National Gallery 1855 to 1865
Eastlake's association with the National Gallery actually began in 1843 when he was appointed as its second Keeper, a position he held for four years. He automatically became a Trustee when he became the President of the Royal Academy. Five years later, his ten year tenure as Director began.
During his decade at the helm, Eastlake transformed the way the Gallery was run. He introduced acquisition and display policies, many of which are still in place today.
Most significantly, he acquired over 150 pictures, mainly representative of the early and later Italian Renaissance. These purchases changed the National Gallery's collection from being a group of acknowledged masterpieces into one that represented the whole history of Western art – putting it on a par with continental galleries like the Louvre, Paris or the Prado, Madrid.
To hunt down paintings for the nation (and occasionally for his own private collection) he attended many London auctions and went on annual trips abroad. His notebooks make for fascinating reading and reveal the 'tricks of the trade' he learned and the challenges he overcame.
Eastlake died on 24 December 1865 during a trip to Pisa, Italy. He was initially buried in Florence, but at the desire of the Royal Academy his body was returned to England, where it was interred for a second time in January 1866 in Kensal Green cemetery.
He was mourned as an internationally renowned art expert who had transformed the fortunes of the National Gallery.
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| Francis Grant (1803-1878), Portrait of Eastlake, 1853 © The National Gallery, London |