National Galleries of Scotland is celebrating an "incredible" half a million visitors to the new Scottish galleries in Edinburgh, just seven months after opening.

The new Scottish galleries at the National, which showcase the very best of historic Scottish art from 1800 to 1945, opened to the public on September 30, 2023.

The new spaces have transformed the visitor experience at the National and made it more accessible than ever before.

Prior to the opening of the new Scottish galleries only 19% of visitors to the National gallery made their way to the former Scottish wing.

READ MORE: National Galleries acquires first Varo painting to enter a European collection

However, since the opening of the new Scottish galleries this has increased to 62% of people now enjoying the artworks on display.

In March, the National announced the acquisition of Encounter, by world-renowned Surrealist artist Remedios Varo.

Extremely rare and sought-after, it is the first painting by Varo to enter a public collection in Europe.

The work was acquired in time to mark the centenary of the publication in Paris of André Breton’s Manifesto of Surrealism in 1924, which effectively launched the movement.