The National Gallery, London

The National Gallery Collection contains over 2,300 works, including many famous works, such as van Eyck’s Arnolfini Portrait, Velázquez’s Rokeby Venus, Turner’s Fighting Temeraire and Van Gogh’s Sunflowers.

All major traditions of Western European painting are represented from the artists of late medieval and Renaissance Italy to the French Impressionists.

13th- to 15th-century paintings 

Duccio, Uccello, van Eyck, Lippi, Mantegna, Botticelli, Dürer, Memling, Bellini

Most surviving late medieval pictures are religious, made for altars in churches or for private devotion. Many have exquisitely decorated gold-leaf backgrounds.

In the 15th century, portraits and scenes from ancient history and mythology increased in importance. Realism also affected the treatment of sacred subjects.

Figures were often placed in convincing architectural and landscape settings. Technical advances, such as oil paint, allowed greater subtlety in depicting facial expression and surface textures.

16th-century paintings

Leonardo, Cranach, Michelangelo, Raphael, Holbein, Bruegel, Bronzino, Titian, Veronese

The leading artists of this period achieved a fame that has never diminished. Especially in Italy, Renaissance painters sought to rival and surpass the artists of ancient Greece and Rome.

Portraitists were highly prized and pictures of ancient history and mythology became almost as important as Christian subjects. Paintings were appreciated for their artistry as much as for their subject matter, and often placed in specially created galleries.

17th-century paintings

Caravaggio, Rubens, Poussin, Van Dyck, Velázquez, Claude, Rembrandt, Cuyp, Vermeer

While some artists of this period looked to the art of the past for inspiration, they always imparted their own style, from the flamboyant to the austere. Religious subjects were treated in novel ways to engage the emotions of the viewer.

In the Netherlands, specialist painters of still lifes, landscapes and scenes of everyday life – from elegant social gatherings to lively scenes in taverns – enjoyed great popularity.

18th- to early 20th-century paintings

Canaletto, Goya, Turner, Constable, Ingres, Degas, Cézanne, Monet, Van Gogh

Although the production of grand paintings for churches and palaces continued, it became more common for artists to paint smaller works that were exhibited and sold through art dealers and public exhibitions.

In the 19th century, art movements (loose associations of artists working in a similar style) emerged, as did the idea of the independent artist who rebelled against the official art establishment.

Opening information

Open daily from 10am - 6pm, fridays 10am - 9pm

Top exhibits

• 

  The Annuciation

  This painting in the National Gallery in London, is part of the Maesta Predella Panels.

  Painting, 14th century

  Duccio di Buoninsegna
• 

  Jesus Opens the Eyes of a Man Born Blind

  This painting in the National Gallery in London, is part of the Maesta Predella Panels.

  Painting, 14th century

  Duccio di Buoninsegna
• 

  The Transfiguration

  This painting by Duccio in the National Gallery in London, is part of the Maesta Predella Panels.

  Painting, 14th century

  Duccio di Buoninsegna

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