Night

Painting darkness is a paradox, since pictures need light to be seen. Yet artists in every age have been drawn to the night. We follow it from the radiant Christ Child of the Middle Ages and the candlelight of the Baroque, via the Romantics' moon and van Gogh's stars, to Hopper's all-night diner, Nordic summer nights and Japanese moon prints.

• Light in the darkness – the first night pictures
• Candlelight and starry skies – the Baroque
• Enlightenment and Romanticism – the moon and fire
• Nocturnes and stars – Whistler and van Gogh
• The city at night – electric light and loneliness
• Nordic nights – darkness and light summer nights
• The moon in China and Japan
• Modern darkness – from black paintings to star photography