The London Traveler

If you’re intending to visit the National Gallery you may be interested in an audio tour with a difference.

Former Director Charles Saumarez Smith chose his favourite paintings in the gallery and narrates the tour himself. He also gets members of staff to comment on the works – for instance the head of the Conservation department tells how difficult it is to look after a Van Gogh properly.

And if you found that fascinating, there’s a separate tour all about conservation issues. It includes the detective work that proves the ‘Cosimo Tura’ allegory was actually started by another artist – and tells you why Turner’s home-made paints and varnishes make him a painting restorer’s nightmare.

I did find some of the audio clips a little short to take a really good look at the paintings. But they do point out interesting aspects of the works; for instance the way Poussin’s dancing figures seem frozen in time, and the way Tiepolo’s allegory of Venus and Time is focused on the tiny figure of the child Aeneas.

You can pick up an audio tour at one of a number of audio desks in the gallery. Or if you’d like to try out some examples, download them from the links in this post, and listen to them on your mp3 player.

Or of course, you could just listen to them on your computer while looking at the photos of the paintings – though it’s not quite the same as seeing the real thing.

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