National Treasures by rail
With 12 unique exhibitions opening simultaneously across the nation from the 10th of May, make your National Treasures trip an adventure by train.
How do I get there?
From Edinburgh to Bristol, or Aberystwyth to Cambridge, each partner is located near a major railway station. We've teamed up with train lines across the UK to help you plan your visit in a quick and sustainable way.
Plan a visit to your nearest National Treasure, or be inspired to venture further afield and see a treasured painting in a completely new setting.
Vermeer in Edinburgh | Velasquez in Liverpool | Artemisia in Birmingham
Avanti West Coast - The West Coast Mainline is Britain’s premier long-distance railway, linking together towns and major cities.
The young woman at the keyboard holds our eye with a direct gaze. The empty chair suggests she is expecting someone and the large painting of a naked Cupid, the god of erotic love, on the wall behind her may be a signal that she is waiting for her lover. Scenes of music making were a popular genr...
On display elsewhere
Venus, the goddess of love, reclines languidly on her bed, the curve of her body echoed in the sweep of sumptuous satin fabric. The pearly tones of her smooth skin contrast with the rich colours and lively brushstrokes of the curtain and sheets.Venus‘ face is reflected in the mirror held up by he...
On display elsewhere
Artemisia Gentileschi, the most celebrated female artist of the seventeenth century, appears in the guise of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, a Christian saint martyred in the early fourth century. She leans on a broken wheel studded with iron spikes, to which she was bound and tortured, and which...
On display elsewhere
Botticelli in Cambridge
Great Northern services operate on the southern side of Britain's East Coast Main Line, with trains running to and from London King's Cross and Moorgate. Many of the services also run through parts of Greater London, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, and Norfolk.
Venus, the goddess of love, looks over at her lover Mars. She is alert and dignified, while he – the god of war – is utterly lost in sleep. He doesn‘t even notice the chubby satyr (half child, half goat) blowing a conch shell in his ear.This picture was probably ordered to celebrate a marriage, a...
On display elsewhere
Constable in Bristol | Wilton Diptych in Oxford
Great Western Railway (GWR) runs high-speed trains from London Paddington direct to Oxford and Bristol Temple Meads.
The view is of the millpond at Flatford on the River Stour. Flatford Mill was a watermill for grinding corn, operated by the Constable family for nearly a hundred years. It still survives and is about a mile from Constable’s birthplace at East Bergholt, Suffolk. The house on the left also survive...
On display elsewhere
This small, portable diptych is one of a handful of English panel paintings to have survived from the Middle Ages. Made for Richard II, King of England from 1377 to 1399, in the last five years of his life, it combines religious and secular imagery to embody his personal conception of kingship.O...
On display elsewhere
Vermeer in Edinburgh | Turner in Newcastle | Monet in York
LNER - LNER stands for London North Eastern Railway, running up and down the East Coast mainline from London right up the east side of England to stunning Inverness.
The young woman at the keyboard holds our eye with a direct gaze. The empty chair suggests she is expecting someone and the large painting of a naked Cupid, the god of erotic love, on the wall behind her may be a signal that she is waiting for her lover. Scenes of music making were a popular genr...
On display elsewhere
Turner’s painting shows the final journey of the Temeraire, as the ship is towed from Sheerness in Kent along the river Thames to Rotherhithe in south-east London, where it was to be scrapped. The veteran warship had played a distinguished role in the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, but by 1838 was...
On display elsewhere
In 1893 Monet bought a plot of land next to his house in Giverny. He had already planted a colourful flower garden, but now he wanted to create a water garden ‘both for the pleasure of the eye and for the purpose of having subjects to paint'. He enlarged the existing pond, filling it with exotic...
On display elsewhere
Rembrandt in Brighton
Southern Rail services primarily cover the area between central London and the south coast, with trains running through East and West Sussex, Surrey and parts of Kent and Hampshire.
This is one of dozens of self portraits by Rembrandt. We see the artist in confident pose – self-assured, dressed in expensive-looking fur and velvet, his hat laced with jewels. But, though he is a Dutchman living in the 1640s, Rembrandt is wearing the clothes of a gentleman of the 1520s and his...
On display elsewhere
Rembrandt in Brighton | Botticelli in Cambridge
Thameslink is part of Govia Thameslink Railway, delivering a 24 hour mainline rail service, with a core service running between Brighton and Cambridge.
This is one of dozens of self portraits by Rembrandt. We see the artist in confident pose – self-assured, dressed in expensive-looking fur and velvet, his hat laced with jewels. But, though he is a Dutchman living in the 1640s, Rembrandt is wearing the clothes of a gentleman of the 1520s and his...
On display elsewhere
Venus, the goddess of love, looks over at her lover Mars. She is alert and dignified, while he – the god of war – is utterly lost in sleep. He doesn‘t even notice the chubby satyr (half child, half goat) blowing a conch shell in his ear.This picture was probably ordered to celebrate a marriage, a...
On display elsewhere