Bath's beautiful Guildhall was built in the 1770s as a centre for local government and a venue for balls and entertainment. In the early 18th century the local MP, Field Marshal George Wade commissioned a set of portraits of Councillors. These were presented to the City and several of them hang in the Guildhall to this day. Over the next two centuries this important gift was added to with further donations of portraits of key local figures – mayors, councillors and personalities such as Ralph Allen and Beau Nash, as well as distinguished visitors who came to Bath to take the waters. Although the bulk of the Collection is now housed at the Victoria Art Gallery, these civic portraits still hang in the Guildhall.