“Drawing the Italian Renaissance” at The King’s Gallery

A period of immense artistic and cultural growth that ushered out the Middle Ages, forever changing the world in the process, the Renaissance began in the Florentine Republic in the 14^th century, reaching its height in the late 15^th and early 16^th centuries, and ending around 1600. Placing significant importance on individual creativity, drawing and draftsmanship were truly the heart of the Renaissance. Drawing the Italian Renaissance at The King’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace presents the widest-ranging collection of drawings from the period ever exhibited in Britain.

Raphael, The Three Graces, c. 1517-18, © Royal Collection Enterprises Limited 2024 | Royal Collection Trust

The pieces that are displayed in the exhibition are sourced from the Royal Collection, which, with near 2,000 sheets, possesses one of the world’s largest collections of Renaissance drawings. Drawing the Italian Renaissance features over one hundred and fifty pieces created between 1450 and 1600 by more than eighty artists. These artists include such Renaissance masters as Raphael, Michelangelo, Tiziano, and Leonardo da Vinci.

Leonardo da Vinci, The drapery of a kneeling figure, c.1491–94, © Royal Collection Enterprises Limited 2024 | Royal Collection Trust

The drawings found in the exhibition were mostly created as preparation for pieces executed in further mediums such as painting, sculpture, and architecture. Alongside those that were created as ultimate works, the drawings they sit alongside can often be interpreted as finished pieces in their own right. There is beauty to be found in the draped folds of Leonardo’s kneeling figure, and despite the fact that it is a cropped study, the composition still succeeds, taking on a decidedly mysterious quality.

The King’s Gallery itself works exceedingly well for the housing of the exhibition. The columned portico entrance conjures connotations of entering a small Roman-era temple – or rather large mausoleum, and the gallery’s interior atmosphere still retains remnants of the chapel that it once was. The exhibition itself opens with a selection of life drawings. When one hears the term in this day and age, they may tend to think of the nude female form, but during the Renaissance male models were more-commonly depicted, with artist’s masculine assistants posing for their masters. Raphael was one of the only artists of the period to draw from the nude female, and the result can be seen in his Three Graces, an attractive piece depicting a model in three poses, composed in red chalk. The drawing was done in preparation for the Wedding Feast of Cupid and Psyche in Rome’s Villa Farnesina, and the three graces can be found in the fresco’s upper-righthand corner.

Paolo Farinati, The goddesses of fruit and agriculture, and a personification of summer, c.1590, © Royal Collection Enterprises Limited 2024 | Royal Collection Trust

Alongside the omnipresent names of the Renaissance, the exhibition also features works by many lesser-known artists of the period. But despite their nomenclative obscurity when placed alongside such appellations as Michelangelo or da Vinci, the works themselves stands strong. Of particular interest amongst these pieces is The goddesses of fruit and agriculture, and a personification of summer by Paolo Farinati. A study of a triumvirate of mythological figures beneath an arch, Farinati included instructions to his assistants beneath the composition, granting them the freedom to carry out the painting as they so fancied when upon the scaffolding. The figure on the lefthand side clutching a branch of apples is Pomona – the Roman goddess of fruit and orchards, in the middle stands the “bewinged” Estate – the titular personification of summer, and on the right, with cornucopia loving nestled in her arms, sits Cerere – the Roman goddess of grain and agriculture.

Federico Barocci, The head of a Virgin, c.1582, © Royal Collection Enterprises Limited 2024 | Royal Collection Trust

The final room in the exhibition is decided to compositions of both a sacred and secular nature. Hung upon walls of sumptuous almost-Pompeian red, the pieces possess a striking quality before one even gets to inspect them at close quarters. It is here that visitors can take in such masterful drawings as Michelangelo’s The Virgin and Child with the young Baptist and Giovanni Bellini’s The head of an old man, while those of a more curious nature can stumble upon such unexpected oddities as Francesco Montemezzano’s Two women and a dwarf under a portico or Marco Angolo del Moro’s The Torture of St Blaise.

The final exhibition room. © Royal Collection Enterprises Limited 2024 | Royal Collection Trust

King Charles III possesses a decided passion for the arts, and the Royal Collection is held in the trust of the Sovereign. A keen watercolorist, patron, and collector, His Majesty shares an enthusiasm not dissimilar to that of Charles I, who assembled one of the greatest art collections in history. After Cromwell, who was certainly not known as a patron of the arts, saw to Charles I’s execution in 1649, his collection was sold off. In 1660, when the monarchy was restored, Charles II endeavored to recover his late father’s dissipated collection, but found that it had been strewn throughout the Continent. Majority of the pieces the exhibition goer sees on display were most-likely acquired for the Royal Collection by Charles II.

Drawing the Italian Renaissance is open until the March 9, 2025, at the stunning King’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace.

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