The National Gallery in London displays over 2,300 pieces of Western European art from the 1200s to the 1800s, including works by famous artists such as da Vinci and van Gogh. The gallery was founded in 1826 by two men and is located in Trafalgar Square. Admission is free, and the collection includes sculptures and mosaics. During WWII, the paintings were moved to various locations in Wales and hidden in caves and quarries.
The National Gallery, a free art museum in London, offers guests the opportunity to view a wide variety of Western European art spanning seven centuries, created by master painters from the 1200s to the 1800s. The gallery features 2,300 pieces, including paintings by Vincent van Gogh, Sandro Botticelli, Thomas Gainsborough, Rembrandt van Rijn, Peter Paul Rubens, Hans Holbein, Claude Monet, Georges Seurat, Paul Cezanne, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Gauguin and Leonardo da Vinci. The collection covers the major eras of European art, including French Impressionism and the Italian Renaissance.
The gallery’s collection began with collections amassed by two men, John Julius Angerstein, a banker, and Sir George Beaumont, a painter. Sir George Beaumont’s gift was made with the provision that the paintings should receive proper care and a house in which to display them. All of the paintings were housed in Pall Mall at the home of John Julius Angerstein in 1826, and 12 years later they were exhibited in Trafalgar Square at the newly built National Gallery. The need for a new art gallery arose because the banker’s house was criticized as unsuitable due to its small size. It wasn’t a small house, but it was too small for the national art gallery.
The National Gallery occupies the site formerly occupied by the Royal Mews, also known as the King’s Stables, a large stable for the royal horses. The decision to locate the new building in Trafalgar Square, plus the gallery’s decision not to charge admission, ensured the National Gallery met its target of access for all. The wealthy could reach Trafalgar Square by carriage, and the city’s lower class could walk to its gates in the heart of London. The National Gallery has always had an educational ulterior motive and students are encouraged to study and copy the masterpieces in the collection.
Sculptures and mosaics are also featured in the National Gallery. Three mosaics by Boris Anrep are in the main hall and at the entrance to the porch. Underfoot in the entrance to the main hall is a mosaic of the mythological muses. Boris Anrep worked on the mosaics from 1928 to 1952 and in all the colorful creations he included the likenesses of famous people of the time, including Greta Garbo, Winston Churchill and Virginia Woolf.
During the Second World War, when Germany bombed London, the National Gallery drew up a plan to eliminate some of the artworks for security reasons. The paintings were shipped to various locations in Wales including Caernarvon Castle, the National Library of Wales and the University of North Wales. Some paintings have also been hidden in Gloucestershire. As the war worsened, concerns about hidden artworks increased. A plan to send them to Canada was scrapped, with Winston Churchill deciding on a better hiding place: caves and quarries, with purpose-built shelters accompanying them.
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