How To See The National Gallery’s Newly Refurbished Sainsbury Wing

Though it has been closed since February 2023, The National Gallery’s Sainsbury Wing is paramount to the world-class museum, which houses more than 2,300 paintings from the British collection. Two years later, visitors are finally being invited back to see the refurbished entrance hall – and it’s all about light, space and views. Here’s what you need to know.

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Inside The National Gallery’s Newly Refurbished Sainsbury Wing

View of the Grand Staircase with the Rotunda and Jubilee Walk (© The National Gallery, London/ Edmund Sumner)

The History

The current site of the National Gallery on Trafalgar Square dates back to 1838 when it was first opened to the British public after six years of construction. Designed by William Wilkins, its iconic facade features Romanesque pillars and a stately dome, looming over Trafalgar Square and, along with the National Portrait Gallery, stretching the full length of the square’s northern edge. But The Sainsbury Wing – named for its benefactors, John, Simon and Timothy Sainsbury of supermarket fame – didn’t open until 1991, when Queen Eizabeth II opened the Gallery’s new extension, which replaced a derelict WWII bomb site, welcomed visitors into the gallery via a new route and was destined to house the collection’s Renaissance paintings.

‘From the outset, the Sainsbury Wing had been planned as a space where the Gallery could breathe new life into the display of its outstanding collection of early Renaissance paintings,’ the National Gallery explains. ‘The public could now view the earliest paintings in the collection in a broadly chronological sequence in which pictures from southern and northern Europe were no longer separated but were placed in adjoining rooms. These paintings, mostly religious and devotional pictures or early portraiture, could now be enjoyed in a series of galleries whose interiors are reminiscent of the Italian churches in which many of them would originally have been housed.’

The Wing’s 30th anniversary was commemorated in 2021 but, come 2023, a change was in sight…

Sainsbury Wing Grand Staircase (© The National Gallery, London/Edmund Sumner)

The Renovation

The Sainsbury Wing is reopening in May 2025 following a two year refurbishment, concluding the National Gallery’s year-long bicentenary celebrations (which began in May 2024). Visitors familiar with the Wing will notice sensitive renovations to the facade, foyer and first floor, all masterminded by Selldorf Architects and Purcell.

A more spacious entrance with a double-height foyer welcomes visitors into The National Gallery, where clear-glass stairs and huge windows bring the shining outdoor sun into the museum. On the wall, a 12-metre wide screen zooms into the collection’s paintings in incredible, 16K detail, while the scent of coffee wafts across the room thanks to the brand new espresso bar, Bar Giorgio, masterminded by Giorgio Locatelli.

Upstairs on the mezzanine level, another eatery – the eponymous Locatelli – is flanked by a new bookshop as well as meeting and event spaces and a bar with views onto Trafalgar Square. ‘The remodelled ground floor and mezzanine floor now provide a much larger and more welcoming entrance for the millions of visitors expected every year; a fitting introduction to the magnificent gallery spaces which remain unchanged,’ describes Sir Timothy Sainsbury.

Beneath the foyer, on the lower-ground floor, the Gallery’s theatre – now named the Piggot Theatre – has been refurbished with a new colour scheme and increased comfort and accessibility.

The new bar at Locatelli on the Mezzanine (© The National Gallery, London/Edmund Sumner)

What’s Inside The National Gallery’s Sainsbury Wing?

As for paintings, the Sainsbury Wing is home to the earliest paintings in the National Gallery’s collection. This includes:

• Piero della Francesca’s Baptism of Christ, in a special, chapel-like room specifically designed for the work
• The San Pier Maggiore Altarpiece displayed in a newly built frame
• Paolo Uccello’s The Battle of San Romano, back after a three-year restoration process
• A glistening themed room where all of the works are gathered under a commonality: the colour gold.

It’s all part of The National Gallery’s major rehang, titled The Wonder of Art, which concludes the 200th anniversary and paves the way for future centuries of accessible art.

The Pigott Theatre (© The National Gallery, London/Edmund Sumner)

What Is The Wonder Of Art?

With the renovation of the Sainsbury Wing comes a major rehang across the National Gallery, titled The Wonder of Art. More than 1,000 of the collection’s paintings spanning 800 years are joined by new acquisitions, commissions and loans, and presented with surprising interventions and juxtapositions.

Visitors are invited to explore the gallery at their own pace, perusing the rooms intuitively. Alternatively, the Gallery’s new guide suggests two routes: one centring on gold, devotion and power in the Sainsbury Wing; and the other channelling light, visions, vistas and the development of Western European painting, from the radical innovations of the Renaissance to the light-capturing techniques of Impressionism.

‘The National Gallery is one of the best loved members of our family of national Museums,’ says the UK’s Arts Minister, Chris Bryant. ‘It’s a delight to see any family member get a makeover, and this is no exception. The new entrance will offer the best welcome anyone could imagine. And having seen some of the rehang, I know everybody will be amazed. I’m particularly grateful to the donors who have so generously supported this, enabling the Gallery to reimagine its space, reinterpret its collection, and open the doors wider to all communities.’

While the rehang is still chronological, the Gallery will introduce new threads to elucidate artistic techniques and movements to visitors. This includes:

• New rooms dedicated entirely to the collection’s most recognisable artists, including Claude Monet, Titian, Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony von Dyck, Rembrandt and Thomas Gainsborough
• Themed rooms exploring the likes of oil sketches and pastels
• Inspired pairings drawing connections across time, including Rubens’s Portrait of Susanna Lunden (‘Le Chapeau de Paille’) with Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun’s Self Portrait in a Straw Hat, as well as Titian’s Portrait of Gerolamo Barbarigo and Rembrandt’s Self Portrait at the Age of 34.

Visitors can also expect works that have been stored away for many years, alongside new acquisitions made during the Bicentenary year.

At its core, the Sainsbury Wing’s rehang is all about accessibility. In our 2025 issue of Great British Brands, Per Rumberg (the National Gallery’s head of curatorial) and James Beardsworth-Shaw (head of loyalty services) told us: ‘We are celebrating our bicentenary by looking forward to the next 20 decades. We want to ensure that much of our offering remains free and attracts new, diverse audiences. It’s essential the gallery does not feel intimidating, removed from peoples’ lives. So, we are developing a major rehang of the collection, called The Wonder of Art, which will open in May 2025 to coincide with the reopening of the transformed Sainsbury Wing, after more than two years of renovations.

‘Our collection was built on telling the story of painting in the Western tradition, starting with 13th-century Italian paintings,’ they explain. ‘Although we will continue to present the collection chronologically, the progression of painting is not necessarily linear so we wanted to address why we look at paintings, what they can do for us and how we look at them today. We have introduced thematic rooms: for example, one is about the use of gold, another about the impact of portraiture, or how artists are inspiring each other.

‘The first beautiful room in the Sainsbury Wing will feature a powerful selection of paintings, including Leonardo’s Virgin of the Rocks and Michelangelo’s “Manchester Madonna”, inviting our visitors to explore The Wonder of Art,’ Per and James added. ‘Visitors will be able to access information about the collection in multiple ways: from new written interpretation on the walls to scanning paintings with their smartphones for more in-depth digital content.’

View from Bar Giorgio (© The National Gallery, London/Edmund Sumner)

When Can I See It?

The Sainsbury Wing at The National Gallery will be open to the public from Saturday 10 May 2025.

‘From 10 May, The Sainsbury Wing will be the main entrance to the National Gallery,’ says the gallery’s director, Sir Gabriele Finaldi. ‘Thanks to the reimagining of the exterior and interior spaces by architect Annabelle Selldorf, millions of visitors will be welcomed into the newly configured and subtly refurbished spaces, double height and brightly lit, and en route to exploring the Gallery’s superb painting collection from Giotto to Monet.’

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Do I Need A Ticket?

No, you do not need a ticket to visit The National Gallery, and this includes the brand new Sainsbury Wing, which will be the standard entrance from 10 May 2025. Entry is free to all, though some exhibitions require a paid-for ticket.

That said, advanced booking is recommended to reduce waiting time; booking a ticket online is free and guarantees fast-track entry. Book at nationalgallery.org.uk

The National Gallery is open daily from 10am to 6pm, closing at the later time of 9pm on Fridays.

Address: Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 5DN