Waddesdon Bequest, British Museum

Our favourite free exhibition in London right now is the new Waddesdon Bequest at the British Museum where Renaissance treasures and some astounding Medieval replicas are on display. Left by the wealthy Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild MP in 1898 to the British Museum, history fanatics will enjoy getting to grips with 19th century taste, the nature of collecting and of course the rising market for forgeries. Architecture buffs will also appreciate the design of the room by Stirling Prize winners Stanton Williams and the connection to Rothschild's original Waddesdon Manor. 
Who were the Rothschilds?
The Rothschild family were the crème de la crème of European aristocracy and a vastly wealthy banking dynasty, which amassed an astounding collection of art, sculpture, wooden carvings, miniatures, daggers, ceramics and precious crystals to rival any Royal palace. It's a classic 'rags to riches' story that we love and a curiously blended collection of real masterpieces and questionable fakes. 
Highlights include an imitation of Louis IX King of France's Holy Thorn Reliquary, which once supposedly housed the Crown of Thorns that Christ wore at the Crucifixion. We also recommend looking out for the Cellini Bell coated in tiny lizards and beetles in silver from Nuremberg in 1600, which was previously owned by historian Horace Walpole, and James I's sumptuous diamond-studded locket that was seen as a symbol of his ancestor Brutus, the Trojan warrior that founded the British nation. 
But can you tell the masterpiece from the fake?