The Dulwich Picture Gallery

One might think that London’s only ‘Gallery Road’ should run off Trafalgar Square; in fact it is a short leafy lane linking Dulwich Village to the South Circular Road. It is so called because it contains England’s first public art gallery – Dulwich Picture Gallery. One might also imagine that England’s oldest gallery came about, like the National, through a group of public-spirited noblemen donating their collections. It is true that one of Dulwich’s founders, Sir Francis Bourgeois, was a knight; but he was really more of a Bourgeois than a Sir Francis. The title was dubious – a Polish honour politely recognised by George III – and the man was in trade.

The story of the Gallery started when a Frenchman, Noel Desenfans, who was working as a language teacher in London, married one of his pupils, the Welsh heiress, Margaret Morris. Her fortune enabled him to leave irregular conjugations for art dealing, at which he enjoyed spectacular success.