The National Gallery [antikvár]

In a glum moment in Wonderland, Alice, you will remember, asked what on earth was the use of a book without pictures or conversations. This book, I am happy to say, is rich in both: the pictures are some of the finest ever painted, and the conversations are with someone who knows them as intimately as it is ever possible to know great works of art. The National Gallery's Collection is inexhaustible. In a sense, it is a land of wonders. Not that it is big - indeed in comparison with the Hermitage, the Prado or the Louvre, it is a small gallery, with just over two thousand pictures, all of which are usually on show. But it contains supreme masterpieces from every school of European painting, ranging in date from the end of the thirteenth century to the beginning of our own. In Trafalgar Square, as perhaps nowhere else, you can walk through seven centuries of European painting, on the mountain-tops. And, as always on the mountains, it is useful to have a guide. Of course we all enjoy looking on our own, being face to face with Leonardo or van Gogh. And information on every work in the Collection is available in the course of a visit, on computer screen in the Micro Gallery. But I suspect that every one of us has found that it is easier to spend a long time in front of a painting if we have a companion, who will both spot things that we have missed, and trigger thoughts that would not have occurred to us on our own. That is the purpose of this book. Erika Langmuir has the rare knack of coming at pictures both with spontaneous eyes and with great erudition lightly worn. I can think of nobody I would rather have at my elbow walking round the Gallery. Time and again her comments have sent me back to pictures which I thought I knew, but which turn out to be even richer than I had imagined. And I suspect that will be the experience of every reader. The National Gallery was set up in 1824 to give every person in the country the pleasure of owning and enjoying great pictures. It is open free so that all may come, and come as often as they choose. This Companion Guide is a means to deepen that pleasure, and we are extremely grateful to ABN AMRO Bank, whose great generosity has helped us produce it, and to make it available to the widest possible public. If it helps visitors to enjoy their pictures more, then we shall both have achieved our purpose. Neil MacGregor, director