[5] The handling of the dispute, which concluded with a settlement to Mr Anderson of £325,000, with legal bills bringing the total cost to the Senedd of over £600,000, drew criticism from Audit Wales.

[8] While Picton was revered as a hero in the 19th century after dying at the Battle of Waterloo, the most senior British Army officer to lose his life, his previous record as governor of Trinidad was controversial even at the time, and saw him convicted of widespread abuse of the island's population, including the use of torture.

[13] Lesley Griffiths, then Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice (Wales), refuted this claim, giving an assurance that the "National Museum is not closing".

[15][16] The museum reopened on 7 February 2025,[17] but the closure prompted media discussion regarding the levels of Senedd funding for cultural and historic buildings and events.

[20] The collection of Old Master paintings in Cardiff includes, among other notable works, The Virgin and Child between Saint Helena and St Francis by Amico Aspertini, The Poulterer's Shop by Frans Snyders, A Calm by Jan van de Cappelle[21] Since 2016, the museum has had Rembrandt's 1657 Portrait of Catharina Hooghsaet on permanent display.

Included is a portrait of Williams-Wynn in Rome with fellow Tourists by Pompeo Batoni, one of his second wife by Sir Joshua Reynolds and his chamber organ designed by Robert Adam.

Works by Claude Monet include Venetian scenes such as San Giorgio Maggiore at Dusk and examples from his Rouen Cathedral and Water Lilies series.

Post-Impressionism is represented by Van Gogh's late work Rain at Auvers, and by Paul Cézanne's The François Zola Dam, the first painting by the artist to be displayed in a British public collection.

[citation needed] Works by contemporary artists are on rotational display, including those by Francis Bacon, Frank Auerbach and Rachel Whiteread.