National Gallery built in Trafalgar Square

Literary/ Cultural Context Note

Litencyc Editors (Independent Scholar - Europe)
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In the second half of the eighteenth century, many other European states established national art collections, mainly by nationalising the private collections of royal or princely families. These included the Uffizi gallery in Florence, the Bavarian royal collection now in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, and the Louvre in Paris. British had no comparable collection, but in 1824, the opportunity emerged to buy the art collection of a deceased Russian ÈmigrÈ, John Julius Angerstein. The cause was championed in Parliament by Whig politician George Agar Ellis, and eventually a law was passed establishing a National Gallery. It was first opened in Angerstein's former house on Pall Mall, but was soon forced to move to temporary accommodation. Finally, a purpose-built gallery was built in a new…

171 words

Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "National Gallery built in Trafalgar Square". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 30 August 2013 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=147, accessed 19 March 2024.]

147 National Gallery built in Trafalgar Square 2 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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