Teylers Museum Oval Room

The main reason for our trip to Haarlem last Saturday was a visit to the Teylers Museum, an art, natural history and science museum. Established in 1778, it was originally founded as a centre for contemporary art and science. The museum was named after Pieter Teyler van der Hulst (1702-1778), a wealthy cloth merchant and banker of Scottish descent.
The historic centre of the museum is the neoclassical Oval Room that you see here.

The Oval Room was designed for research and study, and was opened in 1784. Scientific experiments would be conducted here, public demonstrations held, and books, drawings and prints viewed by the public. A showcase in the centre displays a mineralogical collection from the 18th century.
The upper gallery, which unfortunately wasn't open for the public when we were there, has 12 built-in bookcases. The windows in the ceiling were meant to let in the maximum amount of light.