Main Portico Entrance.

The East Wing: Main Portico Entrance

The Entrance Hall has been transformed from a restricted and cramped area into a grand and elegant space.

Two desks provide information and audio guides; and the magnificent 19th-century decorative ceiling in the staircase hall has been restored.

The Entrance Hall was originally divided into three areas by the structural masonry supporting the dome above.

Innovative new engineering techniques have allowed this masonry to be removed to create a dramatic new space.

In the Staircase Hall, white over-painting on the ceiling has been removed, the original decorative scheme by J.D. Crace meticulously reinstated, and the new marble casings to the staircase have been removed to reveal pink wall marble, sourced from quarries in Tunisia and originally used on the Gallery's main staircase by Sir John Taylor in 1887.

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