Right around the corner from the National Gallery is the National Portrait Gallery which exhibits portraits of prominent people of all times – royalty, celebrities, generals, politicians, artists, athletes, and more. Every day there is a “Portrait of the Day” event, a free lecture about one of the portraits on display.
The National Portrait Gallery is one of the most interesting museums in London. It is part of the National Gallery and exhibits, as the name suggests, only portraits.
Creation history
This gallery was founded in the mid-19th century by three patrons, and when it opened in 1856 it was the first portrait gallery in the world. Most of the exhibits were portraits from the personal collections of the founders and gifts from their acquaintances who liked the endeavor. The very first exhibit was the famous portrait of Shakespeare, The Chandos portrait, one of the great playwright’s lifetime portraits.
Here is not only one of the two most likely lifetime portraits of Shakespeare, but also the only lifetime portrait of Jane Austen (amateur, painted by her sister), the only lifetime portrait of the Brontë sisters – Charlotte (the one who wrote Jane Eyre), Anne and Emily (also amateur, painted by their brother) and much more.
The exhibition changed several buildings until finally, with another large donation in 1896, a new permanent building was erected, attached to the pre-existing National Gallery building. The gallery was managed by a charitable foundation created especially for this purpose, which still exists today and which at different times included many famous politicians, writers and artists.
Address: St Martin’s Place, London, WC2H 0HE.
Subway Station: Charing Cross.
Opening hours 10.00-18.00, Friday until 21.00.
Admission is free.