National Gallery
Gallery
The National Gallery is one of London's greatest art museums located in Trafalgar Square, London. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900.
Sensing the Unseen: Step into Gossaert's 'Adoration' at the National Gallery
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Exhibition
Temporarily closed - Take your first step into Jan Gossaert’s world of intricate detail, technical mastery and rich meaning in a new Gallery experience where you’ll be surrounded by the sights and sounds of his 500-year-old masterpiece.
Event Info
Date & Time
December 09 - February 2810am–6pm and Friday until 9pm
Location
National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London, UK
Tel: +44 (0)20 7747 2885
Tickets & Prices
Tickets are free.
Please book your free Gallery entry ticket and upon arrival follow the signs to 'Sensing the Unseen'.
The room has capacity for between three and six visitors with social distancing; the ‘pods’ are designed for one or two people (if in the same household or bubble) and can also accommodate an adult and two small children.
The experience lasts about 13 minutes, entry is on a first come, first served basis at 15-minute intervals during opening hours (at 00, 15, 30 and 45 minutes past each hour).
ACCESS
All three pods include hearing loops and subtitles are provided for both onboarding video and sound effects. We've also published a transcript of the poem that you can read.
The large screen and hi-res, high contrast digital imagery of the sonified painting helps support viewing by those with visual impairments.
All pods are wheelchair accessible and designed to accommodate a wheelchair user and support worker. The gestural interface is designed to be accessed seated or standing and using any body part – arm, knee (e.g. if moving forward in wheelchair), or whole body if stepping forwards.
Explore a new way of seeing art, and a new way of making exhibitions.
Step into Jan Gossaert’s world of intricate detail, technical mastery and rich meaning with a new immersive Gallery experience centred around one 500-year-old painting at the National Gallery.
Running from 9th December 2020 – 28th February 2021, this free exhibition is a game-changer.
Developed by a team a designers, including sound artist Nick Ryan, alongside extensive audience research, they figured out how to revitalise the art gallery experience. The result offers an introspective viewing of one particular masterpiece.
In 'The Adoration of the Kings’, Gossaert has compressed time and space into a richly detailed, imagined setting where some elements of this familiar Christian scene are immediately clear and others are hidden for us to discover: the weave of fabric, Gossaert’s fingerprint in the green glaze where he blotted it with his hand, thistles and dead nettles, hairs sprouting from a wart on a cheek, a tiny pearl, a hidden angel.
To help onlookers uncover the unseen, Balthasar - the Black king, pictured below, will share his journey through a world on the brink of change to be present at this moment of transformation.
Through soundscapes, spoken word, hi-resolution digital imagery and gesture-based interaction, get ready to travel through your own personal journey to discover not only the visual riches of the painting but also why it tells more than a Christmas story.
This is an opportunity to not only stand in front of the painting but immerse yourself in its world and the artistry that built it.
Book your free tickets online here. Or, call or email using the following details:
T: +44 (0)20 7747 2885
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