ceiling of the Central Hall consists of 162 panels, 108 of which depict plants considered significant to the history of the museum, to the British Empire or to the museum's visitors. The remaining 54 are highly stylised decorative botanical paintings. The ceiling of the North Hall consists of 36 panels, 18 of which depict plants growing in the British Isles. Both ceilings make extensive use of gilding for visual effect. Since 2016 the skeleton of a blue whale has been suspended from the ceiling of the Central Hall. (Full article...)