Listen

Description

EARL A. POWELL III:
Hello, I’m Earl Powell, director of the National Gallery. I’m delighted you decided to join us today, and I hope that The Director’s Tour will make your experience here a richer one. It covers a wide variety of works from our Permanent Collection, including many of our best-loved paintings. They range from the 15th through the early 20th centuries. When you find an object you’d like to hear about, you may hear my voice, or the voices of curators or other experts here at the National Gallery – the people who know these works of art best of all.

Right now you should be standing in the Rotunda of the West Building, with its big circular fountain. When the National Gallery opened in 1941, this was its only building. It was really the last great neoclassical structure built in the United States, and it’s certainly one of the most majestic. It was a gift to the Nation from the great financier and art collector Andrew Mellon. He was the first of several founders who donated works of art to begin this extraordinary collection. In 1991 we celebrated the National Gallery’s 50th anniversary. Over the years, many other generous benefactors have given us objects, sharing their discerning eye and passion for collecting with the American people and visitors from all over the world.

The dome above you was modeled by the American architect John Russell Pope after the Pantheon, a classical temple dedicated to the gods in ancient Rome. He hoped it would bring to mind the scale and majesty of European architecture, and it certainly does. The model provided classical proportions, a grand coffered ceiling and a sweeping space that provides a focus for the whole building. It was an ideal inspiration because the Gallery itself is a pantheon – dedicated not to gods, but to artists.

You’ll find a painting showing the interior of the original Pantheon here in the National Gallery. It’s by the Italian artist Giovanni Paolo Panini who painted many such views as souvenirs for the wealthy tourists who flocked to Italy in the 18th century.

From this Rotunda, the West Building extends in two symmetrical wings. Their galleries are filled with masterpieces of European and American art. They are waiting for you -- so please, set off in any direction you’d like. You’ll find Director’s Tour numbers near the labels of many objects.