Editing National Gallery (section)

===Sainsbury Wing and later additions===
{{Infobox historic site
| name = Sainsbury Wing
| image = National Gallery London Sainsbury Wing 2006-04-17.jpg
| image_size = 250px
| caption = The Sainsbury Wing, as built, seen from Trafalgar Square
| built = 1988–1991
| architect = Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown and Associates
| architecture = [[Postmodern architecture|Postmodernist]]
| designation1 = Grade I
| designation1_offname = Sainsbury Wing at the National&nbsp;Gallery
| designation1_date = 9 May 2018
| designation1_number = 1451082<ref name="NHLE Sainsbury Wing">{{National Heritage List for England |num=1451082|desc=Sainsbury Wing at the National Gallery |access-date=11 May 2018 |fewer-links=x}}</ref>
}}

The most important addition to the building in the late 20th century was the Sainsbury Wing, designed by the postmodernist architects [[Robert Venturi]] and [[Denise Scott Brown]] to house the collection of Renaissance paintings and built in 1991. The building occupies the "Hampton's site" to the west of the main building, where a department store of the same name had stood until its destruction in [[the Blitz]]. The gallery had long sought expansion into this space{{citation needed|date=March 2015}} and in 1982 a competition was held to find a suitable architect; the shortlist included a radical [[High-tech architecture|high-tech]] proposal by [[Richard Rogers]], among others. The design that won the most votes was by the firm [[Ahrends, Burton and Koralek]], who then modified their proposal to include a tower, similar to that of the Rogers scheme. The proposal was dropped after the [[Charles III|Prince of Wales]] compared the design to a "monstrous [[carbuncle]] on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/speechesandarticles/a_speech_by_hrh_the_prince_of_wales_at_the_150th_anniversary_1876801621.html |title=A speech by HRH The Prince of Wales at the 150th anniversary of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), Royal Gala Evening at Hampton Court Palace |access-date=16 June 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927213205/http://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/speechesandarticles/a_speech_by_hrh_the_prince_of_wales_at_the_150th_anniversary_1876801621.html |archive-date=27 September 2007}}</ref> The term "monstrous carbuncle", for a modern building that clashes with its surroundings, has since become commonplace.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4285069.stm |title=Prince's new architecture blast |access-date=16 June 2007 |date=21 February 2005 |work=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/1162818.stm |title=No cash for 'highest slum' |access-date=16 June 2007 |date=9 February 2001 |work=BBC News}}</ref>

One of the conditions of the 1982 competition was that the new wing had to include commercial offices as well as public gallery space. However, in 1985 it became possible to devote the extension entirely to the gallery's uses, due to a donation of almost £50&nbsp;million from [[John Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Preston Candover|Lord Sainsbury]] and his brothers [[Simon Sainsbury|Simon]] and Sir [[Tim Sainsbury]]. A closed competition was held, and the schemes produced were noticeably more restrained than in the earlier competition.

[[File:Galería Nacional, Londres, Inglaterra, 2014-08-11, DD 173.JPG|thumb|left|The main [[enfilade (architecture)|enfilade]] of the Sainsbury Wing]]

In contrast with the rich ornamentation of the main building, the galleries in the Sainsbury Wing are pared down and intimate, to suit the smaller scale of many of the paintings.{{citation needed|date=March 2015}} The main inspirations for these rooms are Sir [[John Soane]]'s toplit galleries for the [[Dulwich Picture Gallery]] and the church interiors of [[Filippo Brunelleschi]]. (The stone dressing is in [[pietra serena]], the grey stone local to Florence.)<ref>{{Cite web|date=3 October 2018|title=AD Classics: Sainsbury Wing, National Gallery London / Venturi Scott Brown|url=https://www.archdaily.com/781839/ad-classics-sainsbury-wing-national-gallery-london-venturi-scott-brown|access-date=26 January 2021|website=ArchDaily|language=en-US}}</ref> The northernmost galleries align with Barry's central axis, so that there is a single vista down the whole length of the gallery. This axis is exaggerated by the use of [[false perspective]], as the columns flanking each opening gradually diminish in size until the visitor reaches the focal point (as of 2009), an altarpiece by [[Cima da Conegliano|Cima]] of ''The Incredulity of Saint Thomas''.{{needs update|date=March 2024}} Venturi's postmodernist approach to architecture is in full evidence at the Sainsbury Wing, with its stylistic quotations from buildings as disparate as the clubhouses on Pall Mall, the [[Scala Regia (Vatican)|Scala Regia]] in the Vatican, Victorian warehouses and Ancient Egyptian temples.

Following the pedestrianisation of Trafalgar Square, the gallery is currently{{when|date=April 2024}} engaged in a masterplan to convert the vacated office space on the ground floor into public space. The plan will also fill in disused courtyards and make use of land acquired from the adjoining [[National Portrait Gallery (London)|National Portrait Gallery]] in St Martin's Place, which it gave to the National Gallery in exchange for land for its 2000 extension. The first phase, the East Wing Project designed by Jeremy Dixon and [[Edward Jones (English architect)|Edward Jones]], opened to the public in 2004. This provided a new ground level entrance from Trafalgar Square, named in honour of Sir [[Paul Getty]]. The main entrance was also refurbished, and reopened in September 2005. Possible future projects include a "West Wing Project" roughly symmetrical with the East Wing Project, which would provide a future ground level entrance, and the public opening of some small rooms at the far eastern end of the building acquired as part of the swap with the National Portrait Gallery. This might include a new public staircase in the bow on the eastern façade. No timetable has been announced for these additional projects.{{needs update|date=March 2024}}

====Renovation of the Sainsbury Wing====
In April 2021, a jury short-listed six firms of architects – [[Caruso St John]], [[David Chipperfield|David Chipperfield Architects]], Asif Kahn, [[David Kohn (architect)|David Kohn Architects]], [[Annabelle Selldorf|Selldorf Architects]], and Witherford Watson Mann Architects – in a competition for design proposals to upgrade the Sainsbury Wing.<ref>Matt Hickman (8 April 2021), [https://www.archpaper.com/2021/04/selldorf-architects-among-six-shortlisted-firms-for-national-gallery-revamp-in-london/ Selldorf Architects among six shortlisted firms for National Gallery revamp in London] ''[[The Architect's Newspaper]]''.</ref>

A letter written in 1990 by one of the donors, [[John Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Preston Candover|John Sainsbury]], was discovered in 2023 during the demolition of two false columns in which he argued that "the false columns are a mistake of the architect and that we would live to regret our accepting this detail of his design."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Harold |first=Pia |date=28 August 2024 |title=National Gallery column-hating letter by donor 'a compromise' |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg4ye33e9vpo |access-date=2024-09-08 |website=www.bbc.com |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-08-27 |title=Sainsbury Wing contractors find 1990 letter from donor anticipating their demolition of false columns |url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2024/08/27/sainsbury-wing-contractors-find-1990-letter-from-donor-anticipating-their-demolition-of-false-columns |access-date=2024-08-27 |website=The Art Newspaper - International art news and events}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=John Sainsbury, a donor to the National Gallery, had the last laugh |url=https://www.economist.com/culture/2024/08/28/john-sainsbury-a-donor-to-the-national-gallery-had-the-last-laugh |access-date=2024-09-08 |newspaper=The Economist |issn=0013-0613}}</ref>

In 2024, excavations for the Sainsbury Wing extension at Jubilee Walk uncovered evidence that the Anglo-Saxon settlement of [[Lundenwic]] extended further to the west than had previously been supposed.<ref>{{citation|mode=cs1|url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/excavation-reveals-ancient-town-beneath-londons-national-gallery-2434742|title=Excavation Reveals Ancient Town Beneath London's National Gallery|date=18 February 2024|website=Artnet|access-date=11 March 2024}}</ref>