The National Portrait Gallery was founded in 1856 to encourage through portraiture the appreciation and understanding of the people who have made and are making British history and culture.

The Gallery, just off Trafalgar Square, holds the most extensive collection of portraits in the world, covering over 600 years of British history and culture through its Collection of more than 330,000 portraits.

The Collection includes work across all media, from painting, sculpture and photography to caricatures and silhouettes.

You can search for images on our website, including our vast offline archive, by artist, medium, sitter, date, occupation or keyword.

The Rights & Images team handles requests for reproduction, brand licensing and are available to assist with research.

All revenue raised by our licensing activities goes back to the Gallery, to allow it to continue making the Collection freely available to view in London, and on the website, and to support the curatorial, academic, educational work as well as to help conserve and maintain the original portraits.