The contents of the intray on Finaldi’s desk will, of course, be daunting. So what does such an impressive track record augur for his tenure in Trafalgar Square? A host of problems Finaldi oversaw the redisplay of the entire collection, the opening of a major extension and the creation of the Prado Research Centre. This is a role that involves much more than writing erudite essays on Baroque painting (his field of art history) and shuffling the picture hang. Since then, Finaldi has amply demonstrated his directorial ability Madrid’s Prado Museum, where he has been Deputy Director for Collections and Research since 2002. By all accounts, he made many more friends than foes during his previous time at the gallery. When the announcement was finally made on March 18, the question was less “Gabriele who?” and more “what took you so long?”įinaldi’s appointment has been universally welcomed, not least because he is returning to the institution where he was Curator of Italian and Spanish Paintings from 1992 to 2002. After that initial purchase, the Gallery was shaped mainly by its early directors, especially Charles Lock Eastlake, and by private donations, which now account for two-thirds of the collection.For the past few months, the much-anticipated appointment of Gabriele Finaldi as the next director of the National Gallery has been one of the worst kept secrets in the art world. It came into being when the British government bought 38 paintings from the heirs of John Julius Angerstein in 1824. Unlike comparable museums in continental Europe, the National Gallery was not formed by nationalising an existing royal or princely art collection. After that initial purchase, the Gallery was shaped mainly by its early directors, especially Charles Lock Eastlake, and by private donations, which now account for two-thirds of the collection. Its collection belongs to the government on behalf of the British public, and entry to the main collection is free of charge. The National Gallery is an exempt charity, and a non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
The current Director of the National Gallery is Gabriele Finaldi. Founded in 1824, in Trafalgar Square since 1838, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England.
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