National Portrait Gallery London

4 2 Reviews

Museums in London - Covent Garden
2 St. Martin's Place , Covent Garden, London, WC2H 0HE
+44 (0) 20 7306 0055
http://www.npg.org.uk

Founded in 1856, the National Portrait Gallery is home to a large collection of portraits of famous people, dating from the Tudor period. Paintings include Henry VIII, Edward VI, William Shakespeare and Oliver Cromwell. Admission is free.

Tags: art, gallery, museum

National Portrait Gallery London Reviews

Sheyma B.

39 reviews

fascinating - The National Portrait Gallery is such a unique and fascinating museum. The idea of a big building filled with portraits may sound un-interesting, even to me, but it is actually a very fresh perspective that has combined photography, painting, and even sculpture and caricatures. Going in there, seeing images of people and reading a little bit about each one takes you into a new dimension of history and biography that is quite inspiring.
The gift shop bags have the four words: ART HISTORY BIOGRAPHY FAME printed on the bottom, and those are really the most fitting four words for this Gallery.
I especially like the room devoted to The Bloomsbury Group of 1920's London. The interchange of each within the group's respective disciplines was presented very nicely.
Entry is free to the permanent collection. 12-02-09

Tags: , historical, museum, portraiture

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Francine K.

22 reviews

Organized, Interesting Exhibit - I was completely surprised by how interesting the National Portrait Gallery was. I’d read good things about the place, but I didn’t quite believe them. Portraits tend to bore me, but how they were presented, and how quickly they passed through the centuries in the gallery was great.

It starts with the Tudors on the top floor, and you work your way through the galleries — which are all numbered to keep you going chronologically, which was a big help — and make your way to today. The portrait captions are also really interesting, mostly displaying facts about the sitter and often bringing some new info to light, especially for those not quite up on British history like me.

I didn’t have time to check out the special exhibit — a Vanity Fair portrait exhibit — but I’d like to go back to see it. 04-03-08

Tags: art, British history, gallery, museum, portraits