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Daily 10am-6pm (Thurs & Fri till 9pm); free; www.npg.org.uk; Tube: Leicester Square or Charing Cross. Around the east side of the National Gallery lurks the National Portrait Gallery (NPG), founded in 1856 to house uplifting depictions of the good and the great. Though it has some fine works in its collection, many of the studies are of less interest than their subjects, and the overall impression is of an overstuffed shrine to famous Brits rather than a museum offering any insight into the history of portraiture. However, it is fascinating to trace who has been deemed worthy of admiration at any moment: aristocrats and artists in previous centuries, warmongers and imperialists in the early decades of the twentieth century, writers and poets in the 1930s and 1940s, and, latterly, retired footballers, and film and pop stars. The NPG's new extension opened in spring 2000, with a bigger Tudor gallery, and a new contemporary gallery to expand the section that's by far the most popular. There's also a new computer gallery, a lecture theatre and rooftop cafe/restaurant with a view over the cityscape. The NPG's Sound Guide , which gives useful biographical background information to some of the pictures, is provided free of charge, though you're strongly invited to give a "voluntary contribution".
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