The National Gallery in London
The National Gallery, London, houses Great Britain's national collection of important paintings. It is located in a prestigious position on the north side of Trafalgar Square, Westminster.
The square celebrates Lord Nelson, the naval hero of the Napoleonic era. To the south-west is The Mall which leads to Buckingham Palace, the official residence of the Head of State. To the south is Whitehall which leads to the Houses of Parliament and Downing Street, the home of the Head of Government. And then there is Westminster Abbey, the national church. The Gallery first opened in 1824 and it houses over 2,300 painting from the mid-13th century to 1900.
Traditionally, works of art had only been found in religious buildings and the homes of wealthy people. However, this began to change in the eighteenth century. More citizens could read. There was more wealth and an increasing interest in political ideas which we would now call democracy. The establishment of the National Gallery went along with the wider social changes of the time.
Today, the collection belongs to the UK government on behalf of the British public and entry to the main collection is free of charge.
Unlike similar museums in continental Europe, the British National Gallery was not formed by nationalising an existing royal or princely art collection. It came into being when the British government bought 38 paintings from the heirs of John Julius Angerstein in 1824, including some by Rembrandt and Raphael. After that initial purchase, the Gallery was shaped mainly by its early directors and by private donations, which now account for two-thirds of the collection. The collection is smaller than many European national galleries, but covers most major developments in Western painting with important works "from Giotto to Cézanne’.
The present building is the third to house the National Gallery and was designed by William Wilkins from 1832 to 1838. The building has been expanded over time since then, including with the addition of the substantial Sainsbury Wing in 1991.
In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic it attracted only 1,197,143 visitors, a drop of 50 percent from 2019, but it still ranked eighth on the list of most-visited art museums in the world.
Virtual Tours of the National Gallery
The National Gallery, London, houses Great Britain's national collection of important paintings. It is located in a prestigious position on the north side of Trafalgar Square, Westminster.
The square celebrates Lord Nelson, the naval hero of the Napoleonic era. To the south-west is The Mall which leads to Buckingham Palace, the official residence of the Head of State. To the south is Whitehall which leads to the Houses of Parliament and Downing Street, the home of the Head of Government. And then there is Westminster Abbey, the national church. The Gallery first opened in 1824 and it houses over 2,300 painting from the mid-13th century to 1900.
Traditionally, works of art had only been found in religious buildings and the homes of wealthy people. However, this began to change in the eighteenth century. More citizens could read. There was more wealth and an increasing interest in political ideas which we would now call democracy. The establishment of the National Gallery went along with the wider social changes of the time.
Today, the collection belongs to the UK government on behalf of the British public and entry to the main collection is free of charge.
Unlike similar museums in continental Europe, the British National Gallery was not formed by nationalising an existing royal or princely art collection. It came into being when the British government bought 38 paintings from the heirs of John Julius Angerstein in 1824, including some by Rembrandt and Raphael. After that initial purchase, the Gallery was shaped mainly by its early directors and by private donations, which now account for two-thirds of the collection. The collection is smaller than many European national galleries, but covers most major developments in Western painting with important works "from Giotto to Cézanne’.
The present building is the third to house the National Gallery and was designed by William Wilkins from 1832 to 1838. The building has been expanded over time since then, including with the addition of the substantial Sainsbury Wing in 1991.
In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic it attracted only 1,197,143 visitors, a drop of 50 percent from 2019, but it still ranked eighth on the list of most-visited art museums in the world.
Virtual Tours of the National Gallery
