Dulwich Picture Gallery

The UK’s oldest public art gallery, the Dulwich Picture Gallery was designed by the idiosyncratic architect Sir John Soane between 1811 and 1814 to house Dulwich College’s collection of paintings by Raphael, Rembrandt, Rubens, Reynolds, Gainsborough, Poussin, Lely, Van Dyck and others. It’s a wonderful, atmospheric place but, with scarcely a dozen rooms to hang the artwork, wall space is limited and it is difficult to view some of the paintings properly. Unusually, the collectors Noel Desenfans and painter Sir Peter Francis Bourgeois chose to have their mausoleums, lit by a moody lumière mystérieuse (mysterious light) created with tinted glass, placed among the pictures. An annexe contains space for what are usually cutting-edge temporary exhibitions and free guided tours of the museum depart at 3pm on Saturday and Sunday. The museum is a 10-minute walk northwards along Gallery Rd, which starts almost opposite West Dulwich railway station. Bus P4 conveniently links the picture gallery with the Horniman Museum.