The National Gallery ( el, Εθνική Πινακοθήκη, ''Ethniki Pinakothiki'') is an

art museum An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own Collection (artwork), collection. It might be in public or private ownership and may be accessible to all or have restrictions in place. ...

located on Vasilissis Sofias avenue in the

Pangrati Pangrati or Pagrati ( el, Παγκράτι) is a neighborhood in Central Athens, Greece, having an estimated population of 35,173 residents. Named after the ancient sanctuary of Hercules Pancrates ("All Powerful"), its frontage runs from Vasil ...

district, Athens, Greece. It is devoted to Greek and European art from the 14th century to the 20th century. The newly renovated building reopened after an 8 year refurbishment, on 24 March 2021, a day before the 200th anniversary of the

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. The Greeks were later assisted ...

History

It was established in 1878 as a small collection of 117 works exhibited at the Athens University. In 1896,

Alexandros Soutzos Alexandros Soutzos (, , 1758 – January 18/19, 1821, Bucharest) was a Phanariote Greek who ruled as Prince of Moldavia (July 10, 1801 – October 1, 1802 and Prince of Wallachia (July 2, 1802 – August 30, 1802; August 24, 1806 – October 15, ...

, a jurist and art lover, bequeathed his collection and estate to the

Greek Government Greece is a parliamentary representative democratic republic, where the President of Greece is the head of state and the Prime Minister of Greece is the head of government within a multi-party system. Legislative power is vested in both the ...

aspiring to the creation of an art museum. The museum opened in 1900 and the first curator was

Georgios Jakobides Georgios Jakobides (Γεώργιος Ιακωβίδης; 11 January 1853 – 13 December 1932) was a painter and one of the main representatives of the Greek artistic movement of the Munich School. He founded and was the first curator of the N ...

, a famous Greek painter who was a member of the

Munich School Munich School ( el, Σχολή του Μονάχου) is the name given to a group of painters who worked in Munich or were trained at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Munich (german: Münchner Akademie der Bildenden Künste) between 1850 and 19 ...

artistic movement. After World War II the works began for a new building. After relocating the sculptures in the new National Glyptotheque, there is a discussion to renovate the main building and to build a new wing.

Directors

Georgios Iakovidis Georgios Jakobides (Γεώργιος Ιακωβίδης; 11 January 1853 – 13 December 1932) was a painter and one of the main representatives of the Greek artistic movement of the Munich School. He founded and was the first curator of the Na ...

(1900-1918) *

Zacharias Papantoniou Zacharias Papantoniou ( el, Ζαχαρίας Παπαντωνίου, ''Zacharias Papandoniou'') was a Greek writer. He was born in Karpenissi of Evrytania in February 1877 and died in Athens in 1940. He spent the first years of his life in Grani ...

(1918-1940) * Georgios Stratigos (1940-1944) * Dimitrios Evangelidis (1945-1947) * Nikolaos Bertos (1947-1949) * Marinos Kalligas (1949-1971) * Andreas Ioannou (1971-1972) * Dimitris Papastamos (1972-1989) * Maria Michaelidou (1990-1991) * Marina Lampraki-Plaka (1992-2022) * Syrago Tsiara (2022- present)

Collections

The gallery exhibitions are mainly focused on

post-Byzantine Cretan School describes an important school of icon painting, under the umbrella of post-Byzantine art, which flourished while Crete was under Venetian rule during the late Middle Ages, reaching its climax after the Fall of Constantinople, becomi ...

Greek Art Greek art began in the Cycladic and Minoan civilization, and gave birth to Western classical art in the subsequent Geometric, Archaic and Classical periods (with further developments during the Hellenistic Period). It absorbed influences of ...

. The gallery owns and exhibits also an extensive collection of European artists. Particularly valuable is the collection of paintings from the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass id ...

Renaissance

Joachim Beuckelaer Joachim Beuckelaer (c. 1533 – c. 1570/4) was a Flemish painter specialising in market and kitchen scenes with elaborate displays of food and household equipment. He also painted still lifes with no figures in the central scene.

''Market Scene'' *

Jan Brueghel the Younger Jan Brueghel (also Bruegel or Breughel) the Younger (, ; ; 13 September 1601 – 1 September 1678) was a Flemish Baroque painter. He was the son of Jan Brueghel the Elder, and grandson of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, both prominent painters who ...

''The Virgin in Paradise'' *

Jan Brueghel the Elder Jan Brueghel (also Bruegel or Breughel) the Elder (, ; ; 1568 – 13 January 1625) was a Flemish painter and draughtsman. He was the son of the eminent Flemish Renaissance painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder. A close friend and frequent collabora ...

* Dürer *

El Greco Domḗnikos Theotokópoulos ( el, Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος ; 1 October 1541 7 April 1614), most widely known as El Greco ("The Greek"), was a Greek painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. "El ...

''The Concert of the Angels'', ''Christ on the Cross with the Two Maries and St John'', ''Saint Peter'' *

Luca Giordano Luca Giordano (18 October 1634 – 3 January 1705) was an Italian late- Baroque painter and printmaker in etching. Fluent and decorative, he worked successfully in Naples and Rome, Florence, and Venice, before spending a decade in Spain. Ea ...

''Esther and Ahasuerus'' *

Jacob Jordaens Jacob (Jacques) Jordaens (19 May 1593 – 18 October 1678) was a Flemish people, Flemish painter, Drawing, draughtsman and tapestry designer known for his history paintings, genre scenes and portraits. After Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyc ...

''The Adoration of the Shepherds'' * Zanino di Pietro ''Virgin with Child and Angels'' * Jacopo del Sellaio ''Saint Jerome in the desert'' *

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo Giovanni Battista Tiepolo ( , ; March 5, 1696 – March 27, 1770), also known as Giambattista (or Gianbattista) Tiepolo, was an Italian painter and printmaker from the Republic of Venice who painted in the Rococo style, considered an impor ...

''Eliezer and Rebecca'', ''The Agony in the Garden'' * Lorenzo Veneziano ''Crucifixion'' * David Vinckeboons ''Wine Harvest''

17th-20th century

Ivan Aivazovsky Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky (russian: link=no, Иван Константинович Айвазовский; 29 July 18172 May 1900) was a Russian Romantic painter who is considered one of the greatest masters of marine art. Baptized a ...

''Burning of the Turkish flagship'' *

Pieter Aertsen Pieter Aertsen (1508 – 2 June 1575), called ''Lange Piet'' ("Tall Pete") because of his height, was a Dutch painter in the style of Northern Mannerism. He is credited with the invention of the monumental genre scene, which combines still lif ...

* Jacob Beschey ''Moses Drawing Water from the Rock'' *

Braque Georges Braque ( , ; 13 May 1882 – 31 August 1963) was a major 20th-century French painter, collagist, draughtsman, printmaker and sculptor. His most notable contributions were in his alliance with Fauvism from 1905, and the role he play ...

Antoine Bourdelle Antoine Bourdelle (30 October 1861 – 1 October 1929), born Émile Antoine Bordelles, was an influential and prolific French sculptor and teacher. He was a student of Auguste Rodin, a teacher of Giacometti and Henri Matisse, and an important ...

Canaletto Giovanni Antonio Canal (18 October 1697 – 19 April 1768), commonly known as Canaletto (), was an Italian painter from the Republic of Venice, considered an important member of the 18th-century Venetian school. Painter of city views or ...

Raffaello Ceccoli Raffaello, Raffaele or Raffaellino is an Italian given name. It usually refers to Raphael (a.k.a. Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino), an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. Raffaello may also refer to: * Raffaello (confection), a confe ...

Cecco del Caravaggio Cecco del Caravaggio (active – mid-1620s), is the notname given to a painter who worked in Rome in the early decades of the 17th century and was an important early follower of Caravaggio (1571–1610). In the past art historians have sugges ...

''Youth with musical instruments'' *

Eugène Delacroix Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix ( , ; 26 April 1798 – 13 August 1863) was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school.Noon, Patrick, et al., ''Crossing the Channel: British ...

''Mounted Greek Warrior'' *

Henri Fantin-Latour Henri Fantin-Latour (14 January 1836 – 25 August 1904) was a French painter and lithographer best known for his flower paintings and group portraits of Parisian artists and writers. Biography He was born Ignace Henri Jean Théodore Fantin-Lat ...

''Still Life'' * Jacques Linard ''Still Life'' *

Claude Lorrain Claude Lorrain (; born Claude Gellée , called ''le Lorrain'' in French; traditionally just Claude in English; c. 1600 – 23 November 1682) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher of the Baroque Painting, Baroque era. He spent most ...

Albert Marquet Albert Marquet (27 March 1875 – 14 June 1947) was a French painter, associated with the Fauvist movement. He initially became one of the Fauve painters and a lifelong friend of Henri Matisse. Marquet subsequently painted in a more natural ...

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, and sculptur ...

* Willem van Mieris ''Lady with the Parrot'' *

Piet Mondrian Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan (), after 1906 known as Piet Mondrian (, also , ; 7 March 1872 – 1 February 1944), was a Dutch painter and art theoretician who is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. He is known for being o ...

''Landscape with a mill'' * Antony Francis van der Meulen *

Francesco Pize Francesco, the Italian (and original) version of the personal name "Francis", is the most common given name among males in Italy. Notable persons with that name include: People with the given name Francesco * Francesco I (disambiguation), sever ...

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th century, he is ...

''Composition'' * Piranesi *

Francis Picabia Francis Picabia (: born Francis-Marie Martinez de Picabia; 22January 1879 – 30November 1953) was a French avant-garde painter, poet and typographist. After experimenting with Impressionism and Pointillism, Picabia became associated with Cubism ...

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally co ...

* Auguste Rodin *

Peter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradit ...

''The Feast of the Epiphany'', ''Adoration of the Shepherds'' *

Maurice Utrillo Maurice Utrillo (), born Maurice Valadon; 26 December 1883 – 5 November 1955), was a French painter of the School of Paris who specialized in cityscapes. Born in the Montmartre quarter of Paris, France, Utrillo is one of the few famous painte ...

Greek artists

* Ioannis Altamouras * George Bouzianis *

Leonidas Drosis Leonidas Drosis ( el, Λεωνίδας Δρόσης; (1834/1836/1843 - 1882)) was a Greek neoclassical sculptor of the 19th century. Born in Nafplion, to a German father named Von Dorsch and a Greek mother named Meksi, however he took the su ...

Nikos Engonopoulos Nikos Egonopoulos ( el, Νίκος Εγγονόπουλος; October 21, 1907 – October 31, 1985) was a Greek painter and poet. He is one of the most important members of " Generation of the '30s",Eleni Kefala''Peripheral (Post) Modernity' ...

* Demetrios Farmakopoulos * Alekos Fassianos * Lazaros Fytalis *

Nikolaus Gysis Nikolaos Gyzis ( el, Νικόλαος Γύζης ; german: Nikolaus Gysis; 1 March 1842 – 4 January 1901) was considered one of Greece's most important 19th century painters. He was most famous for his work ''Eros and the Painter'', his first ...

* Demetrios Galanis * Theophilos Hatzimihail *

Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas (; February 26, 1906 – September 3, 1994), also known as Niko Ghika, was a leading Greek painter, sculptor, engraver, writer and academic. He was a founding member of the Association of Greek Art Critics, AICA-Hellas, ...

Nikos Kessanlis Nikos ( el, Νίκος, ''Níkos'') is a Greek given name. It originates from Greek ''Nikolaos'', which means "victory of the people".Liddell & Scott, Abridged Greek Lexicon Although used as a proper first name, Nikos is also a popular nickname of ...

Ioannis Kossos Ioannis Kossos ( el, Ιωάννης Κόσσος; 1822–1875) was a Greek sculptor of the 19th century. Born in Tripoli, he later studied in Athens and Florence. His work includes several statues and busts in Athens, Patras ) , demographics ...

* Nikiphoros Lytras * Polychronis Lempesis * Konstantinos Maleas * Yannis Moralis *

Dimitris Mytaras Dimitris Mytaras ( el, Δημήτρης Μυταράς; 18 June 1934 – 16 February 2017) was a Greek artist who is considered one of the important Greek painters of the 20th century.

* Theocharis Mores *

Nikos Nikolaou Nikos Nikolaou ( el, Νίκος Νικολάου) (1909–1986) was a major figure in Greek art during the 20th century. In 1929 Nikolaou was admitted into the Athens School of Fine Arts, where he studied under Konstantinos Parthenis and Umberto ...

* Pericles Pantazis * Andreas Pavias *

Konstantinos Parthenis Konstantinos Parthenis (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Παρθένης; 10 May 1878 – 25 July 1967) was a distinguished Greek- Egyptian painter, born in Alexandria. Parthenis broke with the Greek academic tradition of the 19th century and in ...

* Yiannis Psychopedis *

Georgios Roilos Georgios Roilos ( el, Γεώργιος Ροϊλός; 1867 – 28 August 1928) was one of the most important and influential Greek painters of the late 19th-early 20th century. He belonged to the so-called "Munich School". His major works include h ...

Lucas Samaras Lucas Samaras (born 1936) is a Greek-American artist. Early life and education Samaras was born in Kastoria, Greece. He studied at Rutgers University on a scholarship, where he met Allan Kaprow and George Segal. Career Samaras participated in K ...

Theodoros Stamos Theodoros Stamos (Greek: Θεόδωρος Στάμος) (December 31, 1922 – February 2, 1997) was a Greek-American painter. He is one of the youngest painters of the original group of abstract expressionist painters (the so-called " Irasc ...

* Panayiotis Tetsis * Epameinondas Thomopoulos *

Yannis Tsarouchis Yannis Tsarouchis ( el, Γιάννης Τσαρούχης; 13 January 1910 – 20 July 1989) was a Greek modernist painter and set designer who achieved international fame, and was "known in particular for his homoerotic subjects," including so ...

* Kostas Tsoklis * Stephanos Tzangarolas * Theodoros Vryzakis * Spyros Vassiliou * Konstantinos Volanakis *

Odysseas Phokas Odysseas Phokas ( el, Οδυσσέας Φωκάς; 1857 – 1946) was a Greek painter, whose work focused on landscape painting. Biography He was born in what is now Romania at 1857 and in 1876 he left for France to study Law in Aix-en-P ...

Facts

Approximately four million people have visited the National Gallery in the last fourteen years. Its exhibition activity is mainly supported by sponsorships that cover up to half of its budget. The National Gallery has opened the last years branches in

Nafplion Nafplio ( ell, Ναύπλιο) is a coastal city located in the Peloponnese in Greece and it is the capital of the regional unit of Argolis and an important touristic destination. Founded in antiquity, the city became an important seaport in the ...

Sparta Sparta (Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referred ...

and Corfu.

Visitor information

The gallery is situated on

Vassilissis Sofias Avenue Vasilissis Sofias Avenue () is a major avenue in the east side of Athens, the Greek capital. The avenue was originally part of the Kifisias Avenue. The part from Syntagma Square to the intersection with Alexandras Avenue was renamed after Q ...

, opposite the

Hilton Athens The Hilton Athens was a hotel in Athens, Greece. Opened in 1963, it closed for renovations in January 2022 and will reopen in 2024. It is on Vassilissis Sofias Avenue, within the Hilton Area, adjacent to the Kolonaki and Pangrati neighbourhoods. ...

district. It can be reached with the

Athens Metro The Athens Metro ( el, Μετρό Αθήνας, Metro Athinas, translit-std=iso) is a rapid-transit system in Greece which serves the Athens urban area and parts of East Attica. Line 1 opened as a conventional steam railway in 1869 and electri ...

at the Evangelismos station. It had been closed since March 2013 due to expansion works and reopened in March 2021. The National Glyptotheque is situated at the "Alsos Stratou" (Military Park) in

Goudi Goudi (, since 2006; formerly Γουδί ) is a residential neighbourhood of Athens, Greece, on the eastern part of town and on the foothills of Mount Hymettus. History The name of the area derives from the 19th century Goudi (Γουδή) fami ...

, near Kanellopoulou Avenue and can be reached with the

at the Katehaki station.

Gallery

File:El Greco 03.jpg, ''

The Entombment of Christ The burial of Jesus refers to the entombment of the body of Jesus after crucifixion, before the eve of the sabbath described in the New Testament. According to the canonical gospel narratives, he was placed in a tomb by a councillor of the san ...

'' by

File:Pieter Aertsen - Portrait of Simon Marten Dircsz.jpg, '' Portrait of Simon Marten Dircsz'' by

Image:Lk06m030.jpg, ''Eliezer and Rebecca'' by

Tiepolo Giovanni Battista Tiepolo ( , ; March 5, 1696 – March 27, 1770), also known as Giambattista (or Gianbattista) Tiepolo, was an Italian painter and printmaker from the Republic of Venice who painted in the Rococo style, considered an import ...

Image:Gyzis 006 (Ηistoria).jpeg, ''Ηistoria'' (Allegory of History) by

Nikolaos Gyzis Nikolaos Gyzis ( el, Νικόλαος Γύζης ; german: Nikolaus Gysis; 1 March 1842 – 4 January 1901) was considered one of Greece's most important 19th century painters. He was most famous for his work '' Eros and the Painter'', his first ...

(1892) File:Fytalissepherd.jpg, ''Sepherd with baby goat'' by Lazaros Fytalis Image:Antoine Bourdelle Centaure.jpg, ''Dying Centaur'' by

(1914) File:Penelopedrosis.jpg, ''Penelope'', sculpture by

References

External links

National Gallery of Athens Official website
{{Authority control Art museums and galleries in Greece National museums of Greece Museums in Athens Art museums established in 1878 1878 establishments in Greece