 The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster , in Central London . Founded in 1824 , it houses a collection of over 2 @,@ 300 paintings dating from the mid @-@ 13th century to 1900 . The Gallery is an exempt charity , and a non @-@ departmental public body of the Department for Culture , Media and Sport . Its collection belongs to the public of the United Kingdom and entry to the main collection is free of charge . It is among the most visited art museums in the world , after the Musée du Louvre , the British Museum , and the Metropolitan Museum of Art . 
