joe phelan

There's a piece by Claire Higgens in the Guardian today about the British Royal Family's Art Collection. What's on view to the public in places like Buckingham Palace or Hampton Court is of "jaw dropping" quality: "here is one of the world's 34 or so Vermeers, a Rubens self-portrait (presented to Charles I as a sort of sales promotion), a Dürer portrait, bought by Charles I, and a Duccio triptych acquired by Prince Albert."

But that's only the tip of the iceberg behind the public display there are : "thousands of works ... [of] extraordinary old masters, including a handful of stunning Rembrandts (notably the 1633 Shipbuilder and his Wife) and stupendous Leonardo drawings. There are paintings by Poussin, Veronese and Claude, and sculptures by Canova. There are royal portraits by the dozen, including sumptuous Van Dycks. Of British artists there are Gainsboroughs, Reynoldses, Lelys, you name it."