Fabulous treasures from the Royal collection

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Patricia Andrew reports on ‘Treasures from The Queen’s Palaces’ in Edinburgh

There is a real ‘Wow’ factor to this exhibition, designed to appeal to all ages, tastes, and levels of knowledge. The first impression when you enter the gallery is almost overwhelming, with dazzling jewellery and fabulous items of all descriptions. And then you look past these more colourful exhibits to see works of art that may not leap out at you quite so forcefully, but that are arguably the more important treasures of the show.

This is a curatorial selection chosen to celebrate The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the 100 objects reflecting the interests and artistic tastes of the Royal Family over five centuries. Drawn from nine royal residences, the selection reflects the widest possible range of medium and period. There are paintings, drawings, miniatures, watercolours, manuscripts, furniture, sculpture, ceramics and jewellery, and most of them are on show in Scotland for the first time. The Royal collection is now (so the press pack modestly claims) ‘one of the world’s great art collections’, though some would say it is quite simply the finest. 

With a title including the word ‘Treasures’, I expected to find items by Carl Fabergé, the great jeweller and goldsmith of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and indeed there are 20 Fabergé pieces on display, including two Easter Eggs made for the Russian Imperial family. Shown together with such an array of stupendous jewellery, the exhibition demonstrates Royal confidence in today’s public attitudes: a monarchy with less solid public support might think twice before authorizing such a dazzling demonstration of collected wealth. In fact, it does rather prompt the visitor to ask who exactly owns it all, a question voiced by several people within my hearing at the exhibition’s opening (this issue is, in fact, being addressed through the changes in legal status that commenced with the establishment of the Royal Collection Trust in 1993, as well as a shift in presentation).

Once your eyes have feasted on the precious metals and jewels, you can turn to the stunning paintings: Leonardo, Holbein, Hilliard, Claude, Hogarth – the list of great names goes on and on, and every work is a splendid example of each artist’s hand.

For me, the outstanding examples were two self-portraits. The first is a late example by Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini c.1665–70. Bernini made numerous studies of his own unlovely face, and this one, made late in the artist’s life, explores his haggard, worn-out features, with furrowed brows, hollow cheeks and sagging eyelids. By contrast, the self-portrait by the Venetian pastellist Rosalba Carriera is a gentle and serene work from c.1745, showing a woman ageing with calm resignation. She presented it to Joseph Smith, Consul at Venice, from whom it was bought by George III in 1762; it is still in its original Smith frame.

The most dramatic portrait is Rembrandt’s Agatha Bas (1641), who looks out of her picture directly at the viewer. Her left hand rests on a window frame at the edge of the composition, giving the impression that she is holding the picture frame.  As a contrast in portraiture, there is Landseer’s painting of Prince Albert’s favourite greyhound, Eos, her black-and-white coat set against a bright red tablecloth behind her. It’s a remarkably simple – if sophisticated – painting compared with so many of Landseer’s cluttered compositions, and was commissioned by Queen Victoria as a Christmas present for Prince Albert.

Nearer to the present day, there are items such as a watercolour of Puck (1977) by British Pop artist Peter Blake, presented by the Royal Academy of Arts on the occasion of The Queen’s Silver Jubilee, and Lucian Freud’s Self-portrait etching, a gift from the artist.

The Treasures have been acquired by inheritance, gift, purchase and commission, and the provenances are fascinating in themselves. There is no published catalogue, but you can find a complete online catalogue of all the items on display on the associated website.