National Gallery of Art – Washington
The National Gallery of Washington was established by decree of the United States Congress in 1937 following the important donation by the banker Andrew W. Mellon, who had collected 121 paintings of Italian and Flemish artworks dating from 1400 to 1500, as well as Dutch and Flemish seventeenth-century paintings and English eighteenth-century roks, together with 21 Renaissance sculptures.
In the deed of donation, the collector expressed the desire to build a magnificent museum to preserve his collection.
Construction work began in 1935 to a design by architect John Russell Pope and finished six years later; the internal structure of the place is designed to ensure a proper fruition, following the most recent museographic at that time, in order to exalt every work of art.
The collection of paintings and sculptures was later enriched thanks to donations from other magnates and in 1999 the Sculptures Garden was opened: the National Gallery is currently considered one of the largest museums in the United States.
