The NPG has opened up a new cache of records from its 150-year history, and it turns out to be quite a history. The digital archive reveals how, in 1909, a woman was shot dead by her husband in Room 27 (now the Victorian scientists/engineers collection), followed by his own suicide. The report gives lurid details about the operation to scrape up the blood afterwards. At other times, the gallery has battled with rat infestations, preparation for war and a cleaver-wielding suffragette with a hatred of this fellow. The archive runs up to the 1960s, when the gallery tried to position itself for a younger audience. The Guardian have the best write-up for those wanting to find out more. Image / M@.
