The impulse to race around a gallery and take in as many wonderful paintings as possible can be hard to resist.<\/p>\n
But art enthusiasts are being urged to slow down and take a lingering, meditative look at one of the great self-portraits when it is taken on an unhurried tour of England<\/a>.<\/p>\n Over the next year, the National Trust<\/a> is sending a Rembrandt on a trip across England from its home, Buckland Abbey in Devon,<\/a> aiming to boost the mental wellbeing of those who see it.<\/p>\n People will be able to view the painting, Self-Portrait Wearing a White Feathered Bonnet<\/a>, from seats chosen for comfort and an audio guide will include a guided meditation option.<\/p>\n Dr Amy Orrock, a National Trust curator, said the charity had thought carefully before plumping for a portrait rather than a landscape for the project.<\/p>\n \u201cThe slow looking approach often is applied to landscapes, but we felt it would work really well with this painting because it\u2019s so wonderful, sumptuous and rich.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s quite dark when you first look at it, but the more time you spend with it, you notice details gleaming out of the dark. He has this gorgeous velvet cape with a jewelled trim and he\u2019s wearing a Spanish real, a coin, around his neck, and this metal gorget [covering the throat], which glints.<\/p>\n \u201cI think spending time dwelling on those details is really rewarding and there\u2019s also this amazing unknowable quality about his face. He\u2019s almost holding something back. I think it\u2019s a fun one for people to engage with it because they\u2019re meeting Rembrandt<\/a> so there\u2019s a sense of direct interaction.\u201d<\/p>\n The average museum or gallery visitor is said to spend just eight seconds looking at each artwork<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople want to feel like they\u2019ve seen everything,\u201d Orrock said. \u201cWhat we\u2019re doing is trying to provide lots of different ways into the picture.\u201d<\/p>\n Autumn sunshine over Kingston Lacy, where the exhibition will open on Friday. Photograph: National Trust Images\/Jon Bish<\/p>\n While the mental health benefits of being in nature are widely known<\/a>, the expectation is that drinking in the Rembrandt will offer similar restorative effects.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re hoping it will provide that sort of escape from reality and that moment to have a bit of time out,\u201d said Orrock. \u201cIt\u2019s about giving people permission to stop and look \u2013 people can relax for as long as they like with the picture.\u201d<\/p>\n The tour, Meet Rembrandt: A Slow Looking Experience, starts at Kingston Lacy, Dorset<\/a>, on Friday before heading to Dunham Massey in Cheshire<\/a> in March 2026 and Upton House in Warwickshire<\/a> in July next year.<\/p>\n Visitors will have the option to explore the painting\u2019s history through audio guides featuring insights from conservators, art historians, and even imagined reflections from Rembrandt himself.<\/p>\n But one of the guide\u2019s channels will be devoted to a \u201cslow looking guided meditation\u201d. Orrock said: \u201cThere\u2019s a gong and a soothing voice. You\u2019re encouraged to think about your physical state while you\u2019re looking at the picture, things like putting both feet on the floor, taking a deep breath, just letting your eyes travel over the painting. There\u2019s not a right or wrong thing to see \u2013 it\u2019s just about allowing yourself that time with the picture and seeing what comes out for you.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The impulse to race around a gallery and take in as many wonderful paintings as possible can be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":131578,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[6225,6485,6486,1120,96,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-131577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131577"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131577\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}