20 unmissable paintings in London

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Time Out's guide to must-see works of art in the city

Not only is London home to a vibrant and ever-changing contemporary art scene but it’s also the place to see some of the world’s greatest historical artworks. For a crash fine art primer Helen Sumpter rounds up the top 20 unmissable paintings in the permanent collections of London’s major museums and galleries.

10. 'The Ambassadors' by Hans Holbein the Younger

The Ambassadors, 1533, by Hans Holbein the Younger The Ambassadors, 1533, by Hans Holbein the Younger - © The National Gallery, London

Jean de Dinteville, French ambassador to the court of Henry VIII and Georges de Selve, bishop of Lavaur are believed to be the well-dressed, pensive pair of this painting’s title, but discussions continue about the significance of the objects and instruments surrounding them and the prominence given to that skewed anamorphic skull.


See 'The Ambassadors' by Hans Holbein the Younger at the National Gallery.



Find your favourite unmissable painting

'A Bar at the Folies-Bergère' 'The Raphael Cartoons' 'Sunflowers' 'Girl at a Window' 'The Snail' 'The Arnolfini Portrait' 'The Fighting Temeraire' 'The Three Dancers' 'Adam and Eve' 'The Ambassadors' 'Queen Elizabeth I' ('The Ditchley portrait') 'The Lady of Shalott' 'The Great Wave' 'The Fairy Feller’s Master-Stroke' 'Nevermore' 'Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion' 'Metamorphosis of Narcissus' 'The Laughing Cavalier' 'The Linley Sisters' 'Madame de Pompadour'

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  • What about Seurat's Bathers at Asnières?

    Lena Tue Nov 6 2012
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  • Did you know that the Ditchley Portrated inspired henry holiday when he did his illustrations to Lewis Carroll's "The Hunting of the Snark"? http://www.flickr.com/photos/bonnetmaker/6225601995/ British art historians still didn't notice it. Best regards from Munich Goetz Kluge

    Goetz Kluge Mon Dec 12 2011
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  • 3/20 for The Courtauld Gallery, not bad, not bad at all!!

    Prince Leopold Thu Nov 24 2011
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