Ten Highlights of the National Gallery in London

The Wilton Diptych

​The National Gallery in London is in the top 10 of most-visited museums in the world. The reason for its popularity is that it has an incredible collection of art, and it, no doubt, helps that the museum has free entrance. Amuze has now a self-guided audio tour available of the highlights of this museum. In about one and a half hour, you will be able to enjoy ten masterpieces ranging from the 14th-century Wilton Diptych to Paul Cézanne’s Bathers painted around the turn of the 20th century.
 
The Highlights Tour starts with a magnificent mythological painting by a relatively young Titian. Bacchus and Ariadne captures a lot of drama and emotions in a single painting. While Ariadne is left by her lover Theseus, her future lover and husband Bacchus arrives and proposes to her. The splendid colors of Titian and the exotic followers of Bacchus add to the excitement of this painting. 

Bacchus and Ariadne by Titian

The tour also contains unique works by Sandro Botticelli, Diego Velázquez, and Leonardo da Vinci. As only a limited number of works by Da Vinci has survived, almost any of his works deserves to be on a highlights tour. His Virgin of the Rocks is in great condition and contains many elements that made Da Vinci the famous artist he is considered today.
 
Interestingly, the collection of the National Gallery also contains several wonderful Dutch and Belgium masterpieces, including the Arnolfini Portrait by Van Eyck, two paintings by Vermeer, and the Sunflowers by Van Gogh. These world-famous works have some surprising elements that are discussed in the tour. 

The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck

Sunflowers by Vincent van Gogh

​And a tour in one of the art capitals of the world is not complete without the painting that British people voted as the best painting in their country: The Fighting Temeraire by Turner. This piece is not only a fantastic painting in Turner’s typical Romantic style, it also represents a significant part of England’s history.

The Fighting Temeraire by J.M.W. Turner

As always, we design these tours for you to better enjoy your museum visit, and if you have any feedback about this tour or suggestions about future tours, we would love to hear them. Just send us an email or reach out on social media.
 
Cheers, Eelco