The exhibition was only open for three days before the gallery was closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Rape of Europa, 1562.
Oil on canvas,
© Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston.
It has been announced that the National Gallery’s Titian: Love, Desire, Death will reopen to the public when the gallery opens its doors thanks to the generosity of its partners and lenders, having originally set to close on the 14th June. Details of its tour after London will be announced in due course.
Talking about the news Dr Gabriele Finaldi, Director of the National Gallery, says: ‘I am grateful to the lenders and partners who have enabled us to keep the Titian exhibition open for a longer period. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for visitors to see this group of mythological masterpieces together. It will not happen again.’
The current lockdown has also meant that there are other changes to the upcoming National Gallery exhibition programme.
Nicolaes Maes: Dutch Master of the Golden Age –the first-ever monographic exhibition devoted to this important pupil of Rembrandt, organised with the Mauritshuis, The Hague – which opened on 22 February (and was due to close on 31 May) has been extended.
Sin – the first exhibition in the UK exploring sin in art, bringing together paintings from across the National Gallery’s collection with modern and contemporary works – was due to open in Room 1 on 15 April (until 5 July). This exhibition has now been relocated to one of the Ground Floor Galleries and will open at a later date.
Conversations with God: Copernicus by Jan Matejko, which was due to open in Room 1 on 29 July (until 15 November) has been rescheduled for 2021.
The Credit Suisse Exhibition: Raphael – which was due to open on 3 October 2020 – has been postponed until 2022.
Gabriele Finaldi commented: “The National Gallery is working hard on the logistics for reopening, hopefully quite soon, so that visitors will be able to return safely and enjoy the masterpieces on display. Today we are announcing some changes to our exhibition schedule, and we will be making some additional announcements in due course.”