Description of the attraction
The National Gallery is an art museum in London that houses over 2,300 masterpieces of Western European painting from the mid-13th century to 1900. Compared to other similar museums - the Louvre in Paris or the Prado in Madrid - the London Gallery cannot boast of such rich collections. But unlike them, it is not based on a collection of paintings from the royal palace. The royal collection of paintings is still privately owned by British monarchs, and paintings for the National Gallery were bought and assembled on purpose, which made it possible to present in chronological order all the main movements of European painting, albeit not extensively, but completely.
At the end of the 18th century, many art collections that belonged to the royal courts of Europe were transferred to national ownership - for example, the Old Pinakothek in Munich or the Uffizi Gallery in Florence appeared. The need to create a national art museum was also understood in Great Britain. When the opportunity to buy a collection of paintings by Sir Robert Walpole appeared in 1777, this issue was discussed in Parliament, but the decision to purchase was not made, and 20 years later this collection, bought by Catherine II, formed the basis of the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. And only in 1823, when the collection of John Ungerstine (a banker, a native of Russia) was put up for auction, was the decision to buy it made.
The collection consisted of 38 paintings, including works by Raphael and Hogarth. At first they were exhibited in the Angerstine house, but as the collection expanded, the need arose for a new, more spacious room. Architect William Wilkins built a new building for the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, on the border of the respectable West End and the impoverished neighborhoods to the east. A parliamentary decree of 1857 stated: "The ultimate goal of the gallery is not just to collect paintings, but to give people the opportunity to ennoble their pastime."
The collection grew rapidly, and many paintings were bought by the gallery's first director, Sir Charles Eastlake. He also bequeathed his personal collection to the gallery. The works of British artists were exhibited at the National Gallery for a time, but were soon moved to the Tate Gallery, which specialized in British painting.
During World War II, the paintings were taken to a hideout in Wales, but every month one of the paintings was returned to London and exhibited in the empty halls of the gallery. In 1945, the paintings returned to London.
The collection of the National Gallery includes such artists as Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian, Caravaggio, Rubens, Velazquez, Rembrandt and many others.
