The National Gallery, London

• Part of the Director’s Choice Series, a personal and engaging guide with a unique approach to the works in one of the most important collections in the world
• Showcases well-known masterpieces as well as lesser-known works

The National Gallery in London is home to one of the greatest collections of Western European painting in the world, from the late medieval period to the beginning of the 20th century. Raphael and Titian, Rembrandt and Rubens, Poussin and Claude, Velázquez and Goya, Hogarth and Turner – these are just a few of the great masters whose works are represented in this remarkable institution. Today, the National Gallery is one of the top five tourist attractions in the United Kingdom. Each year, more than four million people explore the gallery’s impressive collections, including its renowned holdings in Italian Renaissance art and 17th-century Dutch and Flemish painting. Nicholas Penny has with great difficulty selected 37 paintings from the abundantly rich collection in his care, explaining why he believes them to be especially beautiful or memorable.

Dr Nicholas Penny has been Director of the National Gallery, London, since Spring 2008. He was Keeper of the Department of Western art at the Ashmolean Museum before joining the National Gallery as Clore Curator of Renaissance Painting in 1990. In 2002, he was appointed Senior Curator of Sculpture at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.