According to the art website Artnet, rooms in the British Museum continue to deteriorate as there are unstable ceilings.

The article mentions leaking ceilings, inadequate environmental control, peeling paint, and cracked floor tiles.

Special emphasis is also given to the ceiling of two specific rooms.

These are Room 23, which houses ancient Greek and Roman statues, and Room 8, featuring masterpieces of Assyrian art.

These precious exhibits are now protected from the elements only by a…sheet covering the roof’s skylight.

The Artnet writer reports visiting these rooms on January 23, a day of heavy storms in London, and observed the sheets covering the exhibits flapping violently due to strong winds and rain.

In fact, in the room with the Assyrian exhibits, the sheet was torn, with the sky clearly visible.

The British Museum has informed Artnet that the glass panels of the ceiling will not be replaced until part of the broader renovation works of the wing, as outlined in the museum’s comprehensive redevelopment plan.

With an estimated cost of at least one billion pounds, this renovation has been delayed, with Artnet’s information placing the start of the works at the end of the current year or the beginning of 2025.

Next spring, a competition is expected to be held to select the architect who will design the modernization of the western wing.