National Gallery

The National Gallery is an art gallery in London, located

on the north side of Trafalgar Square. It holds the
National Collection of Art from 1250 to 1900
(subsequent art from the National Collection is housed
in Tate Modern). Some British art is included, but the
National Collection of British art from this period is
mainly in Tate Britain. The collection of 2,300 paintings
belongs to the British public, and entry to the main
collection is free, though there are charges for entry to
special exhibitions.
The National Gallery was established in 1824, when the art collection of the Russian migr
banker John Julius Angerstein was bought by the British government. For the first 14 years of
its existence it had to exist in temporary accomodation in Angerstein's former townhouse on
100 Pall Mall. There followed further gifts, by Sir George Beaumont and the Rev. William
Holwell Carr, on the condition that a more suitable building was found to house the national
collecton, which came in 1838. 15th- and 16th-century Italian paintings were at the core of
the new national collection and for the next 30 years the Trustees' independent acquisitions
were mainly limited to works by High Renaissance masters.