Description
This National Gallery guided tour lasts two hours and walks you through the collection with a live guide, so you see the famous paintings with their stories attached. Priority entry gets you inside, and the gallery ticket is part of the booking.
The route follows the history of European painting. It opens in the Renaissance, with Leonardo da Vinci's The Virgin of the Rocks and Michelangelo's The Entombment, his only surviving easel painting. Then comes the age of industry, with J.M.W. Turner's Rain, Steam and Speed, and the Impressionists: Monet's The Water-Lily Pond and Seurat's Bathers at Asnières. The finish is Van Gogh, whose swirling brushwork and strong colour turn ordinary scenes into something new.
- Two hours with a guide
- Priority entry tickets
- Commentary on technique, symbolism and history
The guide talks about how each picture was made and what it means, and the group is invited to ask questions and offer its own reading. It suits keen art lovers and first-time visitors alike. The tour starts on time and latecomers cannot join, and it is not suitable for people with mobility impairments.