Description

Essentials about the National Gallery in brief

Prominently located at the northern end of Trafalgar Square in the heart of London, the National Gallery is also one of the most comprehensive and important painting galleries in the world. The collection of paintings on display includes some 2,300 works from the 13th to the 19th centuries, among them many international masterpieces. Not surprisingly, the National Gallery is the fourth most visited art museum in the world after the Louvre in Paris, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and the British Museum in London, with over six million visitors annually.

The history of the National Gallery

The museum was founded in 1824, but unlike most other art museums in Europe, the foundation of the National Gallery was not laid by the nationalization of an existing art collection, but by the purchase of 38 paintings from a private estate by the British government. In the years that followed, the bulk of the collections came together through donations and bequests.

The collection of the National Gallery

Compared to other art collections, the National Gallery’s collection is relatively small, but its many masterpieces by artists such as Botticelli, da Vinci, Giotto, Rembrandt, Turner, Renoir, Van Gogh and Cézanne make it one of the most important painting galleries in the world. So not only art lovers will enjoy a visit to the National Gallery.

Website

nationalgallery.org.uk

Opening hours

Admission fees

Free.

Address

Getting there

By public transport:

Bakerloo and Northern line: Stop Charing Cross

Northern and Piccadilly line: Stop Leicester Square

Bus lines 12, 88, 159, 453, N3, N18, N97, N109 and N136: Stop Trafalgar Square (Stop A)

Bus lines 6, 9, 139, N9, N15, N113 and N550: Stop Trafalgar Square (Stop B)

Bus lines 24, 29, 176, N5, N20, N29, N41 and N279: Stop Trafalgar Square (Stop C)

Bus lines 24, N5 and N20: Stop Trafalgar Square (Stop D)

Bus lines 15, 91, N11, N15, N91 and N550: Stop Trafalgar Square (Stop F)

Bus lines 139, 176, N21, N89 and N199: Stop Trafalgar Square (Stop G)

Bus lines 87, 91, 748, N11, N87, N91 and N155: Stop Trafalgar Square (Stop K)

Bus lines 6, 9, N9, N18 and N97: Stop Trafalgar Square (Stop S)

Bus lines 12, 88, 139, 159, 453, N3, N15, N109, N113 and N136: Stop Trafalgar Square (Stop T)

Bus lines 91, N91 and N97: Stop Trafalgar Square (Stop X)

By car:

The nearest parking garages are Q-Park Trafalger and Q-Park Leicester Square.