
Highlights from the RA Collection
1 January 2021 - 31 December 2025
Collection Gallery | Burlington Gardens
Tues–Sun: 10am–6pm
Fri: 10am–9pm
Free
no booking required
From Leonardo to Tracey Emin, visit the Collection Gallery for free to see highlights from the RA Collection.
A sixteenth-century copy of Leonardo’s Last Supper, monumental casts of classical sculpture, works by leading British artists from the last 250 years – the Collection Gallery is a treasure trove of masterpieces.
Visit for free to see works by leading early Academicians, alongside highlights from the collection of art they began in the eighteenth century, and changing displays featuring contemporary RAs.
Tues–Sun: 10am–6pm
Fri: 10am–9pm
Free
no booking required
Gallery
Copy of Leonardo's The Last Supper, c.1515-20
Paul preaching in the Areopagus, 1729-31

Works in Progress
What’s the process behind creating a masterpiece?
This display focuses on the idea of work in progress, looking ‘behind the scenes’ at what goes into creating a work of art. From first ideas jotted down in tiny sketchbooks to compositional plans and detailed studies, all of the items on display relate to the preparation and research that often go into a completed work.

From Observation to Abstraction
For centuries the body has been a central subject in Western art, depicted in the telling of stories or as a means to explore what it is to be human.
The works in this display relate to the body in different ways, in some it is a trace of a figure, or a suggestion of one, in others the body is used to explore space and our physical navigation of the world. Psychologically charged, the enduring presence of the figure in art is due to its ability to express vulnerability, resilience, joy, memory, love, hope, fear and our relationships with one another.