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Did you know? The National Portrait Gallery was not always in the home it is in today

Tuesday, August 6, 2024 - 14:15

Philip Stanhope (5th Earl Stanhope) first brought the idea of the National Portrait Gallery to the House of Commons in 1846. He wanted to establish a gallery of portraits to commemorate those who had shaped British history.

Image credit: Olivier Hess

The Gallery was eventually founded in 1856, but not in the location which we know of today! The Galleries collection was first housed at 29 Great George Street, Westminster, opening to the public on 15th January 1859.

By 1870, the Collection had outgrown its home on Great George Street and was relocated to the Royal Horticultural Society on Exhibition Road in South Kensington.

Following a fire in the same building in 1885, the Collection was moved again to Bethnal Green. It was quickly decided that this was an unsuitable space for the works, with little protection against the elements.

In 1889 a site for the permanent home of the Collection was established, with the doors to this new gallery opening on the 4th of April 1896. This site continues to be the permanent home for the Gallery to this very day.