The renewed but also altered Sainsbury wing of the National Gallery in London opens to the public on
Saturday May 11. It will be the new public entrance to the entire gallery (the original rooms of which
have also been rehung. Of the latter I have seen nothing yet. It was the Sainsbury wing I was in a rush to
visit. Why? Because of Piera della Francesca's Baptism (above).
"It is the reason I am glad I came to live in London, " I told a sympathetic art historian and curator I
knew.
"You can't mean it," he said.
"Oh I do."
Irrational? Over the top? Obviously, not the way I see it. And see is the crucial word here. I could
never be a curator or an art critic, for that matter. There is a lot I just don't see. I mention this as
a fact and not, as I see it, a handicap. Writing about what I do has kept me pretty busy and there is no
danger of running out of material as far as I can tell.
When the Baptism was moved out of the alcove designed especially to house it (and other works by
Piero) to hang next to a Uccello, I wrote a letter of protest to the gallery's Director. He explained his
curator's reason for doing this. It was in the tiresome, unimaginative curators' "compare and contrast"
slot. Ah but worse was to come when it along with all the works in the wing were moved into the old
building for the Sainsbury's redoing.
The years that Piero has been in the old rooms of the NG were years of exile for me as well.
Okay okay. But on to now because while the Baptism means more to me than any other painting in
the Sainsbury wing, it has been home to many other moving, magnificent works of art and the very
good news is they are all home again and home has never looked so good.
There are other treats, too. Locatelli has a cafe in a corner of the vast new entrance and
restaurant/bar on the Mezzanine. For the latter, reservations are possible but most tables will be
available for walk ins. Hurray. The views over Trafalgar Square are terrific as no doubt the food will
be, too.
The new entrance is expansive; vast by design. It needs to be because of the anticipated crowds
because it is to be the main entrance of the National Gallery. Sigh. Yes, the visitor experience will
improve. And yes more visitors will had least walk through the rooms of the Sainsbury wing and
glimpse the art on its walls and in its new vitrines. Well, I am not going to complain about the shuffling
hordes that may result. And who knows maybe they will speed on to the Impressionists. Why
anticipate losses where there are so many gains, including the new visitors for whom one or another
painting in the Sainsbury wing will become as important as the Baptism has been to me.
