National Gallery

National Gallery The story of European art, masterpiece by masterpiece. We collect and care for the nation’s paintings and we share them with the world.
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Are these two paintings 'marriage portraits'? 🤔❤️ Giovanni Battista Moroni was one of the most famous North Italian port...
18/06/2026

Are these two paintings 'marriage portraits'? 🤔❤️

Giovanni Battista Moroni was one of the most famous North Italian portrait specialists of the 16th century and painted for some of the wealthiest and most influential people in Europe. His portrait, ‘La Dama in Rosso’('the lady in red') is thought to be of Contessa Lucia, the daughter of the Bergamask nobleman Giangirolamo Albani and the Venetian aristocrat Laura Longhi. She was married to her kinsman Faustino Avogadro of Brescia in 1550, who is thought to be the man portrayed in ‘A Knight with his Jousting Helmet’, also painted by Moroni.

It might be expected that portraits of a husband and wife by the same artist in the same collection would be similar in appearance. In fact, the two pictures are different in size and their settings have nothing in common. The sitters do not look towards each other, as is usual in pendant portraits of a husband and wife, but both are turned to the right, their eyes meeting ours. It is unlikely that these two portraits were intended to be displayed as a pair or could be regarded as marriage portraits. Instead, they each present the couple as individuals in their own right.

Find out more about the portraits here: https://bit.ly/4gse2It

17/06/2026

How do paintings like Van Gogh's 'Sunflowers' make you feel? 🌻

Step into a vibrant celebration of creativity this summer ✨Our free exhibition, 'Take One Picture 2026', is open in the ...
16/06/2026

Step into a vibrant celebration of creativity this summer ✨

Our free exhibition, 'Take One Picture 2026', is open in the Roden Centre for Creative Learning! As part of our annual Take One Picture programme, children from across the UK have reimagined Canaletto's ‘A Regatta on the Grand Canal' in new and imaginative ways.

This exhibition features a wide range of projects, each sparked by the children's own questions and ideas about the painting. Who will win the race? What’s under the water? An why do the boats look like dragons? Visit the exhibition to find out the answers!

Find out more: https://bit.ly/4uqfdLQ

Thanks to our sponsors Columbia Threadneedle Investments and to Columbia Threadneedle Foundation and the other supporters of the programme.

15/06/2026

Who was Bono da Ferrara and what hidden ‘quirks’ lie beneath the surface of his only known panel painting? 🤔

Can you guess the 'Bigger Picture'? 🤔This monumental painting depicts a scene from The Aeneid, an epic poem by the Roman...
14/06/2026

Can you guess the 'Bigger Picture'? 🤔

This monumental painting depicts a scene from The Aeneid, an epic poem by the Roman writer Virgil. It was painted at the height of the artist's career, when he produced some of his most ambitious mythological works.

Find out the answer here: https://bit.ly/3SbFzUw

13/06/2026

The quiet power of Zurbarán's still life paintings 🍋

12/06/2026

In honour of the late David Hockney, travel back in time and experience a digital recreation of his 1981 National Gallery exhibition ‘The Artist’s Eye’.

Invited by then Director Sir Michael Levey, Hockney curated an exhibition exploring the power of images—whether encountered in reproduction or in their original form—and the pleasures of looking. At its centre was his painting ‘Looking at Pictures on a Screen’ (1977), depicting his friend Henry Geldzahler studying reproductions of works by Vermeer, Van Gogh, Degas, and Piero della Francesca.

In a bold and innovative gesture, Hockney displayed these original works alongside his painting and reconstructed the studio setting it depicted, inviting visitors to step into the scene themselves.

Learn more about how the exhibition came together here: https://bit.ly/3Slg5Ed

We are deeply saddened to learn of the death of David Hockney and our thoughts are with his family. The National Gallery...
12/06/2026

We are deeply saddened to learn of the death of David Hockney and our thoughts are with his family.

The National Gallery has been privileged to present Hockney’s work across several decades. Most recently, in 2024, his paintings were shown alongside Piero della Francesca’s ‘The Baptism of Christ’ a work he admired deeply throughout his life. His longstanding affection for the Gallery was evident as early as 1979, when he wrote to then Director Sir Michael Levey: “I must tell you that I love the collection of the National Gallery.”

Hockney’s relationship with the Gallery was both personal and generative. The collection served as a continual source of inspiration, reflected most memorably in the groundbreaking 'Artist’s Eye' series. Invited by Michael Levey in 1981, Hockney curated an exhibition exploring the power of images—whether encountered in reproduction or in their original form—and the pleasures of looking. At its centre was his painting ‘Looking at Pictures on a Screen’ (1977), depicting his friend Henry Geldzahler studying reproductions of works by Vermeer, Van Gogh, Degas, and Piero della Francesca.

In 2000, as part of the Millennium exhibition 'Encounters: New Art from Old', Hockney was invited to create new work in dialogue with the Gallery’s collection. He produced a series of twelve portraits of Gallery warders using a camera obscura, drawing on his recent engagement with the work of Ingres, whom he believed had used optical devices such as the camera lucida. This project marked a significant moment in Hockney’s exploration of the relationship between art and technology, which he would later pursue in depth in his influential and controversial book 'Secret Knowledge'.

Across his career, Hockney returned again and again to fundamental questions about how we see, how images are made, and how art connects people across time. The National Gallery honours his extraordinary legacy, his restless curiosity, and his profound contribution to the history of art.

11/06/2026

You walk into Room 40 of the National Gallery and discover a British icon ✨

Today marks the 250th birthday of landscape painter, John Constable. Join us as we take a closer look at ‘The Hay Wain’.

10/06/2026

Can too much purple play with your mind? 👀

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