Have you ever found yourself making additions to your travel itinerary thinking that if you grab a quick lunch, you could easily insert another activity?
This happened to us when we decided to visit The National Gallery in London. We said it's just going to be a quick visit - 2 hours max to see Van Gogh's and Leonardo da Vinci's masterpieces. I actually thought 2 hours was very generous already since I only wanted to see a handful of paintings. But that's not what happened. 2 hours became more like almost 4 hours! Haha....
But before I show you which paintings made me forget about the time, let me show you first where The National Gallery is located.
Foreground: One of the Trafalgar Square fountains.
Background: The National Gallery.
The National Gallery is located near the Trafalgar Square. When you get off the tube exit, you won't miss it coz it's right behind one of the fountains of the Trafalgar Square.
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| Trafalgar Square. The pillar is called the Nelson's Column. |
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| One of the lions guarding the Trafalgar Square |
What's the significance of the Trafalgar square? It commemorates a battle (at Cape Trafalgar, Spain) in the 19th century in which Britain won. But nowadays, the Trafalgar Square is used for gatherings, protests, demonstrations and the annual New Year's celebration.
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| One of the Trafalgar fountains |
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| A sculpture at the Trafalgar square entitled "Really Good" which represents optimism / positivity. |
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| Steps leading to The National Gallery |
Presenting the Van Gogh paintings -
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| Van Gogh Paintings |
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| A Wheatfield, with Cypresses by Van Gogh (1889) |
What's the story behind this painting? Van Gogh painted this while in an asylum at St Remy near Arles, France. He spent one year as a patient there and very close to the hospital was a wheatfield with cypress trees/shrubs. It said that this was his view from his window. I super love the colors of this painting.
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| Up close: "A Wheatfield, with Cypresses" by Van Gogh (1889) |
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| Long Grass with Butterflies by Van Gogh (1890) |
Van Gogh also painted this while in the hospital. The captions says that the subject is the gardens of the asylum.
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| Up close: "Long Grass with Butterflies" by Van Gogh (1890) where you can see more visibly the butterflies |
Sunflowers is the most popular painting of Van Gogh at The National Gallery and it's probably one of the most recognizable Van Gogh paintings together with Starry, Starry Night. You won't miss Sunflowers because there's usually a crowd that gathers in front of it.
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| Sunflowers by Van Gogh (1888) |
Yellow (just like my blog!) symbolizes hope and friendship. The caption of the Sunflowers says that Van Gogh hung this painting in his guest room in Arles in anticipation of the arrival of his friend, the artist, Paul Gauguin. (I quickly googled and it seems that Gauguin was present when Van Gogh cut off his ear. There are also speculations that it may have been Gauguin who cut off Van Gogh's ear but the two made a pact of silence so Gauguin won't be prosecuted. Sadly, we'll never know the real story.)
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| Up close: Sunflowers by Van Gogh (1888) |
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| Van Gogh's Chair by Van Gogh (1888) |
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| Up close: Van Gogh's Chair by Van Gogh (1888) |
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| Two Crabs by Van Gogh (1889) |
When Van Gogh was released from the hospital in Jan 1889, he went on to paint a series of still life which includes crab studies.
These crabs look so fat! Makes me imagine chili crabs. Haha.... :)
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| Up close: Two Crabs by Van Gogh (1889) |
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| Cornelis van der Geest by Anthony Van Dyck (about 1620) |
The subject of the portrait above is a wealthy spice merchant whom I don't know (haha...) BUT the reason why I was fascinated by this painting is because it doesn't look like a painting at all. You can try zooming in - the texture of the skin and hair of the man looks so real.
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| Rembrandt, Self-Portrait at the age of 34 (1640) |
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| Rembrandt, Self-Portrait at the age of 63 (1669) |
Notice the similar pose of Rembrandt for his 2 self-portraits? Sadly, the year when he made his self-portrait at age 63 was the year when he passed away.
Here are a couple of Rembrandt paintings which are depictions of stories from the Bible -
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| Anna and the Blind Tobit by Rembrandt (about 1630) |
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| Up close: Anna and the Blind Tobit by Rembrandt (about 1630) |
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| The Woman taken in Adultery by Rembrandt (1644) |
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| Still Life: Pewter & Silver Vessels & a Crab by William Claesz Heda (abt 1633-7) |
The still life above doesn't look like a painting at all. I had to take a closer look to see. Haha...
Oh no, another fat crab in the painting. Chili crabs, chili crabs.... Haha...
Oh no, another fat crab in the painting. Chili crabs, chili crabs.... Haha...
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| A Boy and a Girl with a Cat and an Eel by Judith Leyster (abt 1635) |
The portrait of these 2 kids caught my eye because of their playful poses. You would think that back in the 17th century, poses for portraits were proper and stiff but these kids surely knew how to make fun of themselves in front of an easel stand. :)
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| Cognoscenti in a Room hung with Pictures by an unknown Flemish artist (about 1620) |
Cognoscenti means connoisseurs so the painting depicts connoisseurs in a gallery. What caught my attention about the painting above? It's a painting with 30+ miniature paintings within it! And according to the caption, some of the paintings in the painting are actually depictions of paintings by renowned artists. Sadly, the artist is unknown. :(
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| The Interior of the Oude Kerk, Amsterdam during a Sermon by Witte (1660) |
What made me take a double look at this painting? Look through the middle window of the church - there are people on bikes. Such attention to detail!
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| Up close: The Interior of the Oude Kerk, Amsterdam during a Sermon by Witte (1660) |
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| Inside the National Gallery |
There's also a section inside The National Gallery within the Early Renaissance section which focuses on religious paintings. Here are some -
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| The Coronation of the Virgin with Adoring Saints attributed to Jacopo di Cione (1370-1) |
Look how detailed the painting is -
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| Up close: The Coronation of the Virgin with Adoring Saints attributed to Jacopo di Cione (1370-1) |
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| Incidents in the Life of Saint Benedict and the Death of Saint Benedict by Lorenzo Monaco (1407-9) |
The middle section of the painting shows St. Benedict with his twin sister, St. Scholastica. :)
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| Incidents in the Life of Saint Benedict and the Death of Saint Benedict by Lorenzo Monaco (1407-9) |
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| Saint George and the Dragon by Paolo Uccello (about 1470) |
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| The Death of Christ supported by two Angels by Carlo Crivelli, 1470-5 |
Very powerful painting. The forlorn face of the angel captures the pain and sorrow of the Death of Jesus.
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| Saints Peter and Paul by Carlo Crivelli (about 1470s) |
What captured my attention are not the faces of Saints Peter and Paul but the books they were holding. I thought the shiny golden ornaments on their books were 3 dimensional that I had to look super close to check if they were. But they weren't. :)
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| Up close: Saints Peter and Paul by Carlo Crivelli (about 1470s) |
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| The Garvagh Madonna by Raphael (about 1509-10) |
Notice that the 2 paintings of Raphael (above and below) both show a pink carnation held by the Infant Jesus? Apparently, in Renaissance devotional paintings, pink carnation symbolizes divine love.
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| The Madonna of the Pinks by Raphael |
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| Portrait of a Woman of a Hofer Family by an unknown Swabian artist (about 1470) |
The woman holds a forget-me-not which is a symbol of remembrance. But nope, that wasn't what caught my eye. Look closely at the head gear - there's a fly and it looks so real! Haha...
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Up close: Portrait of a Woman of a Hofer Family
by an unknown Swabian artist (about 1470)
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According to the caption, the fly could be a symbol of mortality or perhaps a reminder of the artist's skill of illusion. Too bad, we can never give credit to the artist because he/she is unknown. :(
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| An Old Woman (The Ugly Duchess) by Quinten Matsys (abt 1513) |
There were speculations who could have been the subject of this painting but it seems like there was none and it was just meant to be a satire. Whew!
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| Up close: The Heavenly and Earthly Trinities by Bartolome Esteban Murillo (about 1675-82) |
The painting of Mama Mary above is one of the most beautiful I've seen. I wasn't able to capture the entire painting in a photo but here's one I googled -
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| The Heavenly and Earthly Trinities by Bartolome Esteban Murillo (about 1675-82) |
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| Mademoiselle Brongniart by Elizabeth Louise-Vigee Le Brun (abt 1788) |
This portrait of this little girl is so pretty. Such beautiful eyes and curls.
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| Up close: Mademoiselle Brongniart by Elizabeth Louise-Vigee Le Brun (abt 1788) |
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| Up close: A Girl at the Window by Louis Leopold Boilly (after 1799) |
The artwork above looks like an old print but it is a painting. :)
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| At the Theatre, girl with chaperone seated in theatre box by Renoir |
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| Whistlejacket by George Stubbs (about 1762) |
The painting above doesn't look huge but you know how big it is? It's as big as a life-size racehorse!
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| Claude Monet paintings |
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| More Claude Monet paintings |
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| The Thames below Westminster by Claude Monet (abt 1871) |
That's Big Ben and the Houses of the Parliament in the background.
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| Up close: The Thames below Westminster by Claude Monet (abt 1871) |
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| Weeping Willow by Claude Monet (1918) |
Why a weeping willow? Monet painted this in response to the horrors of the Great War.
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| The Manchester Madonna by Michelangelo (about 1497) |
It's an unfinished work of Michelangelo. In the painting are Mama Mary, the Child Jesus, the child John the Baptist and the rest are angels.
Here's the most unique artwork I've seen at the National Gallery -
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| A peepshow with views of the interior of a Dutch house by Samuel van Hoogstraten (abt 1655-60) |
This is called a perspective box which were popular among Dutch artists at one time. This reflects Dutch artists' fascination with perspective and optical devices.
How does a perspective box work? The inside of the box, when viewed through either 2 of the peepholes at the sides of the box, gives an illusion of a 3-dimensional interior.
Here's how it looks like when you view through one of the peepholes -
And here's the view through the other peephole -
Amazing, right?!
The farthest section of the gallery (Sainsbury Wing) is probably the most popular and frequently visited (saving the best for last!). It houses the works of Leonardo da Vinci. :) Da Vinci didn't just excel in painting but also in sculpting, inventing, mathematics, astronomy, anatomy, literature, botany, name it! He's a Jack of all trades, master of everything! Haha...
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| The Virgin of the Rocks by Leonardo da Vinci (1491/2-9 & 1506-8) |
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| Up close: The Virgin of the Rocks by Leonardo da Vinci (1491/2-9 & 1506-8) |
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| The Virgin & Child with Saint Anne and Saint John the Baptist by Leonardo da Vinci (abt 1499-1500) |
The Masterpiece above doesn't look big but it is. It's about 4 1/2 feet high. And it isn't a painting - it's actually a drawing on paper.
Da Vinci was known to have made several life-size works on paper (often called Cartoons and which are usually preparatory studies for a painting) and this one is the only such kind of drawing to survive. Wow.
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| Up close: The Virgin & Child with Saint Anne and Saint John the Baptist by Leonardo da Vinci (abt 1499-1500) |
Aren't the faces in the drawing the most beautiful? I super love this Da Vinci cartoon that I bought some souvenirs at the National Gallery shop. Ok, I got Van Gogh items too. :)
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| Up close: The Virgin & Child with Saint Anne and Saint John the Baptist by Leonardo da Vinci (abt 1499-1500) |
BTW, these aren't all the paintings I ogled at the National Gallery. They are just a few of those which made me stop and stare. And so 2 hours stretched to 4 hours. Haha.... Mental note on my next trip to a gallery - 2 hours is not enough because for sure, I'll look at other paintings not on my target list. Haha....
