National Gallery

The current building housing the National Gallery opened in 1838, built to the designs of William Wilkins.

During the late 1990’s a section of ornate plaster fell from the ceiling of the main entrance hall, revealing a section of the original decorative scheme created by John Crace, the famous Victorian artist.

Following exhaustive research to fully uncover the design, Campbell Smith & Co were engaged to carry out the full re-creation of the scheme, including extensive ornate stencil, and gilding works, as part of a major refurbishment and remodelling project. Details of the frieze and borders were built up layer by layer and stencil by stencil and colour by colour to achieve the complexity and clarity required.

The scheme was a great success for which Campbell Smith & Co won the coveted Rose Bowl from the Painting and Decorating Federation at the annual awards.