Search Help
The online database contains information on 115,854 works, 58,136 of which are illustrated;
the National Portrait Gallery's collection includes over 330,000 works. We are expanding this database regularly - last updated August 2008.
General Tips
Searches are not case sensitive.
The title of a portrait often contains the name of a sitter.
If you are having problems finding the portraits you require
try entering just one whole or partial word from the name or
title, e.g. try using 'churchill' instead of 'winston churchill'.
This can be especially useful when searching for royals.
If you are searching for royalty using ordinal numbers, e.g. Elizabeth I, remember that roman numerals are being used so you should enter a capital 'i' rather than the number '1'.
Simple Search
To perform a simple search first enter:
- a whole or partial name, e.g. church, churchill, Sir Winston Spencer Churchill or winst church
- a whole or partial portrait title, e.g. flow, flower, Flower Girl or flow gir
- the NPG number of a specific portrait (with or without the NPG prefix) e.g. NPG P7(26) or P7(26).
Then select:
- Artist to search for artists by name
- Portrait if you have entered a title or NPG number.
- Sitter to search for sitters(the people represented in the portraits) by name.
Finally press the 'Search Now' button.
Advanced Search
The Advanced search enables you to place further restrictions on a search.
To perform an advanced search first decide whether you wish to search for a person or a portrait
If you wish to search for a person you can restrict the search by:
- entering a whole or partial name into the Name of Person field, e.g. church, churchill, Sir Winston Spencer Churchill or winst church
- selecting sitters only, artists only or both sitters and artists
- entering a occupations or roles into the 'Description of Person' field, e.g. mistress, duke.
NB this field sometimes contains pen names and aliases, if you are having difficulty finding a particular person you might try entring their name here.
- selecting a category of profession from those listed in the 'Professional category' field, e.g. Royalty and Society.
The list of people or portraits returned by an advanced search will match all of the search criteria that you have selected.
|
