High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The National Gallery is the primary British national public art gallery, sited on Trafalgar Square, in central London. It is home to one of the world`s greatest collections of Western European paintings. Founded in 1824, from an initial purchase of 36 paintings by the British Government, its collections have since grown to about 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900, most of which are on display. This page lists some of the highlights of the collection.