The National Gallery is full of what I call ‘proper art’. You won’t find any unmade beds and splattered canvases in here. They’ve got every great painter from the 13th-century up to about 1900, like Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Canaletto, Titian, Turner, Monet, Manet and Vincent Van Gogh. It’s all Rembrandt, Renoir and Leonardo da Vinci.
Photo: Craig CrossWhat I love most about this place is the peace and quiet inside. I’ve just been walking round from Leicester Square where it’s all people bustling barging shouting crowding outside the pubs and spilling across the pavement, then you walk through the gallery’s double doors and it’s all quiet like a library. They could do with a bit of classical music playing in the background but if you manage to grab yourself one of those red leather seats in Room 32 you can while away an hour without even realising.
Photo: Craig CrossFamous paintings at the National Gallery
Room 34 is where you’ll find the famous British paintings like Gainsborough’s The Hay Wain and Turner’s seascapes. And there are two rooms full of Rubens (one with his bible scenes and another with his landscapes). If you want to see a photograph before photography was even invented then check out Canaletto’s views of Venice.
One of my favourite paintings is The Execution of Lady Jane Grey by Paul Delaroche. I’ve always felt sorry for this nine-day Queen because she was cajoled into doing something stupid and now look where she’s ended up – on the end of an axe.
But I do think the background characters are hamming it up a bit with all of their swooning and feinting – they are overacting outrageously. Even the executioner looks a bit worried for her health. And who ever heard of an executioner wearing pink tights? I’m sorry, but no. I’m not having that. If I ever have my head chopped off and the executioner waltzes in wearing pink pants and a red felt hat then I’ll be making a quick dash for the door – I want someone tough to do it.
French Impressionism – Manet, Monet, Cezanne & Seurat
You might want to take a five minute breather before braving the French Impressionists because it’s always packed with people crowding around the Manet’s, Monet’s, Cezanne’s and Seurat’s.
I remember when the guards used to jump on anybody taking photos on their phone but they don’t seem to mind anymore so they must have abandoned that as a lost battle. But if your lens is bigger than a dinner plate then forget it – I’ve just witnessed a student dropping his padded bag on the floor before unpacking a telescopic tripod with legs that are longer than the London Eye’s. Now he’s having a whispered hoo-haa with the guards as they try and stop him setting up.
Van Gogh’s Sunflowers & A Wheatfield with Cypresses
If you want a photo of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers that hasn’t got ten heads stuck in front of it then be prepared to wait ten minutes for a crack to open up in the surrounding crowd.
This is also where you can find my favourite painting in the whole of London: Van Gogh’s A Wheatfield with Cypresses. It looks like the kind of place you might end up if you got horribly lost on a Sunday stroll. One minute you’re out walking with your missus and the next thing you know it’s all lively sky and windy and you’re surrounded by a cloud of crows and the hills are filled with salivating wolves.
I wouldn’t mind if it was hanging on my wall at home, but I can’t afford to pay fifty-million pounds for it though. I can probably scrape together about two hundred and fifty quid. I wonder how much they’d be prepared sell it for?
Sainsbury Wing – Renaissance paintings by Leonardo da Vinci
The Sainsbury Wing has Renaissance paintings and Bible scenes by Bellini, Botticelli, Raphael and London’s equivalent of the Mona Lisa – Leonardo da Vinci’s The Virgin of the Rocks. When you finally find its tiny little room you’ll wonder if you’ve just stumbled upon a world record attempt for how many people can squeeze inside a telephone box.
All you can really see of it through the deliberately darkened gloom are a few ghostly faces behind a hundred hats and bags and the backs of tourists’ heads, all standing shoulder to shoulder like they do on the tube. But I quite like they way you have to fight for a look because it makes it seem more precious somehow, like you’re at the end of a quest to see Jesus’ tomb.
If you enjoy this then try Courtauld Gallery (walk it in 12 mins or travel from Charing Cross to Temple by tube); National Portrait Gallery (you can walk there in less than 1 min); Royal Academy of Arts (you can walk it 10 mins); Tate Britain (walk it in 26 mins or travel from Charing Cross to Pimlico by underground) and Wallace Collection (walk it in 26 mins or catch a tube from Charing Cross to Bond Street)
The author Craig Cross owns londondrum.com and has spent the last decade reviewing the capital’s landmarks, attractions and hotels. His guidebook London Squire is available from Amazon
Your comments and questions
Whitten Do they have tours around the gallery
Craig Hi Whitten. Yes, they usually have two free tours every day, at a set time, or you can pay for an audioguide which will show you round the most famous paintings
Mag Are you allowed to take photos inside the gallery?
Craig Hi Mag, they never used to in the past but they're okay with it now (I guess they gave up on fighting a losing battle!). But you're not allowed to use a camera flash
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