National Gallery di Londra: guida alla visita

La National Gallery in London has about 2,300 paintings. Although there are larger collections in Europe, its value lies in having an encyclopedic collection that covers the period from the 13th century to the early 20th century. All the major artists are represented, sometimes with works so significant that they are also included in art history textbooks.

This proposal allows you to visit the museum through fourteen of the most famous and significant works, to have an overall view of the main moments in the history of Western painting.

National Gallery: the origins

The National Gallery in London was established in 1824 with a unique history. At the end of the 18th century, royal collections throughout Europe were being nationalized in various states: for example, the French royal collection was the origin of the Louvre. The English monarchs did not follow this trend and preferred to retain full ownership of their collection. However, intellectuals and politicians felt the need to create a collection that could serve to educate the public. The opportunity arose with the acquisition, by the English government, of thirty-eight paintings from the heirs of the entrepreneur John Julius Angerstein. From there the collection expanded to count, today, about 2,300 works.

To build the museum, Trafalgar Square was chosen: while it would have been more functional to place the building in the South Kensington museum district, the choice to display the collection near centers of power (Buckingham Palace and the Parliament) has a specific political meaning. However, space has always been limited, and the building has undergone several modifications, in line with the growth of the collection. The latest extension is the Sainsbury Wing, where our visit begins.

National Gallery: the period from 1200 to 1500

Battle of San Romano by Paolo Uccello

Religious painting is the main subject of the first rooms, and in this context Paolo Uccello, with his Battle of San Romano, constitutes an exception. In fact, it is a work intended for a commission from the Florentine merchant bourgeoisie of the Quattrocento. The painting was part of a series of three paintings (the other two are exhibited at the Louvre and the Uffizi) in which, more than traditionally representing the battle, the aim is to emphasize the victory of Florence and the figure of the condottiero Niccolò da Tolentino. What characterizes the art of Paolo Uccello is the research into perspective, which had been discovered by artists in this period and is experimented here with the grid of broken lances on the ground.

The Baptism of Christ by Piero della Francesca

The Room 61 is dedicated to two great masters of the Quattrocento: Raphael and Piero della Francesca, whom Raphael himself admired for the great ability to integrate geometric rhythms with nature. It is no coincidence that Piero della Francesca was also a mathematician. The Baptism of Christ is the oldest of the few surviving works by this artist. In it, mathematical principles are used both to harmoniously balance the composition and to create perspective effects. The landscape in which the scene is inserted is that of Borgo Sansepolcro, where the work was intended: in this way, the spectators were directly involved in the evangelical episode.

The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan Van Eyck

Among the foreign works of this period, the famous The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan Van Eyck stands out, the first Dutch work acquired by the National Gallery. It is an enigmatic painting, showing the wealth of the couple, but without too much ostentation. The most mysterious element is the image reflected in the mirror, in which two men are seen entering the room. The presence, above the mirror, of the inscription “Jan Van Eyck was here. 1443” may suggest that the two men are precisely the painter and his assistant.

The Virgin of the Rocks by Leonardo da Vinci

The visit in the Sainsbury Wing concludes, in Room 66, with the most famous Virgin of the Rocks by Leonardo da Vinci. The work had been commissioned by the Sforza family of Milan at a time when there was a heated debate about the Immaculate Conception. Supporters of the doctrine affirmed that Mary was created by God before the creation of the world and therefore before original sin. Hence the choice of the primitive landscape, made of only rocks, where even the few flowers that appear do not exist in nature, they are invented. In this painting, Leonardo also applies his studies on aerial perspective and the differences in color perception based on the observer’s distance.

National Gallery: the 1500s

The 1500s is the century of the Lutheran Reformation, which in the Germanic countries led to a drastic reduction in religious-themed painting and a consequent increase in portraits.

The Ambassadors by Hans Holbein the Younger

Thus Hans Holbein the Younger moved to London to become the court painter of Henry VIII. The National Gallery houses the famous painting The Ambassadors: it is a double portrait of the French ambassador Dinteville and the bishop of Lavaur. The painting is full of symbols related to politics and religion, represented by the objects placed on the table. Images from this era often carried more or less explicit messages about the fragility of life. Here the memento mori is represented by the strange drawing at the bottom where, looking from the right side, a skull appears.

The sixteenth century is a great century for Italian art. The papal court allowed Michelangelo and Raphael to develop their magnificent art. But cities like Venice, Ferrara, and Bologna also nurtured prominent artists. Titian is one of these, and is represented at the National Gallery with numerous works, including Bacchus and Ariadne. The painting depicts the moment of falling in love between the two characters, with Ariadne just abandoned at Naxos and Bacchus returning from India, accompanied by his varied retinue. The mastery in the use of the best pigments available at the time and the narrative composition have made it a very famous work, a model for many others with the same subject.

Bacchus and Ariadne by Titian