Minutes of a meeting of the Board held on Thursday 20 November 2025 in the Whitcomb Room, Sainsbury Wing
Present
John Booth CVO FSA (Chair)
Diana Berry
Catherine Goodman CBE LVO
Sir John Kingman KCB FRS
James Lambert OBE
David Marks
Rosalind Nashashibi
Tonya Nelson
Stuart Roden
Professor Patricia Rubin
Professor Dame Molly Stevens DBE FRS FREng
Apologies
Andrew Marr
Dounia Nadar
In attendance
Sir Gabriele Finaldi - Director
Paul Gray - Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer
Victoria Hayes - Secretary to the Board and Head of Governance (Minutes)
Andy Hibbert - Chief Financial Officer
Jane Knowles - Director of Public Engagement
Anh Nguyen - Director of Development
Susan Noonan - Chief Commercial Officer, National Gallery Global Ltd
Christine Riding - Director of Collections and Research
John Stack - Director of Digital Innovation and Technology
Larry Keith - Keeper and Head of Conservation for item 1
Per Rumberg - The Jacob Rothschild Head of the Curatorial Department for items 1–5
Francesca Alberti - The James and Victoria Corcoran Curator of Italian 16th-Century Paintings
Bart Cornelis - Curator of Dutch and Flemish Paintings for item 1
Francesca Whitlum-Cooper - Curator of Later Italian, Spanish and French Paintings for item 1
Jack Chauncy - Aldama Foundation Conservation Fellow for item 1
Valeriia Kravchenko - Patrick Lindsay Conservation Fellow for item 1
Sarah Younger - Project Director for item 8
Hannah Lawson - Director, Lawson Ward Architects for item 8
1. Pictures for treatment:
1.1. In the conservation studio, the Head of Conservation and Keeper showed the Board, following treatment, Jean Bellegambe’s The Virgin and Child (NG265), Luca Giordano’s The Martyrdom of Saint Januarius (NG6327), The Entombment after Martin Schongauer (NG1151) and Lelio Orsi’s The Walk to Emmaus (NG1466), all of which have been cleaned and restored.
1.2. The Board approved the paintings as being ready to go back on display.
1.3. Information has been excluded under s.22 FOI 2000
1.4. Trustees were shown, Simon Vouet’s Ceres and Harvesting Cupids (NG6292) and Pieter Codde’s Portrait of a Man, a Woman, and a Boy in a Room (NG2576), for both of which they had examination reports. The Board approved the treatments proposed.
1.5-1.6. Information has been excluded under s.22, s.36 and s.43 FOI 2000
2. Declarations of Interest:
2.1. Several Trustees recused themselves from discussion under item 5 of the Agenda.
3. Minutes from the meeting held on 25 September and matters arising:
3.1. The Minutes from the meeting held on 25 September were approved.
3.2. There were no matters arising.
4. Loans Out:
4.1. The Jacob Rothschild Head of the Curatorial Department presented the Loans Out paper, which was approved.
5. Information has been excluded under s.22, s.36 and s.43 FOI 2000.
5.1-5.2. Information has been excluded under s.22, s.36 and s.43 FOI 2000.
6. Director’s Report:
6.1. The Director expressed his gratitude to the Board, in particular to the Chair for enabling him to spend time on a research project in Williamstown. He also thanked the Deputy Director and the Director of Collections and Research for deputising for him in his absence
6.2. He gave his presentation which was noted.
7. Information has been excluded under s.22, s.36 and s.43 FOI 2000.
7.1-7.2. Information has been excluded under s.22, s.36 and s.43 FOI 2000.
8. Update on Project Domani:
8.1. The Project Director and Hannah Lawson joined the meeting. The Project Director explained that entries for the design competition had closed and that shortlisting for an architect was ongoing. Once an architect was appointed, the design process would begin. The Board congratulated Hannah Lawson on an excellent design brief.
8.2. Hannah Lawson gave a presentation, which led to some discussion. The Chair said that Trustees would be kept informed about the results of the shortlisting.
9. Management Accounts and Development Report:
9.1. Information has been excluded under s.43 FOI 2000
9.2. The Chief Financial Officer presented the Management Accounts which were noted.
9.3. The Director of Development presented the Development Report which was noted.
10. Report from the Chief Commercial Officer of NGG Ltd:
10.1. The Chair of NGG said that the F&B offer in the Gallery was doing very well, with Supporters’ House now opening later from Tuesday to Friday. He said that venue hire was also performing strongly.
10.2. The Chief Commercial Officer presented some slides focussing on the product range across the site.
11. Committees of the Board and others, reporting since the last Board meeting:
11.1. The Minutes of the Finance Committee held on 16 October were noted.
11.2. The Minutes of the Audit Committee held on 16 October were noted.
11.3. The Minutes of the Corporate and Donations Review Committee were noted.
11.4. The Director of Development gave a verbal update from the meeting held on 6 November.
11.5. The Chair of the Masterplan Committee gave a verbal update from the meeting held on 11 November.
11.6. The Chair of the Nominations Committee gave a verbal update from the meeting held on 11 November.
12. Annual Safeguarding Report:
12.1. The Director of Public Engagement presented the report which was noted.
13. Appointment of Class A AFNGL Directors:
13.1. The Board approved the appointment of Professor Patricia Rubin and the re-appointment of Mark Getty KBE and John Booth CVO, FSA as Class A Directors of AFNGL.
14. AOB
14.1. The Chairman said that this was Diana Berry’s last meeting and thanked her for all her hard work as a Trustee, engaging with every aspect of National Gallery life, in particular with the Articulation programme.
14.2. Diana Berry thanked the Chair and said that it had been an enormous privilege to serve as a Trustee, particularly in the lead up to and during its Bicentenary celebrations.
John Booth
Chair