Scottish National Gallery

The Scottish National Gallery is one of Scotland’s top free visitor attractions. It is made up of three interconnected buildings, right in the heart of Edinburgh. The Gallery is home to a major part of Scotland’s sensational national collection of fine art; the Academy is one of Europe’s premier venues for international exhibitions; and the Gardens Entrance, which lies beneath the two buildings, connects them together with areas for shopping, learning, eating and drinking.

The Gallery houses the national collection of fine art from the early Renaissance to the end of the nineteenth century. Spend an hour strolling around this peaceful setting and you’ll find masterpieces from Raphael, El Greco, Velázquez and Rubens to Van Gogh, Monet, Cézanne, Degas and Gauguin. For a nation of Scotland’s size, the collection is rightfully regarded as one of the very best in the world. The most comprehensive part of the collection covers the history of Scottish painting. All the major names, including Ramsay, Raeburn, Wilkie and McTaggart, are represented in depth. Works on show include Raeburn’s much-loved The Reverend Robert Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch or, as it has become known, the ‘Skating Minister’.

The Academy, in front of the Gallery, re-opened in 2003 as a world-class venue for special temporary exhibitions. It has two floors of exhibition space, and current exhibitions are listed in the What’s On calendar.

Both of these buildings give access to the Gardens Entrance – a state-of-the-art space containing a restaurant, café, cloakroom, shop, IT gallery and information desk. The Gardens Entrance also houses a lecture theatre and centre in which we deliver our award-winning educational programmes. The Gardens Entrance offers spectacular views over Princes Street Gardens.