The King and Queen visited the National Gallery to officially reopen the Sainsbury Wing after its 2-year transformational capital project.
The visit marked the second anniversary of the Coronation of King Charles III – the Royal Patron of the National Gallery – and Queen Camilla.
As part of the Gallery’s 200th birthday celebrations, the Sainsbury Wing has undergone sensitive interventions to its external façade, foyer and mezzanine, to provide a better and more welcoming first experience to the National Gallery’s millions of annual visitors. It will reopen to the public on Saturday 10 May 2025.
During their visit, their Majesties saw an inscription carved into the stone at the bottom of the Sainsbury Wing Staircase marking their visit. This is underneath an inscription unveiled in July 1991 marking the original opening of the Sainsbury Wing by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth.
They also toured part of C C Land: The Wonder of Art, the once in a generation rehang of the National Gallery collection featuring 1,000 works of art, which traces the development of painting in the Western European tradition from the 13th to 20th centuries, and which also opens on 10 May.
Works on loan from the Royal Collection for 'C C Land: The Wonder of Art' include Mantegna’s (about 1431‒1506) monumental series Triumphs of Caesar (mid 1480’s, before 1506) in Room 12, which Their Majesties viewed with alumni from the National Gallery’s national oracy project for young people, Articulation.
In Central Hall they unveiled the Coronation State Portraits, commissioned from the artists Peter Kuhfeld and Paul S. Benney. These portraits will remain on display at the National Gallery until 5 June, before then moving to the Throne Room at Buckingham Palace.
Their Majesties concluded their visit with a view of the brand new Roden Centre for Creative learning, one of the largest dedicated gallery learning spaces in the UK.
The visit was led by National Gallery Director, Sir Gabriele Finaldi, who said, 'We were delighted to welcome our Royal Patron, His Majesty the King, and Queen Camilla, to reopen the Sainsbury Wing and to tour the new display of the Gallery’s paintings on such a special day, the 2nd anniversary of their Coronations. We are delighted to host the newly unveiled Coronation State Portraits at the Gallery. Our visitors will be the first people to enjoy them.'
Main Image: Their Majesties, The King and Queen reopen the National Gallery Sainsbury Wing © His Majesty King Charles III, 2025. Photograph: The National Gallery, London
Anna Melnykova, "Palace of Labor (palats praci), architector I. Pretro, 1916", shot with analog Canon camera, 35 mm Fuji film in March 2022.
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