London's National Gallery contains one of the finest collections of Western European art in the world. You may find most of the world here on a busy day, but "the National" seems able to absorb the crowds. The collection is displayed chronologically in four wings: the Sainsbury Wing , West Wing , North Wing and East Wing. You will need a floor plan to navigate. Portable CD players are available (for a suggested donation); the Gallery Guide Soundtrack provides guidance and commentaries. There are also daily guided tours.
Among the highlights not to miss are: the Leonardo da Vinci cartoon The Virgin and Child with St. Anne andjobn the Baptist; da Vinci's accompanying Virgin of the Rocks; Sandro Botticelli's Venus and Mars; Titian's vivid and agile Bacchus and Ariadne ; Jan van Eyck's The Arno-ini Portrait; Diego Velázquez’s sensual The Rokehy of Venus; Rembrandt's haunting Self-Portrait; and Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers.
Head for the North Wing's octagonal Room 15, where glorious works by the great landscape painters Claude Lorrain and J. M. W. Turner are displayed. Head to the east wing for Room 34, the Sackler Room, where you are surrounded by the works of English masters such as Thomas Gainsborough, Sir Joshua Reynolds and John Constable.
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