In light of the coronavirus pandemic, it is good to know that a few galleries offer online virtual tours. I already knew about some of them but decided to start exploring. I chose the National Gallery as my first port of call, as I’ve been there many times. It is always very difficult to view many of the works at this gallery in person because of the vast amounts of people who traipse through there every year. So, I was looking forward to seeing how the online experience would compare. The virtual tour is located here
There are a total of 16 rooms available to view online:
Room 9 Venice 1530-1600
Room 16 Early Rembrandt & Dutch landscapes
Room 23 Rembrandt and Dutch painting
Room 24 Rembrandt and Dutch caravaggists
Room 27 Dutch scenes of everyday life
Room 30 Spain
Room 32 Italy
Room 34 Great Britain 1750 – 1850
Room 36 British portraits 1750 – 1800
Room 43 Manet, Monet and the Impressionists
Room 45 Van Gogh and Cézanne
Room 56 The Netherlands 1400 – 1450
Room 57 Florence 1450 – 1500
Room 60 Siena & Perugia 1450 – 1500
Room 65 Southern Germany & Austria
Room 66 Piero della Francesca
It is great to be able to wander along at your own pace and spend time looking at the paintings as they are set out in the gallery. It is not quite Google Earth, in that you can’t always get right in front of the painting you want to study but the thumbnail shots provided when you click on a painting are quite helpful (see below screenshot). I am not reviewing any of the classical well-known works here as there is already so much written about them, I can’t see that my tuppence worth would add anything of value.
(Screenshot of Room 34 – with the JMW Turner ‘Fighting Temeraire’ on left)
I understand there are several contemporary galleries who are now offering virtual tours, so I’ll see what I can find to post about on here.
I am also aware of this website and will have a look at this in coming weeks; https://www.travelandleisure.com/attractions/museums-galleries/museums-with-virtual-tours?fbclid=IwAR2BJnQ3OIpgS6MrhYQV-pd1j3Qb6o2P77A_hAMuixxxXTUI-JWSlWqKohc
