 In contrast with the rich ornamentation of the main building , the galleries in the Sainsbury Wing are pared @-@ down and intimate , to suit the smaller scale of many of the paintings . The main inspirations for these rooms are Sir John Soane 's <unk> galleries for the Dulwich Picture Gallery and the church interiors of Filippo Brunelleschi ( the stone dressing is in pietra <unk> , the grey stone local to Florence ) . The northernmost galleries align with Barry 's central axis , so that there is a single vista down the whole length of the Gallery . This axis is exaggerated by the use of false perspective , as the columns flanking each opening gradually diminish in size until the visitor reaches the focal point ( as of 2009 ) , an altarpiece by Cima of The <unk> of St Thomas . Venturi 's postmodernist approach to architecture is in full evidence at the Sainsbury Wing , with its stylistic quotations from buildings as disparate as the clubhouses on Pall Mall , the Scala Regia in the Vatican , Victorian warehouses and Ancient Egyptian temples . 
