National Portrait Gallery in London

    It is most definitely worth your while to visit this museum of famous Brits in portraits.  The exhibits started out with Martin Luther and the Reformation's influence on England in the 16th century.  Having watched a lot of historical British dramas such as "Wolf Hall" and "Elizabeth R" and performed Britten's opera "Gloriana", I recognized the key players who are portrayed in these rooms from the Tudor time. One was Thomas Cranmer (Archbishop of Canterbury under Henry VIII who secured the divorce of Henry from Catherine of Arragon so Henry could marry Anne Boleyn). Other players included Robert Dudley (Queen Elizabeth I's love interest) and Francis Walsingham (Queen Elizabeth I's private secretary who was on the look out for Catholic spies and encouraged war with Spain and the execution of Queen Mary of Scots). William Cecil was Queen Elizabeth I's Secretary of State and was an advisor on Spain. The explorers Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir Francis Drake were portrayed in addition to Robert Devereux, the 2nd Earl of Essex, who led an unsuccessful campaign in Ireland and was punished for it. 

There were two portraits of Queen Elizabeth I in the Tudor gallery that stood out.  One is named after the commissioner of the portrait and the other after the owner of the portrait. The Queen's social secretary Henry Lee commissioned her portrait with the image of the queen standing on top of a map of Oxford and England. There were words about forgiveness on the painting. It is thought that Heny Lee felt guilty about not living at the Royal court. He chose to live at home in Ditchley, hence the name of the painting "The Ditchley portrait".  The other named portrait was the "Darnley portrait", named after the owner of the painting. This work was from a live sitting of the queen and later portraits of her were based on this image. Here is that portrait.

Another section of the museum covered the Stuarts' reign in England.  I am less familiar with this part of British history.  James I, son of Mary Queen of Scots, successfully united England, Scotland and Ireland. He married Anne of Denmark.  Here is James I.

James I's eldest son Henry, Prince of Wales died at age 18 of typhoid fever.  He was heir to the throne. His early death was a huge disappointment. There was mention of James I's daughter Elizabeth who briefly ruled in Bohemia with her husband Frederick, a Protestant ruler from Palatine (in Germany). They 

got thrown out of Bohemia and lived in exile in The Hague (Netherlands). It gets pretty complicated who is who. There was a constant battle of dominant religions (Protestantism vs Catholicism). That explained a lot of the changes of power. 

Then come the civil wars and power struggles between the king and parliament. Charles I ruled without parliament for 11 years starting in 1629.  He was executed in 1649. His wife Henrietta Maria was a staunch Catholic. She had a lot of influence over Charles I. She was generally disliked because she was French and Catholic. Below is Charles I.

Oliver Cromwell became "Lord Protector" of England in 1653. He managed to bring about unity in the U.K. He refused to take the crown in 1657. The monarchy was restored after Cromwell when Charles II became King. There was a parliament again. 

James II, brother of Charles II, became king.  His Catholicism scared off some. He fled England when he heard of the imminent invasion of William of Orange, Protestant leader, from the Netherlands. William and his wife Mary ruled England for a while. 

After a while there was a period of "Hanoverian rule" in Britain. King George of Hanover was Protestant. There were several King Georges - II and III. The family line of James II was pushed out of reigning when James II fled England. There was a movement to get that line of the family back on the throne of England. The "Jacobite uprisings" in the 18th century were attempts to regain power of James II's line. They were pro Catholic and against the Protestant Hanoverian rule. The uprisings were not very successful.

I am probably skipping over some important elements in British history during the Stuart's reign.

Once I got to the era of Queen Victoria, I was in more familiar territory. Victoria's reign was long.

I recognized names of key players during this time - her husband Prince Albert and prime minister Lord Melbourne (real name was William Lamb).

Here is Queen Victoria at an old age. She commissioned this piece herself for her art collection. This is a copy of the painting by the artist's pupil Bertha Mueller. The original was by Heinrich Von Angeli. 

Young Prince Albert was portrayed here. This was a commission by Queen Victoria for this gallery.

Lord Melbourne was age 65 in this portrait. He had long stepped down from his position as prime minister under Queen Victoria. 

During the Victorian era there was a lot going on culturally in England. Two famous collaborators, Gilbert and Sullivan, worked on the lyrics and music for numerous operettas. Here they are individually: Mr. Gilbert

and Mr. Sullivan:

Other parts of the museum focus more on living Brits. (The section on Brits of the early 20th century is under renovation now, so after Victoria you skip to present day Britain).

Here is the current Queen Elizabeth II from 1969 by Pietro Annigoni. This was the second portrait he painted of her. The Queen liked his work.

Here is her husband Prince Philip from 1983 by Bryan Organ.

Other famous British actors, singers and others have found their way into this museum.

Dames Maggie Smith (2012) and Judi Dench (2004) are well deserving of a place here.

I had my eye out for a portrait of Daniel Radcliffe, aka Harry Potter, but it was not on display. He supposedly found his way there too. 

There is a separate room dedicated to a portrait competition with many submissions posted there. I went through this area quickly, but is worth taking a look at contemporary artists' works.

The special exhibit (paid admission) was on sketches of Da Vinci and a few others. I did not have time to explore this.

If you are interested in British history, this is the place for you! Look out for the daily talk (once a day) of the "portrait of the day" by a museum guide. Today was on Bonnie Prince Charles (Charles Edward Stuart). The guide spewed out details of his exploits. I was not real familiar with this part of history.

It is well worth renting an audio guide for 3 GBP. Some of the portraits are featured on it.