Main Info
This tour is a two hour tour with an expert guide. The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. Its collection belongs to the government on behalf of the British public, and is among the most visited art museums in the world, after the Louvre, the British Museum, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
| Departure | Group Entrance of the National Gallery |
| Departure Time | 10 AM for morning slots / 3 PM is for afternoon slots |
| Return Time | 12 PM for morning slots / 5 PM is for afternoon slots |
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Itinerary
Unlike other famous museums in continental Europe, the National Gallery was formed when the British government bought 38 paintings from the heirs of John Julius Angerstein in 1824. After that the Gallery exhibits increased by its early directors, notably Sir Charles Lock Eastlake, and by private donations, which today account for two-thirds of the collection. Although the collection is relatively small, it contains the most major developments in Western painting "from Giotto to Cézanne" being represented with important works. The present building, the third to house the National Gallery, was designed by William Wilkins from 1832 to 1838. Only the façade onto Trafalgar Square remains essentially unchanged from this time, as the building has been expanded piecemeal throughout its history. Wilkins's building was often criticised for the perceived weaknesses of its design and for its lack of space; the latter problem led to the establishment of the Tate Gallery for British art in 1897. The National Gallery houses Britain's greatest art collection - with 2,400 paintings spanning 500 years of European art history including works by Botticelli, Michelangelo, Rubens, Titian, Van Gough, Manet and Monet and includes Van Eyck's masterful oil The Arnolfini Portrait, with its mysterious symbols. You can also see works by the renowned Florentine artist Botticelli as well as Bronzini's sensual Venus and Cupid, with its messages of love, Leonardo's Madonna of the Rocks and the great works of Raphael. You can see the life of Rembrandt in one of the finest collections of paintings by the Dutch master outside Holland, and then look at the great British painters: Constable's most famous work the Haywain, and recently voted the nation's favourite painting - Turner's Fighting Temeraire.
