The Gallery holds the most extensive collection of portraits in the world. Search over 215,000 works, 150,000 of which are illustrated from the 16th Century to the present day.

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Groups

See below for a selection of different artist, sitter and professional groups. Alternatively click on Advanced search to see the full selection with the Groups area.

Artist groups selection

Camden Town Group Neo-Romantics Pop artists Pre-Raphaelites St Ives School School of London Seven and Five Society Surrealists and their circle Vorticists Young British Artists (YBAs)

Sitter groups selection

BAME sitters Bloomsbury Bluestocking circle Chartists Gunpowder plotters Kit-Kat Club LGBT + Lunar Society of Birmingham and their circle Romantic poets Suffragettes and suffragists

Profession selection

Actors and actresses Ballerinas and dancers British Prime Ministers Children’s writers and illustrators Comedians Fashion designers Novelists and authors Rock and pop musicians Poets Scientists

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Tell us More about our silhouettes, photograph of Hubert Leslie, Silhouettist

Identify our Silhouettes

Join enthusiastic contributors who have already identified 155 sitters.

Help transcribe signatures

Tell us More about our Silvy sitters, photograph of Camille Silvy, photographer with boy

Tell us more about our Silvy sitters

Help us identify the sitters who visited Camille Silvy’s photographic studio during the 1860s.

Identify our sitters