Originally, there were five major galleries at the ROM, one each for the fields of
archaeology,
geology,
mineralogy,
palaeontology and
zoology. In general, the museum pieces were labelled and arranged in a static fashion that had changed little since
Edwardian times. For example, the insect exhibit that lasted up until the 1970s housed a variety of specimens from different parts of the world in long rows of glass cases. Insects of the same genus were pinned to the inside of the cabinet, with only the species name and location found as a description. , an interactive gallery at the museum By the 1960s, more interpretive displays were ushered in, among the first of which was the original dinosaur gallery, established in the mid-1960s. Dinosaur fossils were now staged in dynamic poses against backdrop paintings and models of contemporaneous landscapes and vegetation. The displays became more descriptive and interpretive sometimes, as with the extinction of the
woolly mammoth, offering several different leading theories on the issue for the visitor to ponder. This trend continued and up until the present day, the galleries became less staid and more dynamic or descriptive and interpretive. This trend arguably came to a culmination in the 1980s with the opening of
The Bat Cave, where a sound system, strobe lights and gentle puffs of air attempt to recreate the experience of walking through a cave as a colony of bats fly out. The original galleries were simply named after their subject material, but in more recent years, individual galleries have been named in honour of sponsors who have donated significant funds or collections to the institution. There are now two main categories of galleries present in the ROM: the Natural History Galleries and the World Culture Galleries. The Samuel Hall Currelly Gallery is an exhibition space on Level 1, connecting the east wing of the museum with its western half. The gallery serves as the building's main lobby past the museum's admission area. As opposed to most galleries at the Royal Ontario Museum, the Samuel Hall Currelly Gallery is not dedicated to a single subject. Instead, the gallery exhibits an assortment of items from the museum's collection representing them as a whole.
Costumes and textiles The Patricia Harris Gallery of Costumes and Textiles holds about 200 artifacts from the ROM's textile and costume collections. These pieces, which range from the 1st century BC to the present day, are rotated frequently due to their fragility. Throughout time, textiles and fashion have been used to establish identity and allow inferences to be drawn about a culture's social customs, economy and survival. The gallery is devoted to showcasing transformations in textile design, manufacturing, and cultural relevance throughout the ages. Weaving, needlework, printed archeological textiles and silks are all located in this space.
Interactive The
CIBC Discovery Gallery was designed to be a children's learning zone until its closure in 2023. It housed three main areas: In the Earth, Around the World and Close to Home. The space was inspired by the ROM's collections and enabled children to participate in interactive activities involving touchable artifacts and specimens, period costumes, digging for dinosaur bones and examining fossils and meteorites. There was also a special area for preschoolers. The Patrick and Barbara Keenan Family Gallery of Hands-On Biodiversity introduces visitors to the complicated relationships, which occur among all living things in a fun and interactive space. People of all ages can explore touchable specimens and interactive displays while gallery facilitators help visitors discover the living world around them. Mossy frogs, a touchable shark jaw, snakeskin, and a replica fox's den are some of the objects that connect young visitors to the diversity and interdependence of plants and animals.
Institute for Contemporary Culture The Roloff Beny Gallery of the
Institute for Contemporary Culture (ICC) hosts the Royal Ontario Museum's contemporary art exhibitions. This high-ceilinged multimedia gallery of approximately serves as the ICC's main exhibition space, typically featuring exhibits that tie in contemporary culture and events, with the museum's natural and world collection. The gallery has featured exhibitions on fashion photography, street art, modern Chinese urban design and architecture, and contemporary Japanese art. In 2018, it exhibited
Here We Are: Black Canadian Contemporary Art, featuring Black Canadian artists such as
Sandra Brewster,
Michèle Pearson Clarke,
Sylvia D. Hamilton,
Bushra Junaid,
Charmaine Lurch, and
Esmaa Mohamoud.
Natural history The natural history galleries are all gathered on the second floor of the museum, containing collections and examples of various specimens such as bats, birds and dinosaurs.
Nature and animals The Life in Crisis: Schad Gallery of Biodiversity, designed by Reich+Petch and opened in late 2009, features
endangered species, including specimens of a
polar bear, a
giant panda, a
white rhinoceros, a
Burmese python,
Canadian coral, a
leatherback sea turtle, a
coelacanth, a
Rafflesia flower and many other rare species. Included among these specimens is
Bull, a
southern white rhinoceros that became a famous conservation success story for his species. There are also
recently extinct species displayed, including specimens of a
passenger pigeon and a
great auk, as well as skeletons of a
dodo and a
giant moa with a specimen of a moa egg, an
elephant bird egg, and many other recently extinct species. The gallery presents the need to protect the natural environment and the need to educate the public about the main causes of
extinction—overhunting,
habitat destruction, and
climate change. In September 2009, the gallery received an Award of Excellence by the
Association of Registered Interior Designers of Ontario. In addition to showcasing the museum's natural collection, the Schad Gallery also aims to promote the conservation of Earth's
biodiversity. The Life in Crisis gallery is organized into three zones exploring the central themes: Life is Diverse, Life is interconnected, and Life is at Risk. Anthony Reich, principal at Reich+Petch, called biodiversity "a big subject that's become more relevant to everybody. The challenge was how to tell this big story in a space. We decided to design a dynamic, immersive experience with three core themes that hopefully will make a lasting impression on visitors." The Tallgrass Prairies and Savannas is a part of the gallery that features one of the most endangered and diverse habitats in Ontario. The display features examples of the regions and the efforts by the Ontario
Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry to maintain and restore the tallgrass prairies and savannas. The Gallery of Birds has on display many bird specimens from past centuries. The Gallery of Birds is dominated by the broad "Birds in flight" display where stuffed birds are enclosed in a glass display for visitors to experience. Dioramas allow visitors to learn about the many bird species and how environmental and habitual changes have put bird species in danger of extinction. Pull-out drawers let visitors examine eggs, feathers, footprints and nests more closely. The gallery included exhibits of other extinct species such as the passenger pigeon. These exhibits were later moved to the Schad Gallery. The Royal Ontario Museum purchased a beached
blue whale off the coast of
Newfoundland at
Trout River and displayed its skeleton and heart as a ROM-original travelling exhibit until 4 September 2017. The
Bat Cave is an immersive experience for visitors that presents over 20 bats and 800 models in a recreated habitat, with accompanying educational panels and video. Originally opened in 1988, the bat cave reopened on 27 February 2010 after extensive renovations. The exhibit most notably includes a recreation of St. Clair Cave located in
Saint Catherine Parish of central Jamaica. The original cave was formed by an underground river that flowed below ground through the limestone and was three kilometres long. This cave was then recreated in the museum based on ROM fieldwork conducted in Jamaica in 1984. A large amount of bat research has been conducted with support from the ROM. In 2011, the ROM hosted a "bat workshop" connected with the 41st Annual North American Symposium on Bat Research.
Earth and space , the
Light of the Desert, on display at the Teck Suite of Galleries The Teck Suite of Galleries: Earth's Treasures features almost 3,000 specimens of minerals, gems, meteorites and rocks ranging from 4.5 billion years ago to the present. These items were found in many different locations including the Earth, Moon and beyond, and represent the Earth's dynamic geological environment. Notable specimens at the Teck Suite of Galleries include fragments of the
Tagish Lake meteorite. The
Light of the Desert, the world's largest faceted
cerussite, is another notable piece displayed in the gallery. Galleries that are a part of the Teck Suite of Galleries include the
Barrick Gold Corporation Gallery, the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame Gallery, the Gallery of Gems and Gold and the Vale Gallery of Minerals. The gallery's entrance begins with mammals that arose shortly after the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs. Notable displays in the gallery include the sabre-toothed
nimravid Dinictis, an American
Mastodon discovered in southern Ontario near the town of
Welland, and the giant
megatherid sloth
Eremotherium. The James and Louise Temerty Galleries of the Age of Dinosaurs and Gallery of the Age of Mammals feature several complete non-avian dinosaur skeletons, in addition to several early birds, reptiles, mammals, and marine animals ranging from the
Jurassic to
Cretaceous periods. The highlights of the exhibit are
Gordo, one of the most complete
Barosaurus specimens and the largest dinosaur on display in Canada, and the holotype of the tube-crested
hadrosaur Parasaurolophus walkeri. Renovations to the Temerty Galleries completed in late 2025, with new additions highlighted by the skeleton of the exceptionally preserved
ankylosaur Zuul crurivastator, a mounted confrontation between
Zuul and the
tyrannosaurid Gorgosaurus, and a cast of the
ceratopsian Wendiceratops pinhornensis. The Willner Madge Gallery, Dawn of Life opened in 2021 in the former Peter F. Bronfman Hall, and focuses on the evolution of life in the
Paleozoic from billions of years ago up to the
Late Triassic. It highlights many fossil sites and collections from Canada, such as the
Burgess Shale in British Columbia and
Mistaken Point in Newfoundland and Labrador. The gallery is divided into six sections: "A Very Long Beginning" (
Precambrian), "The Origin of Animals" (
Cambrian Explosion), "The Bustling Seas" (
Ordovician,
Silurian, and
Devonian), "The Green Earth" (Devonian and
Carboniferous, including both the
Mississippian and the
Pennsylvanian subperiods), "Before the Great Dying" (
Permian) and "Dawn of a New Era" (Triassic). Notable specimens include the
Burgess Shale,
orthocones and
sea scorpions and other fossils from
Ontario and the holotype of
Dimetrodon borealis.
World culture The world culture galleries display a wide variety of objects from around the world. These range from
Stone Age implements from
China and
Africa to
20th-century art and design. In July 2011, the museum added to this collection when a number of new permanent galleries were unveiled. Both the
Government of Canada and the Royal Ontario Museum committed $2.75 million toward the project. The galleries are located on the first, third and fourth levels of the museum.
Africa, the Americas, and Asia–Pacific The Shreyas and Mina Ajmera Gallery of Africa, the Americas and
Asia-Pacific features a collection of 1,400 artifacts that reflect the artistic and cultural traditions of the indigenous peoples from four different geographical areas: Africa, the American continents, the Asia-Pacific region and
Oceania. On display are objects such as ceremonial masks, ceramics, and a
shrunken head.
South Asia and Middle East The Sir Christopher Ondaatje South Asian Gallery holds a diverse collection of objects such as decorative art, armour and sculptures that represents the culture of
Indian subcontinent. The gallery has approximately 350 objects that represent over 5,000 years of history. Due to the wide range of history and cultures on display, the gallery is split into numerous different sections—the "Material Remains", "Imagining the Buddha", "Visualizing Divinity", "Passage to Enlightenment", "Courtly Culture", "Cultural Exchange" and "Home and the World". In this gallery, visitors can find the
(Untitled) Blue Lady sculpture by
Mumbai-based artist
Navjot Altaf. to AD 1900 found within the
Fertile Crescent.The Wirth Gallery of the Middle East explores civilizations from the
Palaeolithic Age to AD 1900 found within the
Fertile Crescent, which stretches from the Eastern Mediterranean and
Persia (Iran) and
Mesopotamia (Iraq) to the Arabian Peninsula and the
Levant (Lebanon and Israel). The over 1,000 artifacts relate to the writing, technology, spirituality, everyday life and warfare of the ancient
Sumerians,
Akkadians,
Babylonians, and
Assyrians. These Mesopotamian civilizations made major advances in writing, mathematics, law, medicine and religion, which are represented throughout the gallery, as well as that of the
Achaemenid dynasty of Persia. Pieces from the museum's collection that are featured at the Wirth Gallery of the Middle East include
plastered human skulls made in the Levant . Another notable piece in the gallery is the
Striding Lion, a wall relief from the throne room of King
Nebuchadnezzar II's palace in
Babylon.
Mediterranean and Nile valley The Eaton Gallery of Rome is home to a millennium of
ancient Roman culture. It has the largest collection of classical antiquities in Canada, displaying more than 500 objects that range from marble or painted portraits of historical figures to Roman jewellery. The gallery also features the Bratty Exhibit of
Etruria that sheds some light on the
Etruscans, a neighbouring civilization that was later absorbed by the expanding Rome. The Joey and Toby Tanenbaum Gallery of Rome and the Near East depicts the lifestyle and culture of societies under Roman rule and their influence in the Near East. The same space holds the Joey and Toby Tanenbaum Gallery of Byzantium, covering the history of the
Byzantine Empire from AD 330 to 1453, during which crucial changes took place in early eastern Christianity. There are over 230 artifacts that relate to the dedication of
Constantinople, the
fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Medieval
Crusades and the conquest by the
Ottoman Turks—items such as jewellery, glasswork and coins help to illustrate the vast history of modern-day
Istanbul. s. The Gallery of Africa: Egypt focuses on the life (and the
afterlife) of
Ancient Egyptians. It includes a wide range of artifacts, ranging from agricultural implements, jewellery, cosmetics, funerary furnishings and more. The exhibit includes a number of canopic jars and mummy cases, including the fine gilded and painted
sarcophagus and mummy of
Djedmaatesankh, who was a female musician at the temple of
Amun-
Re in
Thebes; and the mummy of Antjau, who is thought to have been a wealthy landowner. Other items featured in the gallery include the
Book of the Dead of Amen-em-hat, a long scroll from circa 320 BC and the
Bust of Cleopatra from to 30 BC. The
Statue of Sekhmet can also be viewed at the gallery. Depicting
Sekhmet, one of
ancient Egypt's oldest deities, the item dates back to –1325 BC. The Galleries of Africa: Nubia feature a collection of objects that explore the once-flourishing civilization of
Nubia in modern-day
Sudan. The Nubians were the first urban literate society in Africa south of the
Sahara and were Egypt's main rival. The Gallery of the Bronze Age Aegean features over 100 objects that include examples from the
Cycladic,
Minoan,
Mycenaean and
Geometric periods of Ancient Greece. The collection ranges in age from 3200 BC to 700 BC and contains a variety of objects that include a marble head of a female figure and a glass necklace. The Gallery of Greece has a collection of 1,500 artifacts that span the
Archaic,
Classical and
Hellenistic periods. The collection consists of items such as sculptures of
gods, armour and
a coin collection.
Canadian at The Daphne Cockwell Gallery of Canada: First Peoples. The Daphne Cockwell Gallery of Canada: First Peoples provides a look inside the culture of Canada's earliest societies: the
Aboriginal Peoples of Canada. The gallery contains more than 1,000 artifacts that help to reveal the economic and social forces that have influenced Native art. The Royal Ontario Museum holds a major but little-known collection of Northwest Coast native art and artifacts acquired by the Reverend Dr. Richard Whitfield Large at
Bella Bella, British Columbia, between 1899 and 1906 known as the "R. W. Large Collection". Although the collection is one of the most important
Heiltsuk collections in existence because of its unique documentation, there has never been a comprehensive study of it. Subject of the book
Bella Bella: A Season of Heiltsuk Art, the collection was also part of the Kaxlaya Gvilas (Heiltsuk) exhibit put together collaboratively with the
Heiltsuk Nation and the
University of British Columbia. There is also a rotating display of contemporary Native art, an area dedicated to the works of pioneer artist
Paul Kane and a theatre devoted to traditional storytelling. Just outside this gallery, the central staircase winds around the
Nisga'a and Haida Crest Poles. The Sigmund Samuel Gallery of Canada was located on the Weston Family Wing, displaying collections of early Canadian memorabilia, the majority of which is historical decorative and pictorial arts, but also included a number of historical artifacts among other things. The gallery had approximately 560 artifacts on display and covers the period from early European settlement to the beginning of the modern industrial era. The displays are split up into sections to display the strength and weaknesses of the collections reflect the French and British
cultural heritage of Canada. A notable item from the museum's collection that was featured at the Sigmund Samuel Gallery of Canada include
The Death of General Wolfe by
Benjamin West. It closed in 2022.
East Asian The Chinese Galleries comprise four sections: the
Bishop White Gallery of Chinese Temple Art, the Joey and Toby Tanenbaum Gallery of China, the Matthews Family Court of Chinese Sculpture and the ROM Gallery of Chinese Architecture. The Bishop White Gallery of Chinese Temple Art gallery contains three of the world's best-preserved temple wall paintings from the Mongol-ruled
Yuan dynasty (AD 1271–1386) and a number of wooden sculptures depicting various
bodhisattvas from the 12th to 15th centuries. Chinese temple wall paintings featured in this gallery include the
Homage to the Highest Power, a
Daoist wall painting dating to circa 1300 and
Paradise of Maitreya, another Chinese wall temple painting from 1298. The Joey and Toby Tanenbaum Gallery of China consists of approximately 2,500 objects spanning almost 7,000 years of Chinese history. The gallery is divided into five sections: the "T. T. Tsui Exhibit of Prehistory and Bronze Age"; the "Qin and Han Dynasties"; the "Michael C. K. Lo Exhibition of North, South, Sui and Tang"; the "Song, Yuan and Frontier Dynasties"; and the "Ming and Qing Dynasties". Each section focuses on a different period of Chinese history, displaying objects ranging from jade discs to pieces of furniture. on display in the ROM Gallery of Chinese Architecture The Matthews Family Court of Chinese Sculpture has a wide variety of sculptures that span 2,000 years of Chinese sculptural art. It also displays a number of smaller objects that explore the development of religions in China from the 3rd to 19th centuries AD. The gallery features several notable items from the museum's collection, including
Wei Bin's Temple Bell, a ceremonial bell crafted in 1518, and the
companion statues of Kashyapa and Ananda, two statues that originate from the
Tang dynasty. The gallery also features one of the
Yixian glazed pottery luohans, a glazed sculpture that dates to the 11th century AD. The ROM Gallery of Chinese Architecture houses one of the largest collections of
Chinese architectural artifacts outside of China and is the first gallery of Chinese architecture in North America. Artifacts held in the gallery include the
Tomb of General Zu Dashou. The tomb includes an assortment of related artifacts, including the altar, stone burial mound and archway. The gallery holds some spectacular exhibits such as a
reconstruction of an Imperial Palace building from
Beijing's
Forbidden City and a
Ming-era tomb complex. It also holds ink rubbings from Ming-era steles originally located by
a synagogue in
Kaifeng in
Henan province in central China. casket at the Gallery of Korea gallery The Gallery of Korea is the only permanent gallery of
Korean art in Canada, showcasing approximately 260 items from the Korean peninsula. Furniture, ceramics, metalwork, printing technology, painting and decorative arts, dating from the 3rd to 20th centuries AD, illustrate the many accomplishments to Korean culture. The influence of Buddhism on Korean culture is portrayed with two statues, the first being a
śarīra casket, which originated in India and were made to enshrine the remains of a
Buddha or enlightened masters and the second of a tomb guardian. The Herman Herzog Levy Gallery is the primary venue for East Asian exhibitions visiting the museum. The
Portrait of Namjar was previously displayed in the gallery, although it was later removed and taken to storage. The museum also formerly held the Prince Takamado Gallery of Japan, which contained the largest collection of
Japanese artworks in Canada, featuring a rotating display of
ukiyo-e prints and the only tea master collection in North America. Notable pieces of Japanese art featured in the Prince Takamado Gallery of Japan included
Fan print with two bugaku dancers and
Unit 88-9. The gallery was split into a number of different sections, each home to the collection of objects that the name suggests: the "
Toyota Canada Inc. Exhibit of Ukiyo-e Pictures", the "
Sony Exhibit of Painting", the "
Canon Canada Inc. Samurai Exhibit", the "
Mitsui & Co. Canada Tea Ceremony Exhibit", the "Maple Leaf Foods Exhibit of Lacquers" and the "Linamar Corporation Exhibit of Ceramics". The gallery was named in honour of the late Japanese
Prince Takamado (also known as Norihito), who spent several years at
Queen's University in
Kingston, Ontario.
European The Samuel European Galleries have over 4,600 objects on display that chronicle the development of decorative and other arts in Europe from the Middle Ages to the 20th century. The period rooms depict the development of decorative arts in Central and Western Europe by showcasing changes in style during the Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, Neoclassical and Victorian periods. Other specialized collections relating to Culture and Context, Judaica, Art Deco and Arms and Armour are also displayed. At the Samuel European Galleries is the
Earl of Pembroke's Armour. Dating from 1550 to 1570, the
plate armour was crafted for
William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke. Another notable piece from the museum's European collection is the
Otho tazza. The piece was one of 12 tazzas that made up the
Aldobrandini Tazze, a set of Renaissance-era cups that featured Julius Caesar and the first 11
Roman emperors whose lives are described in the AD 121 publication
The Twelve Caesars. ==Special Exhibition galleries==