National Gallery

National Gallery, London, one of the permanent national art collections of Great Britain. Its building, in Greek style, stands in Trafalgar Square. It was designed and erected (1832–38) by William Wilkins and was shared for 30 years with the Royal Academy of Arts. In 1876 a new wing was added, designed by E. M. Barry. The nucleus of the collection was formed in 1824 with 38 pictures from J. J. Angerstein's collection. The gallery is rich in Italian paintings of the 15th and 16th cent. and has fine collections of French, Flemish, and Dutch masters. The National Portrait Gallery, whose collection dates from 1858, has adjoined the National Gallery since 1896. The Sainsbury Wing, designed by American architect Robert Venturi, opened in 1991. Originally controlled by the National Gallery, the Tate Gallery attained complete independence in 1955 by an act of Parliament. An extension designed by Robert Venturi was completed in the early 1990s.

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National Gallery 

in London, one of the world’s best collections of 18th- and 19th-century Western European painting. It was founded in 1824, based on the collection of J. J. Angerstein.

The National Gallery has works by Duccio, Paolo Uccello, Piero della Francesca, and C. Crivelli. The gallery houses such masterpieces as Giovanni Bellini’s The Doge Leonardo Loredan Full-face; Leonardo da Vinci’s cartoon St. Anne and The Virgin of the Rocks; Titian’s Portrait of a Man, The Death of Actaeon, and Madonna and Child; G. B. Moroni’s The Tailor; J. van Eyck’s Wedding Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and JeanneCenami; H. Holbein the Younger’s Christina of Denmark, Duchess of Milan and French Ambassadors; Rembrandt’s A Woman Bathing in a Stream; P. de Hooch’s Courtyard of a House in Delft; M. Hobbema’s The Avenue at Middelharnis;

D. Velásquez’ The Toilet of Venus; T. Gainsborough’s Mrs. Sid-dons and The Morning Walk; W. Hogarth’s The Shrimp Girl, J. Constable’s The Haywain; P. Cézanne’s large painting The Bathers; J. Seurat’s The Bathers; and van Gogh’s The Sunflowers.

The present classical-style building of the National Gallery was constructed in the 1830’s according to a design by W. Wilkins.

REFERENCES

Kuznetsova, I. Natsional’naia galereia: London (album). Moscow [1971].
Hendy, P. The National Gallery London. London [1960].