London, National Gallery offers a visitor a chance to sleep in the museum

For the first time in its more than two centuries of history, the National Gallery in London will offer a visitor the opportunity to spend a night inside the museum, surrounded by some of the greatest masterpieces of Western art. The event, scheduled for Friday, May 9, 2025, marks the beginning of the institution’s bicentennial celebrations and the full reopening of the Sainsbury Wing, which has been undergoing a major architectural and curatorial transformation for the past two years.

Making this experience possible will be a sweepstakes launched by the National Gallery: starting at 9 a.m. on Monday, April 7, 2025, anyone over the age of eighteen who signs up for the museum’s official newsletter, via the Wake-Up | Subscribe | National Gallery, London website, will automatically enter a drawing that will select a single winner. This is the first initiative of its kind for a British art gallery: a dream night in a bed placed inside the gallery itself, more precisely on the “bridge” that connects the renovated Sainsbury Wing with the rest of the building. The bed, symbolic of this experience, will be outfitted with the Marks & Spencer X National Gallery collection, born from the collaboration between the famous British brand and the museum.

Star-studded dinner and private tour of more than a thousand works

The evening of May 9 will not only be an opportunity for an experience in one of the iconic places of European culture, but also to experience a moment of haute cuisine. The winner and a companion will be guests at the new Locatelli restaurant inside the National Gallery, led by Michelin-starred chef Giorgio Locatelli in collaboration with Searcy’s.

After dinner, the experience will continue with a private tour of the exhibition C C Land: The Wonder of Art, accompanied by one of the museum’s curators. The new exhibition represents the largest rearrangement of the entire collection in the National Gallery’s recent history. Through an itinerary that includes more than a thousand works, visitors will be able to explore the evolution of painting in the Western European tradition from the 13th to the 20th century. There will be no shortage of the museum’s icons-masterpieces beloved by generations-but also rarely exhibited paintings, which will help to delineate a broader panorama of art history and the national collection.

A new perspective on artistic heritage

The new layout aims to restore a more nuanced historical, social and collecting context, offering the public the chance to discover less obvious connections and to reconsider their relationship with art history.

The curatorial intervention is designed to make the collection more accessible and relevant to new generations, integrating neglected or little-known aspects, and enhancing works that have remained in the shadows for too long. On the occasion of its bicentennial, the National Gallery thus intends to renew its role not only as a conservation museum, but as a living space in constant dialogue with the present. On the morning of May 10, the winner of the competition will enjoy an unparalleled awakening. After spending the night alongside centuries of art history, he or she will receive a picnic-style breakfast courtesy of a special breakfast hamper, before being able to explore the National Gallery in total solitude before the official opening of the Sainsbury Wing to the public, scheduled for 10 a.m. It will be an almost unreal moment: walking alone in one of the world’s most visited museums, in silence, among paintings that chronicle eight centuries of European creativity.

The new Sainsbury Wing opens to the future

The Sainsbury Wing, closed to the public for more than two years for renovations, will fully reopen on May 10, 2025. The work also involved a curatorial and museographic approach, with the goal of reshaping the National Gallery to face its third century of life and welcome future generations of visitors.

Anticipation for the reopening is high: the new itinerary, renovated rooms and refurbished collection promise an enriching experience that will appeal to art enthusiasts and new audiences alike. The competition will remain open until 6 p.m. on Monday, April 28, 2025. At the end of the period, the winner’s name will be drawn randomly from among all subscribers to the official newsletter.

London, National Gallery offers a visitor a chance to sleep in the museum

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