National Gallery facts for kids
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Trafalgar Square façade
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| Established | 1824 |
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| Location | Trafalgar Square, London, England, United Kingdom |
| Type | Art museum |
| Visitors | 6,011,007 (2019) ranked 3rd nationally (2019) |
| Public transit access |  Charing Cross Charing CrossDetailed information below |
The National Gallery is a famous art museum located in Trafalgar Square in London, England. It opened in 1824 and is home to more than 2,300 paintings. These artworks date from the mid-1200s all the way up to 1900.
What makes the National Gallery special is that it's free to enter! The collection belongs to the British public. In 2019, over 6 million people visited the gallery. Even during the 2020 pandemic, it was still one of the most visited art museums in the world.
Unlike many other big European museums, the National Gallery didn't start with a royal art collection. It began when the British government bought 38 paintings from a man named John Julius Angerstein in 1824. Over time, the collection grew thanks to early directors and many generous private donations. Today, two-thirds of the artworks came from these gifts.
The gallery's collection might be smaller than some others, but it covers a huge range of Western painting. You can see important works from artists like Giotto to Cézanne. The main building was designed by William Wilkins and opened in 1838. It has been expanded many times since then.
The Sainsbury Wing, added in 1991, is a modern extension. It was designed by Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown. The current director of the National Gallery is Gabriele Finaldi.
Contents
History of the National Gallery
How the Gallery Began
In the late 1700s, many countries in Europe started opening their royal art collections to the public. For example, the Uffizi Gallery in Florence opened around 1789. The Louvre Museum in Paris opened in 1793.
However, Britain didn't follow this trend right away. The British Royal Collection still belongs to the King or Queen today. In 1777, the government had a chance to buy a huge art collection from Sir Robert Walpole. But they didn't, and it was later bought by Catherine the Great for the Hermitage Museum in Russia.
Another chance came in 1798 with the Orléans collection. But that also didn't work out. In 1799, an art dealer named Noel Desenfans offered a ready-made national collection. He had put it together for the King of Poland. This offer was also turned down. The collection eventually went to Dulwich College, opening as the Dulwich Picture Gallery in 1814.
Many artists, like James Barry, kept asking for a National Gallery. They believed British artists needed to see famous European paintings to improve their own work. A group of wealthy art lovers created the British Institution in 1805. They lent paintings for exhibitions and ran an art school.
Finally, in 1823, a big art collection owned by John Julius Angerstein became available. It had 38 paintings, including works by Raphael and Hogarth. A politician named George Agar Ellis suggested the government buy it. Sir George Beaumont, a founding member of the British Institution, also offered to donate 16 paintings.
Beaumont had two conditions for his gift. First, the government had to buy Angerstein's collection. Second, a suitable building had to be found for the art. When Austria repaid a war debt, the British government finally had the money. They bought Angerstein's collection for £57,000.
Opening and Early Years
The National Gallery first opened its doors to the public on May 10, 1824. It was housed in Angerstein's old home at 100 Pall Mall. Beaumont's paintings were added in 1826. In 1831, the Reverend William Holwell Carr left 35 more paintings to the gallery.
The Pall Mall building quickly became too small and crowded. It was also very hot inside. People felt embarrassed that it was so tiny compared to the Louvre Museum in Paris. However, the location was seen as important. It was "in the very gangway of London," meaning many people could easily visit.
In 1832, construction began on a new building. It was designed by William Wilkins in Trafalgar Square. This location was chosen because it was between the rich West End and poorer areas to the east. This meant people from all walks of life could visit. The idea was that the paintings would give people "an ennobling enjoyment."
From 1837 to 1868, the Royal Academy also shared the east wing of the new building.
Growing the Collection
For its first 30 years, the National Gallery mainly bought Italian paintings from the 1400s and 1500s. The gallery's leaders were very traditional in their tastes. This meant they missed chances to buy other important artworks. Between 1847 and 1850, no new paintings were bought at all.
In 1851, a report from the House of Commons suggested hiring a director. This person would have more power than the trustees. Sir Charles Lock Eastlake, who was the Keeper of Paintings, got the job. He was also the President of the Royal Academy.
Eastlake loved early Italian and Northern European Renaissance art. These artists, sometimes called "primitives," had been overlooked. Eastlake traveled to Europe every year, especially Italy, to find paintings for the gallery. He bought 148 paintings from abroad and 46 in Britain. These included famous works like Paolo Uccello's Battle of San Romano.
The gallery still didn't have enough space. In 1845, Robert Vernon left a large collection of British paintings. There wasn't room in the Wilkins building, so they were shown elsewhere. Even more art came when J. M. W. Turner left all his finished works to the nation in 1851.
The third director, Sir Frederick William Burton, started the collection of 18th-century art. He made some amazing purchases from private English collections. In 1885, the gallery bought two paintings from Blenheim Palace. These were Raphael's Ansidei Madonna and Van Dyck's Equestrian Portrait of Charles I. This cost a record £87,500.
This huge purchase meant the gallery's yearly buying money was stopped for several years. In 1890, when the gallery bought Holbein's Ambassadors, it had to ask private people for help. In 1897, the Tate Gallery was formed for British art. This allowed some British artworks to be moved there, making more space in the National Gallery.
Early 1900s Changes
Around 1900, many rich families had to sell their paintings. But American millionaires often outbid British museums. This led to the creation of the National Art Collections Fund. This group helped buy artworks to keep them in Britain. Their first purchase for the National Gallery was Velázquez's Rokeby Venus in 1906.
The early 1900s also saw many great gifts from private collectors. In 1909, Dr Ludwig Mond gave 42 Italian Renaissance paintings, including Raphael's Mond Crucifixion. Other important gifts came from George Salting in 1910 and Austen Henry Layard in 1916.
On March 10, 1914, the Rokeby Venus was damaged by Mary Richardson. She was a campaigner for women's suffrage (the right for women to vote). She did this to protest the arrest of Emmeline Pankhurst. Later that month, another suffragette attacked five Bellini paintings. The gallery closed until World War I began.
The gallery's acceptance of Impressionist art was difficult at first. In 1906, Sir Hugh Lane promised 39 paintings, including Renoir's Umbrellas. He said they would go to the National Gallery unless a suitable building was built in Dublin. The gallery's trustees were very against showing modern French art.
Lane changed his will to say the works should only go to Ireland. But this change was never officially witnessed. Lane died in 1915 on the RMS Lusitania. A long dispute followed, which wasn't solved until 1959. Now, some of the collection is on loan to the Dublin City Gallery. Other works travel between London and Dublin every few years.
In 1923, a fund started by Samuel Courtauld bought modern paintings. These included Seurat's Bathers at Asnières. These works were moved to the National Gallery from the Tate in 1934.
World War II and Beyond
Just before World War II began, the paintings were moved to safe places in Wales. In 1940, as the war got worse, there was talk of moving them to Canada. But Winston Churchill strongly disagreed. He said, "bury them in caves or in cellars, but not a picture shall leave these islands."
So, a slate quarry in Manod, North Wales, was used to store the paintings. This secret location helped the gallery's experts study the collection. It also showed how important it was to keep paintings at a constant temperature and humidity. This led to the first air-conditioned gallery opening in 1949.
During the war, the empty gallery building held daily lunchtime concerts. These were given by musicians like Myra Hess to boost public spirits. The gallery also held art exhibitions, including works by war artists. In 1941, the "Picture of the Month" scheme started. One painting was brought from Manod each month to be shown to the public. The paintings returned to Trafalgar Square in 1945.
After the war, buying new art became very hard. Prices for old master paintings and Impressionist works soared. Many important purchases, like Leonardo da Vinci's The Virgin and Child with St. Anne and St. John the Baptist (1962), needed big public fundraising efforts.
In 1985, the gallery received a huge gift of £50 million from Sir Paul Getty. This allowed for many major purchases. Also in 1985, Lord Sainsbury and his brothers donated money for the Sainsbury Wing.
The director Neil MacGregor changed how paintings were displayed. Instead of grouping them by country, they were arranged in time order. This showed how different cultures influenced art. The gallery also started restoring its old Victorian interiors.
Since 1989, the gallery has had a program for contemporary artists. They get a studio to create new work inspired by the collection. They are called "associate artists" for two years and then have an exhibition.
In 1996, the roles of the National Gallery and the Tate Gallery were made clearer. The National Gallery would focus on paintings made before 1900. More than 60 post-1900 paintings were moved to the Tate.
In the 21st century, the gallery has had big fundraising campaigns. These helped buy famous works like Raphael’s Madonna of the Pinks (2004) and Titian's Diana and Actaeon (2008). The National Gallery now often needs public support to buy very expensive old master paintings.
In 2014, a documentary film was made about the National Gallery. It showed how the gallery staff work, the conservation lab, and how exhibitions are put together.
Building the National Gallery
William Wilkins's Design
| National Gallery | |
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The Wilkins Building, with the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields to the right
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| Built | 1832–8 |
| Architect | William Wilkins |
| Architectural style(s) | Neoclassical |
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Listed Building – Grade I
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| Official name: National Gallery | |
| Designated | 5 February 1970 |
| Reference no. | 1066236 |
The idea for a National Gallery in Trafalgar Square first came from John Nash. He imagined it on the site of the King's Mews. However, money problems stopped his plan. A competition was held in 1831, and William Wilkins won the job.
Wilkins wanted to build a "Temple of the Arts." But the project had many budget cuts and compromises. The finished building was often criticized. The site only allowed the building to be one room deep. This was because a workhouse and barracks were right behind it. There was also a public path through the site.
The building used columns from the old Carlton House. These columns were short, making the building look too low. The sculptures on the front were also recycled from another project. The eastern half of the building housed the Royal Academy until 1868. This made the space even smaller for the National Gallery.
People made fun of the building even before it was finished. One writer called it a "nasty little pokey hole." Another called it "a little gin shop of a building." In 1840, Charles Barry added a north terrace to Trafalgar Square. This made the building look taller, which helped with some of the complaints.
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The front of the National Gallery in 2013.
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A plan of Wilkins's building before it was expanded.
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A plan of the first floor of the National Gallery in 2013.
Changes and Expansions
The first big change to the building was a long gallery added by Sir James Pennethorne in 1860–1. It was very decorated. But it made the building even more crowded because it was built over the original entrance hall. Many people wanted to completely rebuild the gallery or move it to Kensington.
In 1867, Edward Middleton Barry suggested replacing the Wilkins building. He wanted a huge classical building with four domes. This plan failed. Critics said the outside looked too much like St Paul's Cathedral.
However, Barry was able to build the gallery's first grand spaces from 1872 to 1876. These "Barry Rooms" were built in a colorful Neo-Renaissance style. They were arranged around a large central octagon. Gallery staff didn't like them much. They felt the grand design didn't fit a museum.
The decorations in the rooms also didn't match the paintings. For example, the ceiling of the Italian gallery had names of 19th-century British artists. But despite these issues, the Barry Rooms gave the gallery a strong, clear layout. All later additions followed this design, making the building very symmetrical.
Pennethorne's gallery was taken down for the next building phase. This was a plan by Sir John Taylor that extended north from the main entrance. Its glass-domed entrance hall had painted ceiling decorations. A large painting by Frederic, Lord Leighton is now on one wall.
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The Barry Rooms (1872–76), designed by Edward Middleton Barry.
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The dome of Room 34, the central octagon of the Barry Rooms.
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The Staircase Hall, designed by Sir John Taylor in 1884–7.
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The dome of the Staircase Hall.
Modern Changes and Restoration
Later additions to the west side kept the building's consistent look. They matched Barry's design on the east. Dark marble was used for doorcases, making the new parts blend with the old. The classical style was still used in 1929 when a new gallery was built.
However, in the 1900s, the gallery's Victorian interiors became unfashionable. Some ceiling decorations were painted over with white paint. The North Galleries, which opened in 1975, brought modernist design to the National Gallery. Old rooms were changed to create simple settings for the paintings.
But the gallery's interest in modernism didn't last long. By the 1980s, Victorian style was popular again. A program began to restore the 19th and early 20th-century interiors. This started with the Barry Rooms in 1985–6. Even the North Galleries were remodeled in a simpler classical style from 1996 to 1999.
Sainsbury Wing and Future Plans
The most important recent addition is the Sainsbury Wing. It was designed by Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown and built in 1991. This wing holds the collection of Renaissance paintings. It was built on the site of a department store that was destroyed during the Blitz in World War II.
The gallery had wanted to expand into this space for a long time. In 1982, a competition was held to find an architect. One design was called a "monstrous carbuncle" by the Prince of Wales (now King Charles III). This term is now used for modern buildings that clash with their surroundings.
A new competition was held. In 1985, Lord Sainsbury and his brothers donated almost £50 million. This allowed the new wing to be used entirely for the gallery.
Unlike the main building's rich decorations, the Sainsbury Wing galleries are simpler and more intimate. This suits the smaller size of many Renaissance paintings. The northern galleries line up with Barry's central axis. This creates a long view down the entire gallery.
The design uses false perspective, making the columns seem to get smaller. This draws your eye to the end point, which is an altarpiece by Cima. Venturi's design includes styles from many different buildings, like old clubs, the Scala Regia in the Vatican, and even ancient Egyptian temples.
After Trafalgar Square became pedestrian-only, the gallery started a plan to turn old office space into public areas. They also gained land from the National Portrait Gallery. The first part of this plan, the East Wing Project, opened in 2004. It created a new entrance from Trafalgar Square, named after Sir Paul Getty. The main entrance was also updated in 2005.
Future plans might include a "West Wing Project" and opening some smaller rooms. No timeline has been announced for these projects yet.
Collection highlights
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Jan van Eyck,
The Arnolfini Portrait -
Leonardo da Vinci,
The Virgin of the Rocks -
Hans Holbein,
The Ambassadors -
J. M. W. Turner,
The Fighting Temeraire -
Vincent van Gogh,
Sunflowers
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Transport connections
| Service | Station/Stop | Lines/Routes served | Distance from National Gallery |
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London Buses  |
Trafalgar Square / Charing Cross Station  |
24, 29, 176 | |
| Trafalgar Square |
6, 9, 13, 15,139 | ||
| Trafalgar Square / Charing Cross Station |
3, 12, 88, 159, 453 | ||
| Trafalgar Square |
3, 6, 12, 13, 15, 23, 88, 139, 159, 453 | ||
| London Underground |
Charing Cross |   |
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| Embankment |   |
0.3-mile walk | |
| National Rail |
Charing Cross |
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0.2-mile walk |
Images for kids
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The Baptism of Christ by Piero della Francesca, one of Eastlake's purchases
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See also
In Spanish: National Gallery para niños
