The National Gallery

The national gallery today was the most amazing museum I have ever been in. Side by side Van Gogh, Manet, Monet, Delacroix , Titian, Raphael, Michaelangelo, Da Vinci, ….

I could have sat there all week learning about all the artwork…

For now at least, it will e the museum by which I compare all other museums….I would return to London solely to see this museum. It differed from the Louvre for me in a few ways. Firstly, the layout was easier to grasp and comprehend. The Louvre’s collection was in several different rooms, areas and floors – and while the National Gallery’s collection was also spread out, the floor plan felt far more linear and organized to the untrained eye. It was easier to move about the Nat. Gallery with a sense of time moving forward and periods shifting before one’s eyes.

Secondly, for me, the recognition was there in the National Gallery, which made it a better starting point. I knew a huge percentage of the paintings from my art history textbook – knew the stories, the artists. While the same artists were largely represented at the Louvre, for me the paintings were more obscure. As a museum novice, seeing painting after painting straight out of a textbook was inspiring of the greatest museum awe I have yet experienced.

We had been underdressed for the drizzly rain walking by the Thames in downtown London, and I was tired of walking and freezing that day. The Tate Modern interested me little, but the National Gallery redeemed the day many times over. It will surely be my first stop in my next visit to London.