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Description: | Portraiture in the Royal Collection covers a wide variety of media, including works in oil, prints, drawings, miniatures, sculpture and photography. Shaped by the personal tastes of kings and queens over more than 500 years, the Collection contains objects dating from the 15th century to the present day. Portraits of monarchs with their families and members of their court are a unique strength of the Collection. Other forms of portraiture are also represented, for example in the drawings of Leonardo da Vinci and in the paintings of Rembrandt.
Painting
The Royal Collection provides a superb history of portrait painting in Britain, from Hans Holbein to Lucian Freud. Every major contributor to this great tradition Ã- Van Dyck, Lely, Hogarth, Ramsay, Reynolds, Gainsborough and Lawrence Ã- is represented by some of their most ambitious works. The Collection embraces many types of portraiture, from the grandest images of Monarchy to Johann ZoffanyÃ's informal Ãconversation piecesÃ'. Portrait painting of the Victorian age is dominated by Winterhalter and Von Angeli.
Prints and Drawings
Among important portraits on paper are around eighty drawings by Hans Holbein, six by Bernini, eleven attributed to François Quesnel, and around 150 pastels, including a number by Liotard, Carriera, and Cotes. Victorian works include drawings by F X Winterhalter, William Ross, Carl Haag and Kenneth MacLeay. There is also an unparalleled collection of around 25,000 portrait prints of members of royal families from around the world, and some 15,000 British portrait prints, including a large number by the Dightons.
Miniatures
The 3,000 miniatures in the Royal Collection constitute one of the largest groups in existence. The collection spans four centuries and includes examples by the greatest practitioners Ã- François Clouet, Hans Holbein the Younger, Nicholas Hilliard, Isaac Oliver, Samuel Cooper, Jeremiah Meyer, Richard Cosway and Sir William Ross.
Sculpture
Statues and portrait busts have played an important role in the commemoration of sovereigns and in supplying official likenesses. A lifelike painted-terracotta bust by the Modenese sculptor Guido Mazzoni, which may represent Henry VIII at the age of seven, is the earliest portrait bust in the collection. George IV introduced the tradition of populating palace interiors with the marble likenesses of his friends, relations and heroes. These were ordered from contemporary British sculptors, such as Joseph Nollekens and Sir Francis Chantrey, who had the unique distinction of portraying four successive monarchs (from George III to Queen Victoria) from the life. George IV was also an important client of the renowned Italian sculptor Antonio Canova.
Photographs
The 400,000 photographic images in the Royal Collection consist of both official and personal photographs, acquired by members of the Royal Family, from 1842 to the present day, by purchase or gift. Portraits are an important part of the collection, particularly the 19th-century albums amassed by Queen Victoria, which contain works by Silvy, Disderi and Fenton, amongst others. The collection is rich in cartes-de-visite of leading British and European royalty, celebrities and personalities of the day. There is also a small but significant group of daguerreotype portraits. Twentieth century portraits are represented by the work of leading British photographers, including Marcus Adams, Dorothy Wilding, Cecil Beaton, Lichfield and Snowdon.; The Royal Collection | Subjects: | Royal household Portrait photography Portrait painting Sculpture Royal weddings Portrait miniatures Portraits Royal houses Royal portraits Royalty Royal family | Source: | Cornucopia - Discovering UK Collections | Identifier: | oai:www.cornucopia.org.uk:8707 | Go to resource |
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