The National Gallery vs the British Museum: which to visit while in London
The National Gallery and the British Museum are both iconic art and cultural heritage institutions and two of the most visited museums in the world. With limited time in London, which is the best to visit? I am an art historian based in London, and my aim in this post is to help you decide which to visit based on your cultural interests. This post will compare the National Gallery vs the British Museum to help you decide.
Which to visit? The National Gallery and the British Museum
The National Gallery, London
The National Gallery is located in Trafalgar Square and is one of the most well-respected art museums in the world. It focuses on Western European paintings, and has an impressive collection from the Renaissance to the early 20th century.
The museum was established in 1824 and contains over 2300 works of art in its collection. Some of the most famous works are by artists such as da Vinci, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Titian, and Monet. But there are many more by a wide range of artists throughout history and you will probably recognise a great deal of the paintings while walking through.
The collection is organised chronologically, so visiting the museum is kind of like walking through a Western art history textbook, which is one thing I really like about it.
The National Gallery is free, but there are regular temporary exhibitions featuring master artists from their collection.
The British Museum
The British Museum is not too far from the National Gallery, located in Bloomsbury. The British Museum is home to artworks, but not so much paintings — it focuses more on the cultural heritage throughout human history.
The museum was opened in 1753 and has a staggering collection of over 8 million objects. While the National Gallery focuses on Western Europe, the British Museum represents the entire span of civilisation across the globe. This is a testament to the British Empire mindset of the nation when the museum was built—and almost ironic that it is called the British Museum while representing the most impressive objects from elsewhere in the world! More on that later…
The British Museum is popular for several key highlights; the Rosetta Stone, the Parthenon sculptures, and the Egyptian collection.
Like the National Gallery, the British Museum is free to enter but also holds paid exhibitions. If you plan to visit an exhibition, book ahead, because it will allow you to skip the queue!
The British Museum vs. the National Gallery
In sum, the British Museum is for those interested in human civilisation across time, with a focus on history and archeology. The National Gallery is for those more interested in fine art, specifically European painting, with a focus on famous artworks from history.
That said, there are several pros and cons to consider about each museum which will be outlined in the rest of the post. This will include a discussion of highlights from the collection, each museum’s limitations, tips for a good visit, and things to do nearby.
A note for visitors in 2023:
The National Gallery is under refurbishment in 2023, so the Sainsbury Wing is closed and many paintings are relocated or not on display. Check the website to make sure the artworks you want to see are being shown. This may be a drawback about visiting the National Gallery in 2023. However, there’s still dozens of amazing artworks shown, so don’t write it off.
An overview of the National Gallery, London
Highlights from the National Gallery collection
There are so many incredible artworks on display at the National Gallery that it is hard to narrow it down to a few key highlights. I’ve done my best by selecting 4 here, and I am working on a longer overview of the collection highlights.
Van Eyck, Arnolfini Portrait, 1434
The Arnolfini Portrait is one of the most recnognisable paintings in the National Gallery. It features Giovanni Arnolfini, an affluent Italian merchant, and his bride, Giovanna Cenami, within their opulently adorned home. The intricate details of their clothing, the ornate mirror gracing the background, and the elegant chandelier all offer a glimpse into the lavishness of the Renaissance era.
Painted on a small scale, the intricate and accurate handling of paint creates realistic textures characteristic of Northern European painting during the Renaissance era. The painting is rich with symbolism, from the orange representing fertility to the dog symbolising fidelity.
Van Gogh, Sunflowers, 1888
Vincent van Gogh's sunflower paintings are instantly recognisable and universally loved, making this painting one of the most popular in the National Gallery.
The vibrant colours and bold brushwork in Van Gogh's Sunflowers perfectly encapsulate the Post-Impressionist movement. The thick layering of impasto paint makes the sunflowers three-dimensional on the canvas and draws attention to Van Gogh’s innovative loose style.
Titian, Bacchus and Ariadne, 1520
This large-scale masterpiece vividly illustrates the story of Ariadne’s discovery by Bacchus on the isle of Naxos. Titian’s vibrant use of colour, especially the clarity of the blues created through the use of expensive ultramarine pigment, creates a vibrant image of this myth.
The dynamic composition includes detailed drapery blowing in the wind, a complex procession of Bacchus’ followers, and two cheetahs leading the pack. It’s likely that Titian painted these from observation of the Duke’s menagerie.
Hans Holbein the Younger, The Ambassadors, 1533
This work is a portrait of two prominent individuals from the court of King Henry VIII of England, Jean de Dinteville and Georges de Selve. However, it transcends the confines of a traditional portrait, presenting a complex and intriguing artistic composition.
One of the most conspicuous features of the painting is the inclusion of an anamorphic skull in the foreground. This distorted depiction of a skull serves as a memento mori, a poignant reminder of life's impermanence and the inexorable approach of death. It seems almost smeared across the foreground when viewing the painting frontally, but this is because Holbein designed it as an optical illusion which consolidates into the representation of a skull when viewed from a side angle.
Limitations of the museum
Did you know that out of 2,300 artworks in the National Gallery’s collection, only 21 are by women? It’s a staggering statistic, and for a national collection that represents so many centuries of Western art it seems abysmally low.
The 8 female artists represented by the National Gallery are Rosa Bonheur, Catharina van Hemessen, Judith Leyster, Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, Berthe Morisot, Marie Blancour, Rachel Ruysch, and Artemisia Gentileschi.
It’s obvious that women artists did not have the same access and training in the arts, leading to an underrepresentation of their work in art history. It’s to be expected that there will be fewer women artists in collections such as the National Gallery’s. They do try to address this openly, and many works by these 8 artists are on display.
Because there are so many female bodies on display while wandering through the gallery, I do think it’s important to recognise the underlying inequality in the collection.
Tips for a good visit
Have a look online to see which artworks are on display and where they are located. You can prioritise what you’d most like to see, and head there specifically.
Ask the attendants in the rooms about the artworks. They’re not just security, they are also knowledgeable and passionate about the artworks and can give insights you wouldn’t have thought of.
The National Gallery is open late on Fridays until 9pm, making it easier to visit outside of daylight hours.
Check out the scheduled talks and events going on in the galleries on the day of your visit. These can add so much richness to a visit.
Things to do near the National Gallery in London
The National Gallery is so centrally located that its steps away from all sorts of iconic London locations. Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Covent Garden, etc etc…
Here’s some spots you may not have considered:
The Courtauld Gallery at Somerset House is minutes away; it’s a smaller but equally as wonderful gallery featuring my favourite painting, Manet’s Bar at the Folies Bergere
The Royal Opera House and its excellent rooftop bar are in Covent Garden. Perfect place for a drink and a view.
The newly reopened National Portrait Gallery is just next door to the National Gallery.
Cecil Court is a small street lined with bookshops and sellers of art prints. It’s charming, a great place to buy a gift for an art or history lover, and one of my favourite hidden gems in London.
An overview of the British Museum
Highlights from the British Museum collection
The Rosetta Stone
The Rosetta Stone was discovered in 1799 near Rosetta, Egypt. It is inscribed with characters in three different languages: Demotic, Ancient Greek, and Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. The text says the same thing in each language, meaning that it acts as a sort of code breaker in helping us translate ancient texts.
The stone was created around 196 BC. Finding it was a major breakthrough in archeology and history because it finally allowed scholars to decipher hieroglyphs. This has meant that we have been able to translate many other hieroglyphic texts as a result.
Parthenon Sculptures
The series of sculptures that adorned the Ancient Greek Parthenon are all in the collection of the British Museum.
The sculptures were made by Phidias in the 5th century BCE. The Parthenon was built as a monument to Athena in Athens. Of course, the ruins of the Parthenon makes up a major part of the Acropolis site in Athens.
The sculptures depict various mythological scenes, including battles from the Trojan War and a Panathenaic procession. They are crucial examples of Classical Greek art and so have enormous cultural value.
So, why are they in the British Museum and not with the Parthenon? Lord Elgin was a British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century and he transported the sculptures to Britain in order to preserve them.
This is now contested, as Greece wants their sculptures back and even has an empty museum at the Acropolis waiting to display them. This heated debate about repatriation continues, with the British Museum objecting to the fact that they rightfully belong in Greece.
The Parthenon Sculptures are a key item in the British Museum collection and responsible for drawing many of the museum’s visitors.
Double Headed Serpent
The Double-Headed Serpent is an Aztec object created between the 15th-16th centuries. It is made up of over 2000 pieces of turquoise mosaic, set on angles to create a shimmer suggesting both feathers and scales. That’s because the serpent depicts the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl, a feathered serpent, which represents duality between heaven and earth. It’s an exquisite object that may have been used by Montezuma II and potentially gifted to Cortes on his arrival in Mexico, before the indigenous people knew the intent of the Conquistadores.
Benin Bronzes
The Benin Bronzes is a collection of dozens of objects from the Benin Kingdom which is now in modern-day Nigeria. They are actually erroneously named, as the objects are mostly made from brass rather than bronze.
The objects were looted from Benin City in 1898 by the British and now dozens of them are on display in the African galleries at the British Museum. Obviously a major point of controversy, the repatriation of these objects has been a big news topic over the past several years.
Many of the objects in this collection are brass plaques that were used to line the walls of the Oba’s palace in Benin City. They depict the ferocity of Benin warriors, but also the symbiotic trade relationship that they had with the Portuguese in the 16th century.
The works are remarkably sophisticated and made with the lost wax technique, a difficult casting process. While the British Museum may not deserve to have them, it is still a worthwhile opportunity to come face-to-face with some of the most magnificent creations in human history.
Limitations of the museum
The British Museum is made of up of displays from all around the world, a number of them with contested provenance. As mentioned previously, both the Parthenon Sculptures and the Benin Bronzes are subject to great controversy surrounding repatriation.
The British Museum is essentially a testament to British Imperialism, so while it is an incredible place to see objects from around the world, the fraught histories of how they ended up here should be kept in mind.
Tips for a good visit
Be prepared to queue. As one of the most popular museums in London, there is often a queue of people outside to go through security before entering the museum. This may tack on some extra time to your visit.
Come with a plan and consult the map. It’s easy to get lost here and the galleries can be busy. It’s much better enjoyed with a clear purpose rather than an aimless wander.
Consider visiting the museum at night — like the National Gallery, it’s open late on Fridays (until 8:30 pm).
Things to do near the British Museum
Bloomsbury is a cute neighbourhood and there’s a few nice things to do nearby to combine with your visit.
Visit Fortitude Bakery only a few minutes walk away for some of the best pastries in London.
The area around Lamb’s Conduit Street is one of the most charming in London. Don’t miss the lovely shop Penreath and Hall.
Seven Dials and its indoor market hall is not far, and an easy spot for lunch.
So, should I visit the National Gallery or British Museum?
The easy answer is to try to visit both, and the late hours on Friday evenings should help make this possible.
Decide which collections you are most interested in seeing. Is it the ancient Greek and Egyptian artefacts at the British Museum? Or the exquisite Renaissance paintings at the National Gallery?
Either way, each museum will provide a memorable day out experiencing some of the most important creative objects in history.
The National Gallery vs the British Museum: which is the best museum to visit in London? I’ll help you decide.