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Issued February 2023

ÁùºÏ²ÊÔ¤²â today announces the partner venues taking part in National Treasures, 12 displays of loaned paintings all opening on 10 May 2024, the 200th birthday of the ÁùºÏ²ÊÔ¤²â.

'National Treasures' is a key strand of the programme celebrating the Gallery’s Bicentenary. Each partner venue will receive a masterpiece from the Gallery’s collection and will curate around it, involving interpretation, community engagement and events, or exhibitions. For the duration of the displays, 35 million people - more than half the UK population - will be within an hour’s journey of a ÁùºÏ²ÊÔ¤²â masterpiece​.

The partners and the paintings they are receiving are:

• , Oxford, The Wilton Diptych (about 1395‒9)
• , Self Portrait at the Age of 34 (1640), Rembrandt (1606‒1669)
• , The Hay Wain (1821), John Constable (1776‒1837)
• , Cambridge, Venus and Mars (about 1485), Sandro Botticelli (about 1445-1510)
• , Birmingham, Self Portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria (about 1615‒17), Artemisia Gentileschi (1593‒1654 or later)
• , Newcastle, The Fighting Temeraire (1839), Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851)
• , The Umbrellas (about 1881‒6), Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841‒1919)
• , Aberystwyth, The Stonemason’s Yard (about 1725), Canaletto (1697‒1768)
• , Edinburgh, A Young Woman standing at a Virginal (about 1670‒2), Johannes Vermeer (1632‒1675)
• , Belfast, The Supper at Emmaus (1601), Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571‒1610)
• , Liverpool, The Rokeby Venus (1647‒51), Diego Velázquez (1599‒1660)
• , The Water-Lily Pond (1899), Claude Monet (1840‒1926)

Two works – The Wilton Diptych and Botticelli’s Venus and Mars – will be leaving the ÁùºÏ²ÊÔ¤²â’s collection for the first time since their acquisitions, in 1929 and 1874 respectively. The partner venues are currently developing plans to curate exhibitions, events, and digital interventions to showcase their works. Some are exploring the industries represented in the paintings and how they link to their own histories and communities; others are using the display opportunity to bring new audiences to their local cultural hubs. The paintings will be loaned for between two and four months, with the final displays concluding on 10 September 2024.

The opening of National Treasures around the UK kickstarts a year of Bicentenary celebrations, where three strands of activities showcase the Gallery across the nation; to the community in Trafalgar Square; and to virtual visitors around the world. The ambitious programme showcases the breadth of skill and creativity in the UK cultural sector and is just as much about looking ahead to the next 200 years in the Gallery’s future as it is about celebrating its past. Concluding the celebrations in May 2025 will be the opening of the new Sainsbury Wing developments in Trafalgar Square.

Christine Riding, Jacob Rothschild Head of the Curatorial Department, says, ‘We thought carefully about where to send these most iconic and well-loved paintings in our collection. As well as being able to look after these works to an extremely high standard, we approached our partners for National Treasures because of their exciting ideas and brilliant reputations within their community. We are very excited to see the interpretation and audiences that our partners will bring to these most treasured paintings.’

Gabriele Finaldi, Director of the ÁùºÏ²ÊÔ¤²â, says, ‘In our Bicentenary year, we want to reaffirm our role as the nation’s gallery. Our collection belongs to the UK public and we’re very pleased to work with such an exciting range of partner venues to help realise this. These exhibitions provide a unique opportunity for people all over the country to see up close some of the greatest works from the history of Western art – and we hope that many visitors will discover their local museums and be inspired to visit us in Trafalgar Square to see even more of our collection.’

Arts and Heritage Minister, Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay, says, ‘Everyone should have access to our country's great treasures, no matter where they live. I'm delighted that these masterpieces will be going on display in galleries across the nation so more people can enjoy and be inspired by the ÁùºÏ²ÊÔ¤²â's world-class collections.’

Notes to editors

From 6 February 2023, prints of all the paintings going on tour as part of National Treasures are available to buy from a dedicated section in our online shop. Visit

ÁùºÏ²ÊÔ¤²â is one of the greatest art galleries in the world. Founded by Parliament in 1824, the Gallery houses the nation’s collection of paintings in the Western European tradition from the late 13th to the early 20th century. The collection includes works by Bellini, Cézanne, Degas, Leonardo, Monet, Raphael, Rembrandt, Renoir, Rubens, Titian, Turner, Van Dyck, Van Gogh and Velázquez. The Gallery’s key objectives are to enhance the collection, care for the collection and provide the best possible access to visitors. Admission free. More at

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