large hotels, the Hôtel Métropole and the Hôtel Victoria, have been built on the opposite side of Northumberland Avenue. Next door to the Grand Hotel is the Constitutional Club, a handsome building of red and yellow terracotta in the style of the German Renaissance, erected in 1886. At the corner of Northumberland Avenue and Whitehall Place, facing the Thames, is the magnificent new building of the National Liberal Club, opened in 1887. One of the most attractive features of this imposing edifice is the spacious flagged terrace overlooking the Embankment Gardens and the river.

On the W. side of Trafalgar Square, between Cockspur Street and Pall Mall East, is the Union Club (p. 75), adjoining which is the Royal College of Physicians, built by Smirke in 1825, and containing a number of portraits and busts of celebrated London physicians.

Charing Cross (Pl. R, 26, and IV; probably so called from the village of Cherringe which stood here in the 13th cent.), on the S. side of Trafalgar Square, between the Strand and Whitehall, is the principal point of intersection of the omnibus lines of the West End, and the centre of the 4 and 12 miles circles on the Post Office Directory Map. The Equestrian Statue of Charles I., by Le Sueur, which stands here, is remarkable for the vicissitudes it has undergone. It was cast in 1633, but had not yet been erected when the Civil War broke out. It was then sold by the Parliament to a brazier, named John Rivet, for the purpose of being melted down, and this worthy sold pretended fragments of it both to friends and foes of the Stuarts. At the Restoration, however, the statue was produced uninjured, and in 1674 it was erected on the spot where Eleanor's Cross (p. 145) had stood down to 1647. In Hartshorn Lane, an adjoining street, Ben Jonson, when a boy, once lived with his mother and her second husband, a bricklayer.

Among the many street improvements which the Metropolitan Board of Works accomplished before its supersession by the County Council (see p. 69) is CHARING CROSS ROAD, a great and much needed thoroughfare from Charing Cross to Tottenham Court Road, cutting through a number of low streets and alleys to the N. of St. Martin's Church. SHAFTESBURY AVENUE, another wide street opened in 1886, runs from Regent Street to meet the first-mentioned thoroughfare at Cambridge Circus, and is prolonged to New Oxford Street opposite Hart Street, Bloomsbury.

14. The National Gallery.

Among the buildings round Trafalgar Square the principal in point of size, although perhaps not in architectural merit, is the **National Gallery (Pl. R, 26; II), situated on a terrace on the N. side, and erected in 1832-38, at an original cost of 96,000l., on the site of the old King's Mews. The building, designed by Wilkins, is in. the Grecian style, and has a façade 460 ft. in length. The Gallery was considerably altered and enlarged in 1860; an extensive ad

dition (including the central octagon) was made by Mr. E. M. Barry in 1876; and five other rooms, including a gallery 85 ft. long, were opened in 1887. The back of the National Gallery is very plain and unfinished-looking, but the new National Portrait Gallery (see p. 129) is to be erected here, with a façade towards Charing Cross Road. The central staircase leading to the new rooms is intended to be used by entering visitors, while the old staircases, to the right and left, serve as exits.

The nucleus of the Gallery, which was formed by Act of Parliament in 1824, consisted solely of the Angerstein collection of 38 pictures. It has, however, been rapidly and greatly extended by means of donations, legacies, and purchases, and is now composed of some 1300 pictures, about 1100 of which are exhibited in the 22 rooms of the Gallery, while the others are lent to provincial collections. Among the most important additions have been the collections presented or bequeathed by Robert Vernon (1847), J. M. W. Turner (1856), and Wynn Ellis (1876); and the Peel collection, bought in 1871. For a long period part of the building was occupied by the Royal Academy of Arts, which, however, was removed to Burlington House (p. 220) in 1869. The National Collection has since been wholly re-arranged, and is now entirely under one roof. (This is of course quite distinct from the national collections at South Kensington.)

In 1838 the National Gallery was visited on the free days by 550,817 persons, being a daily average of 2635, and on the students' days by 47,934 persons, besides 26,127 students.

From the number of artists represented, the collection in the National Gallery is exceedingly valuable to students of the history of art. The older Italian masters are especially important. The catalogues prepared by Mr. Wornum (d. 1877), the late keeper of the Gallery, and re-issued with corrections and additions by Sir F. W. Burton in 1889 (Foreign Schools 1s., abridgment 6d.; British School 6d.), comprise short biographies of the different artists. Mr. E. T. Cook's 'Popular Handbook to the National Gallery' (MacMillan & Co., 1888) includes an interesting collection of notes on the pictures by Mr. Ruskin and others. See also Dr. J. P. Richter's 'Italian Art in the National Gallery' (1883). Each picture is inscribed with the name of the painter, the year of his birth and death, the school to which he belongs, and the subject represented. The present director is Sir F. W. Burton, and the keeper and secretary is Mr. Charles Eastlake. Photographs of the paintings, by Signor Morelli, are sold in the gallery at prices ranging from 1s. to 10s. Those taken by Braun & Cie., of Dornach and Paris, and by the Berlin Photographic Co. are, however, better; the former (6-12s.) may be obtained at the Autotype Fine Art Gallery, 74 New Oxford Street, while the latter (1s.6d. each, 15s. per dozen) are sold by J. Gerson, 5 Rathbone Place, Oxford Street.

The Gallery is open to the public all the year, free of charge, on Mon., Tues., Wed., and Sat., from 10 to 4, 5, 6, or 7 according to the season; on Thurs. and Frid. (students' days), after 11 o'clock, on payment of 6d. It is closed for cleaning on the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday before Easter Sunday. Sticks and umbrellas are left at the entrance (no charge).

The addition of the new rooms opened in 1887 has enabled the authorities of the Gallery to arrange the pictures in schools, adhering as closely as possible to a chronological order. The main staircase facing us as we enter ascends to Room I., in which begins the series of Italian works. The staircase to the left leads to the Modern British Schools; that on the right to the Older British and the French Schools.

The Hall contains a marble statue of Sir David Wilkie (d. 1841), with his palette let into the pedestal, by Joseph; busts of the painters W. Mulready (d. 1863) and Th. Stothard (d. 1834), by Weekes; and busts of Samuel Johnson (by Baily, after Nollekens), Canning (also by Baily, after Nollekens), Bewick (by Gibson), and Newton (by Baily, after Roubiliac). On the walls are two large landscapes with cattle by James Ward, the Battle of the Borodino by Jones, a forest-scene by Salvator Rosa, and a cast of a bust of Mantegna by Sperandio. At the top of the staircase to the right are busts of Wellington by Nollekens and Scott by Chantrey.

To the left is a staircase descending to a room containing Watercolour Drawings from paintings by early Italian and other masters, published and lent by the Arundel Society. Other rooms contain copies of paintings by Velazquez at Madrid and by Rembrandt at St. Petersburg.

To the right is a flight of steps (with a bronze bust of Napoleon at the top) descending to the collection of Turner's Water-Colours (catalogue by Ruskin 1s.). Two adjoining rooms contain other water-colours (De Wint, Cattermole, etc.), monochrome paintings by Rubens and Van Dyck, crayon studies by Gainsborough, drawings by Wm. Blake, etc. Another room, through which we pass to reach the Turner Collection, contains several paintings belonging to the National Portrait Gallery (p. 129). Among these are two large paintings: The House of Commons in 1793, by Karl Anton Hickel (presented by the Emp. of Austria in 1885), and a fine *Work by Marcus Gheeraedts, representing a group of eleven statesmen, assembled at Somerset House in 1604

The VESTIBULE OF THE MAIN STAIRCASE is roofed by a glass dome and embellished with marble columns and panelling, of green 'cipollino', 'giallo antico', 'pavonazzetto', etc. Here are hung several large paintings of the British School. To the left (W.): 789. Thomas Gainsborough (one of the most eminent of English portrait-painters; d. 1788), Family group; 1228. Fuseli (d. 1825), Titania and Bottom; two groups by Reynolds, lent by the Dilletanti Society; 677. Sir Martin Shee (d. 1850), Portrait of the actor Lewis as the Marquis in the 'Midnight Hour'. To the right (E.): *143. Reynolds, Equestrian portrait of Lord Ligonier; 1146. Sir Henry Raeburn (Scottish School; d. 1823), Portrait of a lady; 144. Sir Thomas Lawrence (d. 1830), Benjamin West, the painter; 681. Reynolds, Capt. Orme; 684. Gainsborough, Dr. Schomberg. In the North Vestibule (see Plan) are three fragments of frescoes (Nos. 1216-1216b) by Spinello Aretino (Tuscan School; d. 1410), three frescoes (Nos. 766, 767, 1215) by Domenico Veneziano (d. 1461), and nine interesting Greek portraits of the 2nd and 3rd cent. from mummies found in the Fayoum. A mummy with a portrait of this kind may be seen at the British Museum; p. 251.]

Room I., a handsome new room, lighted from above, is devoted to the TUSCAN SCHOOL. Above the doors are bronze medallions of Rubens, Titian, and Rembrandt. To the left: 1150. Attributed to Pontormo (Carucci; d. 1557), Portrait; 21. Cristofano Allori (1577-1621), Portrait; *592. Ascribed to Filippino Lippi, Adoration of the Magi (more probably a masterpiece of Botticelli, but freely retouched); 727. Pesellino (early Florentine School; d. 1457), Trinità, the largest work of this rare master; *1282. Jacopo Chimenti da Empoli (1554-1640), San Zenobio restoring a dead child to life; 1143. Ridolfo Ghirlandajo (Florence, follower of Leon. da Vinci; d. 1561), Procession to Mt. Calvary; 17. A. del Sarto (the greatest Florentine colourist; d. 1531), Holy Family; 809. Ascribed to Michael Angelo (d. 1564; probably by Granacci), Madonna and Infant Christ, with John the Baptist and angels (in tempera, on wood; unfinished); 790. Michael Angelo, Entombment (unfinished and youthful work, very primitive in colouring).

*296. A. Pollajuolo (?, Florentine painter, sculptor, and engraver; d. 1498), Virgin adoring the Infant Christ.

This painting is executed with great carefulness, but the conception of the forms and proportions is hardly worthy of a master of the first rank, such as Verrocchio, to whom some critics assign the work. The utmost that we can assert with safety is that it is by a Florentine master.

704. Bronzino, Cosimo de' Medici; 1194. Marcello Venusti (d. ca. 1570), Jesus expelling the money-changers from the Temple; 652. Francesco Rossi (1510-63), Charity; 1227. Venusti, Holy Family; *593. Lorenzo di Credi (Florence, pupil of Verrocchio at the same time as Leonardo da Vinci; d. 1537), Madonna and Child.

*292. Pollajuolo, Martyrdom of St. Sebastian.

This picture was the altarpiece of the Pucci chapel, in the church of San Sebastiano de' Servi at Florence, and according to Vasari is the artist's masterpiece. The lower parts have been retouched.

648. Credi, Virgin adoring the Infant (in his best style); 781. School of Verrocchio (?), The archangel Raphael and Tobias; *293. Filippino Lippi (d. 1504), Madonna and Child, with SS. Jerome and Dominic, a large picture with predelle; 1035. Franciabigio (Florence, follower of A. del Sarto; d. 1524), A Knight of Malta. 1131. Pontormo, Joseph and his Brethren; according to Vasari, the boy seated on the steps, with a basket, is a portrait of Bronzino. 650. Bronzino, Portrait; 1124. Filippino Lippi, Adoration of the Magi.

*1093. Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Madonna and Child, with John the Baptist and an angel, an altered replica of 'La Vierge aux Rochers' in the Louvre, bought from the Earl of Suffolk in 1881 for 9000l. (perhaps a copy by a pupil).

670. Bronzino, Knight of St. Stephen; 649. Ascribed to Pontormo, Portrait of a boy, in the style of Bronzino; *690. Andrea del Sarto, Portrait, a masterpiece of chiaroscuro; 698. Piero di Cosimo (pupil and assistant of Cosimo Rosselli; d. ca. 1521), Death of Procris, in a beautiful landscape. 651. Bronzino, Venus, Cupid, Folly, and Time, an allegory, an unpleasant, cold, and stony work.

'Bronzino painted a picture of remarkable beauty, which was sent into France to King Francis. In this picture was pourtrayed a naked Venus together with Cupid, who was kissing her. On the one side were Pleasure and Mirth, with other Powers of Love, and on the other Deceit, Jealousy, and other Passions of Love.' Vasari.

*915. Sandro Botticelli (d. 1510), Mars and Venus; 8. After Michael Angelo, A dream of human life.

On a screen: 645. Albertinelli (d. 1515), Madonna and Child; 275. School of Botticelli, Madonna and Child, a circular picture in a fine old frame; 928. Pollajuolo, Apollo and Daphne.

Room II. SIENESE SCHOOL. To the left: 1109. Buonacorso (14th cent.), Marriage of the Virgin; 1113. P. Lorenzetti (d. 1350), Legendary scene; 247. Matteo di Giovanni da Siena (d. 1495), Ecce Homo; 246. Girolamo del Pacchia (d. after 1535), Madonna and Child; 591. Benozzo Gozzoli (pupil of Fra Angelico; d. 1498), Rape of Helen; 1108. Early Sienese School, Virgin enthroned, with saints. Duccio di Buoninsegna (founder of the school of Siena; d. about 1339), 1140. Christ healing the blind; 1139. Annunciation. 1199. Florentine School of the 15th cent., Madonna and Child, with John the Baptist and an angel; 218. Baldassare Peruzzi (Siena; d. 1537), Adoration of the Magi (portraits of Titian, Raphael, and Michael Angelo); 248. School of Filippo Lippi, Vision of St. Bernard; 227. Rosselli (d. 1507), St. Jerome. 283. Benozzo Gozzoli, Virgin

and Child enthroned, with saints.

'The original contract for this picture, dated 23d Oct. 1461, is still preserved; it was published in Florence in 1855. The figure of the Virgin is in this contract specially directed to be made similar in mode, form, and ornaments to the Virgin Enthroned, in the picture over the high altar of San Marco, Florence, by Fra Giovanni (Angelico) da Fiesole, and now in the Academy there'. Catalogue.

*663. Fra Angelico (d. 1455), Christ with the banner of the Resurrection, surrounded by a crowd of saints, martyrs, and Dominicans, 'so beautiful', says Vasari, 'that they appear to be truly beings of Paradise'; 586. Pupil of Fiorenzo di Lorenzo, Madonna enthroned. - *566. Duccio di Buoninsegna, Madonna and Child.

'A genuine picture, which illustrates how well the master could vivify Byzantine forms with tender feeling'. 1138. Andrea del Castagno (early Florentine School; d. 1457), Crucifixion; 582. Fra Angelico (school-piece), The Magi; 1155. Matteo di Giovanni, Assumption; 1147. Ambrogio Lorenzetti (Siena;