DK Travel : Dublin : National Gallery

National Gallery

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The National Gallery’s outstanding collection of Western European art ranges from the Middle Ages to the present day and includes, as one might expect in the nation’s capital, the most important gathering of Irish art in the world. The gallery was designed by architect Francis Fowke (1823–65) and opened in January 1864. The Milltown Wing was added in 1903, the Beit Wing in 1968 and the Millennium Wing in 2002, the latter bringing a huge improvement in exhibition space and public facilities. The gallery has had some important donors during its history, including Countess Milltown, George Bernard Shaw, Sir Hugh Lane, Chester Beatty (see Alfred Chester Beatty) and Sir Alfred and Lady Beit. The Beits’ remarkable presentation was 17 Dutch, Spanish and British Old Master paintings, including works by Gainsborough, Vermeer and Velázquez.

Top 10 Collections

1. Yeats Museum

This exceptional collection includes portraits of the Yeats family as well as an impressive group of Jack B Yeats’s paintings, from early favourites such as The Liffey Swim (1923) to later expressionistic work such as Grief (1951).
2. Irish Art

Seven rooms do justice to this extensive collection devoted to 18th- and 19th-century Irish art. Works by Nathaniel Hone the Elder are representative of the 18th century, while Nathaniel Hone the Younger begins the transition to the Impressionists, represented by Roderic O’Connor and Walter Frederick Osborne.
3. British School

Paintings in this school span from the Tudor period to the early 20th century with a particularly good 18th-century section. Hogarth, Reynolds, Romney, Gainsborough and Raeburn are particularly well represented.
4. Italian Painting

The lovely Italian collection ranges from the Renaissance to the 18th century. Caravaggio’s The Taking of Christ (1602) is the most outstanding piece in the 17th-century works of art.
5. French Painting

Monet’s A River Scene, Autumn (1874) is one of the highlights of the French collection, most of which dates from the 17th to the 19th centuries.
6. German, Dutch and Flemish Painting

One of the interesting paintings in the Flemish collection is a collaborative work, Christ in the House of Martha and Mary (1628), with figures by Peter Paul Rubens set in a Jan Brueghel II landscape .
7. Spanish Painting

Goya, Velázquez and Murillo are among many great artists in this collection, which concentrates on the 17th century. The modern era is represented by Picasso’s Still Life with Mandolin (1924).
8. Baroque Rooms

The Baroque collection is divided in two parts. Room 44 has the Baroque Italian, Spanish, French and Flemish paintings from the 17th and 18th centuries. Room 26 is a gallery devoted to the whole Baroque age in Italy.
9. The Shaw Room

The financial input from Shaw’s estate has enabled the gallery to extend its collections and facilities over the years. This elegant room is lined with portraits of dignitaries, as well as The Marriage of Strong-bow and Aoife by Daniel Maclise (1854).
10. The Millennium Wing

The main galleries added at the first level of this wing concentrate on modern Irish art, showing the rise of Modernism (rooms 1–5). On other floors there are study rooms, temporary exhibition areas and audio-visual facilities. It is a magnificent addition flooded with light.

Practical Information

The gallery’s Fitzers restaurant is well respected but can get very busy at lunchtime, as it is a popular venue for the local workforce as well as gallery visitors. There is a large open-plan space at the Clare Street entrance which is the self-service restaurant. On the upper level is a café. Clare St & Merrion Square, Dublin 2 01-661 5133 www.nationalgallery.ie Open 9:30am–5:30pm Mon–Wed, Fri–Sat, 9:30am–8:30pm Thu, noon–5:30pm Sun Dis. access Free