Hey all, I thought you might like to know a little more info about the The Fighting Temeraire in the National Gallery featured in Skyfall.
The Fighting Temeraire by Joseph Mallord William Turner, aka ‘the bloody big ship’ must have been moved for the purpose of the shot as it is right next to the door.
You’ll also notice the bench they sit on is not the leather studded chair that is housed in front of The Fighting Temeraire in room 34. But they have several other long benches in the gallery. My guess is they’ve positioned them together and added a cushion for the purpose of the scene.
The paintings behind James Bond & Q, An Experiment with a Bird in the Air Pump by Joseph Wright, and the Mr & Mrs William Hallett (The Morning Walk) by Thomas Gainsborough, are no longer hanging together, but are still in the same room.
I asked some of the staff if they were present on the day of shooting. They said no. One said ‘I was working mate, I’m not like Daniel Craig who can sit around looking at paintings all day’. He was quite funny.
Lastly, The Fighting Temeraire will now be on a £20 note as of 2020. The bank note will also include Turner’s self portrait of c.1799 (Tate Britain), his signature and a quote from his 1818 lecture at the Royal Academy: ‘Light is therefore colour’.
Very exciting. We should lobby to get the Duke of Wellington painting on the back of a £50!
HOW MUCH IS IT TO GET IN THE NATIONAL GALLERY?
The National Gallery is free, remarkably. Although there are donation boxes at the front, I would love to see the National Gallery charge tourists for entrance.
Have the museums in the UK free for British passport holders, but let the tourists pay their way.
After all I don’t think I’ve been in a single museum abroad for free.
WHAT ELSE CAN I SEE IN THE NATIONAL GALLERY?
The most popular attraction will still be the Van Gogh Sunflowers.
Sadly people merely flock to take pictures of it these days than study it.
That said we’ve all been guilty of that haven’t we.
