Reopened: the Scottosh National Portrait Gallery has welcomed more than 11,000 visitors Pic: © Deadline
The Scottish National Portrait Gallery has seen a record number of visitors, with more than 10,000 crossing the threshold in four days.
The gallery on Queen Street in Edinburgh was re-opened to the public on Thursday, December 1 after a £17.6m renovation,and has received an average of more than 2000 visitors per day.
Up until 2pm on Monday, December 5 a total of 11,186 people had passed through the doors after the gallery’s two year closure while work was carried out.
John Leighton, Director General of the National Galleries of Scotland, said: "There has been a fantastic response to the opening with great feedback from the many thousands of visitors who have also enjoyed the many special events and activities here and will continue in the weeks to come.
"The transformation of the building and the range and depth of the new displays seem to have struck a real chord with the public and we could not be more pleased with the initial reactions."
The gallery was the first purpose-built portrait gallery in the world in 1889 and contains portraits of some of Scotland’s most famous people including Mary Queen of Scots, Sean Connery, Bonnie Prince Charlie and Dr Who star Karen Gillan.
The vast collection includes 300 paintings and sculptures, 25,000 prints and drawings and 38,000 photographs. More than 600 exhibits are new to the portrait gallery, with 211 having never been shown in public before.
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