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On the north side of Trafalgar, famous for its Admiral Nelson (Nelson's Column"), its fountains and its hordes of pigeons, there stands a long, low building in classic style. This is the National Gallery, which contains Britain's best-known 51.__ of pictures. The collection was begun in 1824, with the purchase of thirty-eight pictures that included Horgarth's satirical Marriage à la Mode" series, and Titian's *Venus and Adonis.

The National Gallery is rich in paintings by Italian masters such as Raphael, Correggio, and Veronese, and it contains pictures 52.__ of all European schools of art such as works by Rembrandt, Rubens, Van Dyck, Murillo, El Greco, and nineteenth century French masters. Many S3    . are especially attracted to Velasquez's Rokeby Venus" and Leonardo da Vinci's Virgin of the Rocks".

On 54.      .days, students and other young people are often to be seen having a sandwich lunch on the portico of the Gallery overlooking Trafalgar Square. Admission to the Gallery is free, as is the 55.___ with other British national galleries and museums, which are maintained by money voted by Parliament. Bequests of pictures have been made to the galleries, 56.____ on a generous scale, by private individuals.

Just behind the National Gallery 57.     . the National Portrait Gallery, in which the visitors can see portraits of British monarchs since the reign of Richards I(1377- 1399), and 58._ historical celebrities such as Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Cromwell. Many of the pictures are by well-known artists.

The National Gallery of British Art, better known as the Tate Gallery, was given to the nation by a rich sugar merchant, Sir Henry Tate, who had a taste for the fine arts. It overlooks the Thames, not far from the Houses of Parliament. English artists are 59.__ well represented here, and the Tate also has a range of modern works, 60.      .some sculptures, by foreign artists. This, of all the London galleries, is the young people's gallery. It has been stated that three-quarters of its visitors are under twenty-five.

(From London Art Gallery)

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