Detail of National Gallery façade, Trafalgar Square, Westminster, London WC2H, UK

            Designed by William Wilkins, the National Gallery was built, with several compromises, 1832-38 on the site of the King's Mews, to 'command' the northern side of the new Trafalgar Square.  This now-iconic building initially received considerable criticism for its lack of space and allegedly unimaginative, unfashionably Classical, Portland stone façade, the sole remaining part of the original building – and notoriously described by the Prince of Wales in 1982 as "... the face of a much-loved and elegant friend".

At that stage, the National Gallery was merely one room deep, occupying a narrow plot between the Square on one side and, on the other, a preexisting barracks (a deterrent to riots in the Square) and St Martin's Workhouse.  An unalterable public right of way through the site further subdivided the ground floor: this statue stands above the eastern secondary portico, included to give access to a public passage through the building.
This all meant that the building was inadequate for its purpose as the (third) home of the national collection of fine art – doubly so when fully half of even that limited space was allocated to the Royal Academy.  Yet a very Victorian sensibility reasoned that the building was more important as a symbol, in the (polluted) heart of the city between the affluent West and poorer East End, than as a functional gallery; that the pictures themselves were less important than the "ennobling enjoyment" provided by their mere presence.

From that unpromising start, the Gallery has been extended several times, with the Royal Academy moving out in 1868 and part of the collection being transferred to the Tate Gallery (now Tate Britain) in 1897.  The National Gallery,  Grade I Listed and 7-8 times its original size, is now the fifth most visited museum in the world; in 2012, people visited the collection of over 2,300 paintings (and, unusually, most are on show) 5,163,902 times.  For free – there's no charge for admission to the national collection.

Taken in: United Kingdom / England / London / Trafalgar Square (show map)

Taken on: January 11, 2014

Tags:

statue

secondary

national gallery

trafalgar square

westminster

london

wc2h

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classical

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Sets appears in: • London: Trafalgar Square

Groups appears in: • Sculpture • Statues and Sculptures. more » • London buildings • Historic Buildings (Great Britain & Ireland) • City of Westminster • London Sculptures • London! • London - The big Smoke • (Officially) England's Best Buildings • Sunset light « less

Camera: Canon EOS 60D, f/5.6, 1/200 sec, 194mm, ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS 60D
Aperture:	f/5.6
Exposure Time:	0.005 sec (1/200)
Focal Length:	194mm
ISO:	100
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Mode:	Auto
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	Adobe Photoshop CS4 Windows
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