Housed in a handsome Italianate mansion just south of Old Sacramento, this venerable institution opened its doors in 1872 as the West's first public art museum. The California Gallery (2nd floor) is devoted to 19C California landscape painters. The museum's most famous single work, Charles Nahl's often-reproduced Sunday Morning in the Mines (1872), hangs in the adjoining foyer. The original three-story structure at 3rd and O Streets was commissioned by Judge Edwin Bryant Crocker to serve as a showcase for his collection of some 700 paintings, many by 19C German and American artists. In his lifetime, Crocker also amassed a fine collection of more than 1,200 European Old Master drawings, selections of which are occasionally displayed. To accommodate the growing collection, the museum expanded into the adjoining Crocker residence (1850s) in the late 19C. In the 1960s, modern glass and concrete wings, which contrast sharply with the elegant lines of the 19C buildings, were added to display temporary exhibits.The mansion's splendidly restored interior features decorative woodwork, ornate ceilings, stencilwork and tile floors.