Sir George Beaumont
Detail from John Hoppner: 'Sir George Beaumont', 1803
The Beaumont Gift
It was his visit to Italy in 1821 which convinced Beaumont of the need to educate public taste. He began to campaign vigorously for the creation of a national gallery. He offered 16 of his paintings to the nation on the condition that the British Government would buy the collection of John Julius Angerstein and that a suitable building be found to display the pictures.
When Angerstein’s collection came up for sale in 1824, Parliament responded to Beaumont’s offer and bought 38 of the Angerstein pictures. The National Gallery opened in 1824 (in Angerstein’s town house). Beaumont’s paintings entered the collection two years later.
Paintings from the Beaumont Gift
Landscape with a Man washing his Feet at a Fountain
Nicolas Poussin
The Lamentation over the Dead Christ
Rembrandt
A Seated Man with a Stick
Follower of Rembrandt
The Return of the Ark
Sébastien Bourdon
A View of Het Steen in the Early Morning
Peter Paul Rubens
The Stonemason's Yard
Canaletto
See also
From the 1820s to the present day- History of the Gallery buildings
- List of previous Directors of the National Gallery and brief history of the role.
The National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 5DN