Excerpt from Descriptive and Historical Catalogue of the Pictures in the National Gallery: With Biographical Notices of the Deceased Painters<br><br>Without a continuance of State support, however, the National Galley would have remained deficient as a representative col~ lection, and wanting in some of its most important contents. Between 1825, after the purchase of the Angerstein pictures, and 1865, a series of chosen works were added to the Gallery by means of special grants from the Government. In the latter year the establishment was reconstituted by a Treasury Minute, and a Board of Management was appointed consisting of a limited number of Trustees and a responsible Director. To this Board was entrusted the control of a subsidy to be annually voted by Parliament for the purchase of pictures. Under this system, and with such means at hand, the National Gallery has gradually taken its place abreast of the great continental institutions of its class. In more than one instance, however, where the regular annual grant would not have sufficed for the purchase en bloc of some important collection, or of some picture of especial value, the Government has stepped in, and recommended to Parliament an advance in aid. Such happened in the case of the Peel Col lection, in 1871, and in 1885, when the Ansidei Raphael as well as the equestrian portrait of Charles I. By Van Dyck were acquired for the Gallery, and in 1890, when the Longford Castle pictures were purchased, and again in 1899, when the two Roma brandts from Lord dc Sanmarez's Collection were purchased.'<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.