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Happy Birthday to the National Gallery which is celebrating its bicentenary today!
Tonight it will mark this milestone by hosting a spectacular light show across the front of the building (which will be repeated tomorrow).
Programme of NG200 events
The Gallery has devised a fantastic schedule of events for the coming weeks with activities for all ages and interests. The programme includes craft workshops, talks, tours, a book club and courses. Do take a look at their website for full details and to book.
Did you know?
- The Gallery houses more than 2,300 paintings.
- Its collection contains works from the mid thirteenth century to 1900.
- The National Gallery was originally located at 100 Pall Mall.
- The present building was designed by William Wilkins.
- The postmodern Sainsbury Wing was completed in 1991.
- During the Second World War, the paintings were evacuated to a quarry in Wales.
- In 1961, Kempton Bunton stole Goya’s Portrait of the Duke of Wellington which he voluntarily returned four years later.
Highlights of the collection
Some of the most noted works in the Gallery’s collection include:
- Arnolfini Portrait (Jan van Eyck)
- The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and John the Baptist (Leonardo da Vinci)
- Bacchus and Ariadne (Titian)
- Supper at Emmaus (Caravaggio)
- Whistlejacket (George Stubbs)
- The Fighting Temeraire (J M W Turner)
- The Hay Wain (John Constable)
- Sunflowers (Vincent Van Gogh)
- Bathers at Asnières (Georges Seurat)
Planning your visit
The National Gallery is open every day from 10am to 6pm. Entry is free.
Getting there
The National Gallery is located in Trafalgar Square; it’s a 23 minute walk from Hertford Street, taking you along Piccadilly. Alternatively, you can travel there on the Piccadilly line from Green Park to Leicester Square.