The Taylor Institution is the University of Oxford’s centre for teaching and research in medieval and modern European languages other than English. It was established in 1845 following the bequest of the sculptor and architect Sir Robert Taylor (1714–1788). It occupies the east wing of the handsome neoclassical building designed by Charles R. Cockerell (1788–1863) and erected between 1841 and 1844 to house the Institution and the Randolph Galleries (now the Ashmolean Museum). In the 1930s the building was extended along St Giles’ to the designs of Thomas Harold Hughes (1888–1949). The Taylor Institution Library has claims to be the largest separate collection in modern languages in the UK with some 600,000 volumes in its holdings. The paintings housed in the Institution and its library are mainly portraits of individuals connected with its history and donated by benefactors in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The Library’s website with further information and a virtual tour is at http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/taylor. Access for researchers to view the paintings is by appointment only. Please contact tay-enquiries@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.