Royal Collection

The Royal Collection is the art collection of the British Royal Family. It is property of the monarch as sovereign, but is held in trust for her successors and the nation. [ [http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/default.asp?action=article&ID=9 The Royal Collection - What is the Royal Collection? ] ] [ [http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/page601.asp The Royal Collection > About the Royal Collection ] ] It contains over 7,000 paintings, 40,000 watercolours and drawings, and about 150,000 old master prints, as well as tapestries, furniture, ceramics, books, and other works of art. It is physically dispersed between a number of locations some, like Hampton Court Palace open to the public and not lived in by the Royal Family, whilst others like Windsor Castle are both residences and open to the public. The Queen's Gallery at Buckingham Palace in London exists to show displays and exhibitions from the collection for several months at a time. There is also a Queen's Gallery next to the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. Its total value has been estimated at least £10 billion.

History

Few items survive from before King Henry VIII. The most important additions to the collection were made by Charles I, a passionate collector of Italian paintings, and a major patron of Van Dyck and other artists. His collection was sold after his execution in 1649, but large numbers of works were recovered for the collection after the Restoration of 1660, when the Dutch Republic also presented Charles II with the Dutch Gift, and Charles later bought many paintings and other works. George III with the assistance of Frederick Augusta Barnard, added very large numbers, especially of prints and drawings, and Queen Victoria and her husband Albert were keen collectors of contemporary and old master paintings. Many works have been given from the collection to museums, especially by George III and Victoria and Albert.

Collection highlights

Paintings, prints and drawings

"Anglo-American":*West, Benjamin - 60 paintings;"Dutch school (200+ works)" [ [http://www.socialaffairsunit.org.uk/blog/archives/000293.php The Social Affairs Unit - Web Review: Dutch Paintings at the Royal Collection ] ] :*Borch, Gerard ter - 2 paintings;:*Cuyp, Aelbert - 7 paintings;:*Dou, Gerrit - 4 paintings;:*Hals, Frans - 1 painting;:*Hobbema, Meyndert - 2 paintings;:*Hooch, Pieter de - 3 paintings;:*Metsu, Gabriel - 1 painting;:*Mytens, Daniel - 9 paintings;:*Ostade, Adriaen van - 5 paintings;:*Rembrandt van Rijn - 6 paintings;:*Ruysdael, Salomon van - 1 painting;:*Ruisdael, Jacob van - 1 painting;:*Steen, Jan - 7 paintings;:*Velde, Adriaen van de - 4 paintings;:*Velde, Willem van de...the Younger - 7 paintings;:*Vermeer, Johannes - 1 painting (see image);:*Weenix, Jan - 1 painting;:*Wouwerman, Philip - 5 paintings;

"English school":*Beechey, William - 17 paintings;:*Gainsborough, Thomas - 30+ paintings, also a rare mythological work Diana and Actaeon;:*Hogarth, William - 3 paintings;:*Hoppner, John - 7 paintings;:*Kneller, Sir Godfrey - 15 paintings;:*Landseer, Sir Edwin - 100 paintings and drawings;:*Lawrence, Thomas - 50 paintings;:*Lely, Peter - 20 paintings;:*Reynolds, Joshua - 20+ paintings;:*Stubbs, George - 18 paintings;

"Flemish school":*Bruegel, Jan - 1 painting;:*Bruegel, Pieter - 1 painting;:*Frans Francken the Younger - 1 painting;:*Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger - 1 painting;:*Gossaert, Jan - 1 painting;:*Massys, Quentin - 1 painting;:*Memling, Hans - 1 painting':*Rubens, Peter Paul - 13 paintings, 5 drawings (see image);:*Teniers, David - 27 paintings;:*Van Dyck, Anthony - 26 paintings;

"French school":*Clouet, François - 3 paintings;:*Dughet, Gaspard - 3 paintings;:*Gellée, Claude - 5 paintings;:*Liotard, Jean-Étienne - 16 paintings;:*Monet, Claude - 1 painting;:*Poussin, Nicolas - A large collection of his drawings at Windsor, second only to that in the Musée du Louvre;:*Tour, Georges de la - 1 painting;

"German school":*Dürer, Albrecht - 1 painting;:*Holbein, Hans - 7 paintings, 80 drawings and 5 miniatures;:*Lucas Cranach the Elder - 4 paintings;:*Winterhalter, Franz Xaver - 120 paintings, 20 drawings & watercolours;:*Zoffany, Johan - 17 paintings;

"Italian school":*Allori, Alessandro - 1 painting;:*Angelico, Fra - 1 painting;:*Bassano, Jacopo - 4 paintings;:*Bellini, Giovanni - 1 painting;:*Bernini, Gianlorenzo - 50 drawings;:*Borromini, Francesco - 100 drawings;:*Bronzino, Agnolo - 1 painting;:*Canaletto, (Giovanni Antonio Canal) - Over 50 paintings and 140 drawings, the greatest collection in the world;:*Carlevaris, Luca - 4 paintings;:*Caravaggio, Michelangelo Merisi da - 2 paintings;:*Carracci, Agostino, Annibale and Ludovico - 5 paintings, more than 350 drawings;:*Caravaggio, Polidoro da - 9 paintings;:*Castiglione, Giovanni Benedetto - 260 drawings;:*Correggio, Antonio Allegri - 2 paintings;:*Daddi, Bernardo - 1 painting;:*Domenichino, Zapieri - 1 painting, 1,700 Domenichinos in thirty-four albums, the Royal Collection’s largest holdings by a single artist;:*Duccio di Buoninsegna - 1 painting;:*Gentile da Fabriano - 1 painting;:*Fetti, Domenico - 5 paintings;:*Garbo, Raffaellino del - 1 painting;:*Gambara, Lattanzio - 8 paintings;:*Giordano, Luca - 12 paintings;:*Guercino, (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri) - 1 painting, and largest group of Guercino drawings in the world, some 400 sheets, as well as 200 by his assistants and 200 other works;:*Leonardo da Vinci - 600 drawings, finest collection of Da Vinci drawings in the world; [ [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,,1860869,00.html The real Da Vinci code | | Guardian Unlimited Arts ] ] :*Longhi, Pietro - 2 paintings;:*Lotto, Lorenzo - 1 painting;:*Mantegna, Andrea - 9 canvases known as The Triumphs of Caesar:*Michelangelo Buonarroti - 20 drawings;:*Parmigianino - 2 paintings and 30 drawings:*Perugino, Pietro - 1 painting;:*Pesellino, Francesco - 1 painting;:*Raphael, (Raffaello Sanzio) - 8 Paintings, as well as an extensive collection of drawings. "There are seven full-size cartoons for the tapestries designed to hang in the Sistine Chapel. During the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Raphael attained the zenith of his reputation. Consequently, the Raphael Cartoons have become some of the most famous, and widely imitated, paintings in the world. Since 1865 they have been on loan from the Royal Collection to the V&A.";:*Raffaellino del Garbo - 1 painting;:*Reni, Guido - 1 painting;:*Ricci, Sebastiano - 9 paintings;:*Romano, Giulio - 6 paintings;:*Sacchi, Andrea - 130 drawings;:*Sarto, Andrea del - 2 paintings;:*Strozzi, Zanobi - 1 painting;:*Tintoretto, Jacopo - 5 paintings;:*Titian, (Tiziano Vecelli) - 4 paintings; [ [http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/default.asp?action=article&ID=381 The Royal Collection - The Art of Italy in the Royal Collection: Renaissance & Baroque ] ] :*Vaga, Perino del - 2 paintings;:*Vasari, Giorgio - 1 painting;:*Vecchio, Palma - 2 paintings;:*Veronese, Paolo - 3 paintings;:*Verrio, Antonio - 1 painting;:*Zuccari, Federico - 1 painting;:*Zuccarelli, Francesco - 27 paintings, together with 8 works collaborated with Antonio Visentini;

Furniture

:*André-Charles Boulle - Several examples:*Jean Henri Riesener - Roll-Top Desk:*Adam Weisweiler - Pietra Dura commode as well as other pieces

Decorative arts

:*Fabergé - One of the finest collections in the world;:*Sèvres Porcelain - Arguably the world's largest collection;:*Chelsea porcelain - Complete service completed 1763:*Gobelins Tapestry - Sets of: 28 Don Quixote Tapestries, Jason and the Golden Fleece & Les Amours des Dieux

culpture

:*Canova - 3 works: Mars and Venus, Dirce & Fountain Nymph:*John Gibson - Queen Victoria:*Ancient Roman - Crouching Venus

Management

The Royal Collection Department is part of the Royal Household, responsible for the cataloguing, conservation, cleaning, restoration and display of the books, pictures, sculptures and other works of art collected by the British Royal Family. Buildings do not come under its remit.

Galleries

Furniture

culpture

Paintings

;"Dutch paintings"

;"English paintings"

;"Flemish paintings"

;"French paintings"

;"German paintings"

;"Italian paintings"

ee also

*Charles I of England
*Windsor Castle
*Buckingham Palace

References

External links

* [http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/ Offical website]