Nicholas-Edward Gabé (1814-1865), 'The Barricade at Porte St. Denis, 1848', 1849.
© The Bowes Museum, Co. Durham (B.M.485)

Discoveries: New Research into British Collections

21 November 2007 - 10 February 2008
Room B Admission free

The National Inventory Research Project has been supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the Getty Foundation and the Samuel H. Kress Foundation.

Discoveries brought together paintings from across the country, some of which had never been seen in public before. It demonstrated the astonishing range and quality of our UK public collections, spanning over 500 years. It also illustrated the wide variety of work that has been done by the National Inventory Research Project.

The National Gallery has been part of this project since 2005. The project team went into regional museums to shed new light on European paintings from 1200 to 1900 - discovering a rich variety of stories, interpreting symbolism, giving attributions and enhancing understanding of these little-known pictures.

The exhibition coincided with the launch of the project’s online database of nearly 8,000 paintings in over 200 UK museums and galleries, providing public access to information discovered as a result of the National Inventory Research Project. This nformation has already resulted in many new collection displays and educational initiatives in the institutions which were involved.

Find out more about the National Inventory Research Project

Back to Past Exhibitions