National Gallery shows art lovers what to expect on reopening

The National Gallery has given a glimpse of what to expect when it reopens.

The Gallery will be the first of the big institutions to open its doors, as the coronavirus lockdown eases, when it welcomes visitors on Wednesday.

On Saturday, it held a press view – demonstrating the new procedures which will be in place.

Visitors will follow one or two of three one-way art routes instead of meandering through the vast Gallery at leisure.

All visits – including free tickets to see its main collection – must be booked in advance.

There will be a separate entrance and exit and two-metre social-distancing measures in place throughout, while visitors are recommended to wear a face covering.

An “enhanced cleaning regime will be in operation” and “higher efficiency filters in the air-conditioning system” have been installed.

Visitors wearing PPE sit apart at the National Gallery
Visitors wearing PPE sit apart at the National Gallery

The Royal Academy Of Arts and Tate are opening later in the month.

Others to reveal reopening dates include the Ashmolean Museum, Nottingham Contemporary, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, The Whitworth and Manchester Art Gallery, Chisenhale Gallery, The Barbican, Whitechapel Gallery and Serpentine Galleries.

The fragile collections at museums make reopening more complex than it is for art galleries.

And so the likes of the British Museum and Natural History Museum are yet to signal when they will reopen their doors.

The exhibition Titian: Love, Desire, Death will reopen at the National Gallery after it previously closed three days into its run.

National Gallery visits can be booked at www.nationalgallery.org.uk

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