1 Arthur's Seat
2 Dynamic Earth
3 Edinburgh Castle
4 Museum of Scotland
5 National Gallery of Scotland
6 The New Town
7 Palace of Holyroodhouse
8 Royal Botanic Garden
9 The Royal Mile
10 Scott Monument
Superb Old Master and Scottish paintings, displayed in sumptuously decorated galleries, make the National Gallery a draw for all visitors.
Perhaps the greatest charm of the National Gallery of Scotland is its size, for this comprehensive and high-quality collection can be enjoyed in a leisurely hour or two. Housed in a splendid classical revival building designed by William Playfair in 1848, it spans the history of European painting from the Italian Renaissance to French Impressionism. Many rooms are decorated to Playfair's original colour scheme, and contain fine examples of furniture contemporaneous with the artistic movements.
Italian Renaissance pictures include a lovely Madonna and Child by Verrocchio and Raphael's Bridgwater Madonna, part of the Duke of Sutherland's collection. The loan of this painting in 1946 helped give the National Gallery international significance. Northern Renaissance pictures includes Hugo van der Goes' Trinity altarpiece, commissioned in the 15th century for an Edinburgh church. Titian and Tintoretto represent Venice, El Greco and Velazquez Spain - look out for the superb and tactile picture entitled An Old Woman Cooking Eggs, where you can practically feel the egg shell. Works by French artists include Poussin's cerebral and detached cycle of the Seven Sacraments, and some superb Impressionist pictures glowing with light. There are also German, Flemish and Dutch works, all of great quality. Leave time to enjoy the Scottish collection, housed in an underground extension, built in the 1970s. This concentrates mainly on 18th- and 19th-century artists such as Allan Ramsay, David Wilkie and Henry Raeburn; the latter's engaging portrait, The Reverend Robert Walker Skating , is among the gallery's most popular pictures.Address: The Mound
Phone: 0131 624 6200; recorded information 0131 332 2266
Open: Mon-Sat 10-5; Sun 2-5. Closed 25 Dec
Restaurant: Café Inexpensive
Bus: 4, 21, 24, 63
Accessible: Excellent but no access to room A1
Admission: Free
Other: The Mound; Princes Street; Princes Street Gardens; Royal Scottish Academy; Scott Monument
Practical: Lectures and changing exhibitions; see Bulletin of the National Galleries of Scotland, published bi-monthly and available from the gallery
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