Queen's 'masterpieces' from Buckingham Palace go on display for first time at UK gallery

Masterpieces from the Buckingham Palace have gone on display together in a gallery exhibition for the first time starting December 4. A total of 65 paintings, considered one of the greatest private collections in the world, has been displayed at the Queen's Gallery in London. Visitors will have a unique opportunity to view the world's most renowned paintings, including works by Titian, Rembrandt, Rubens, Vermeer, Van Dyck, and Canaletto. 

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"The more intimate display at The Queen’s Gallery gives audiences the chance to enjoy each painting close up, inviting them to consider what made these works astonishing at the time of their creation, what they can offer a modern viewer and why these paintings deserve to be described as ‘masterpieces’," the Queen's Gallery said in a press release. 

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Paintings removed as part of renovation project

The paintings, which otherwise hang in the Picture Gallery at one of the State Rooms in Buckingham Palace, have been removed as the Queen's official residence is set to undergo a major renovation project, which done every 10 years. Under the project, several of the palace's essential services will be overhauled such as ageing pipes, electrical wiring, and boilers to ensure the building is fit for generations to come. 

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As far as the paintings are concerned, the masterpieces include Italian, Dutch and Flemish works from the heyday of the so-called Dutch Golden Age from 1630 to 1680. The paintings include Johannes Vermeer’s 'The Music Lesson' from the early 1660s, Gerrit Dou’s The Grocer’s Shop from 1672, Jan Steen's A Woman at her Toilet from 1663, and Pieter de Hooch’s Cardplayers in a Sunlit Room from 1658. 

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(Image Credit: Royal Collection Trust/Website)