Portal:Australia/Featured picture/Week 36, 2007



The National Gallery of Victoria is an art gallery and museum in the Victorian capital of Melbourne. Founded in 1861, it is the oldest and the largest public art gallery in Australia. At that time of the gallery's establishment, Victoria had been an independent colony for just ten years, but in the wake of the Victorian gold rush, it was the wealthiest part of Australia, and Melbourne the largest city. Generous gifts from moneyed citizens, notably industrialist Alfred Felton, made it possible for it to begin buying a large collection of overseas works from both old and modern masters.

Photo credit: Robert Merkel