Sainsbury Wing reopens + Coronation Portraits on display

The unveiling of the two new Coronation Portraits

Two big events happened yesterday at the National Gallery in London.

• In the Central Hall the King and Queen unveiled the Coronation State Portraits, commissioned from the artists Peter Kuhfeld and Paul S. Benney. These portraits will remain on display at the National Galleryfor one month until 5 June, before they then move to the Throne Room at Buckingham Palace.
• the King officially "reopened" the Sainsbury Wing after the major £85m project to transform it over the last two years to marh the 200th anniversary of the National Gallery.

The new entrance to the National Gallery

Two Coronation Portraits

Royal Family Order of King Charles III: Portrait by Elizabeth Meek MBE PPRMS

The New Royal Family Order - created for King Charles III

The new Royal Family Order, which features a miniature portrait of the Monarch, was unveiled recently and this post is about how it came about. I interviewed the Artist who created the miniature portrait the day after it became public knowledge!

This post covers:

• What is a Royal Family Order?
• What does the Order comprise - and who did what
• The Miniature Portrait painted by Elizabeth Meek.

The new King Charles III Royal Family Order was worn for the first time at a reception and State Banquet for the Japanese Emperor and his wife at Buckingham Palace.  HM Queen Camilla wore the Royal Family Orders commissioned by her husband  and the late Queen.

The Royal Family Order

To provide some context - the Royal Family Order is a decoration conferred by the monarch on female members of the British Royal Family.

• They have been created and conferred since 1820. They are usually the first honours given by the new Monarch to the female members of his or her family.
• It's usual for the colour of the ribbon used to attach it to a gown to change as the monarch changes.
• It's typically worn on State Occasions - such as State Banquets for a Visiting Head of State. 

Royal Family Orders have been given since 1820. Usually they are the first Honours awarded by a new Sovereign to Royal Ladies. 

To date, Queen Camilla is the only Royal Lady to receive one. However I think it very likely that we will see both the Princess Royal and the Princess of Wales wearing one in the near future - as both were absent due to ill health at the time of the banquet.

Copies of the miniature portrait are made to create the Royal Family Order worn by female relatives of the King.

Below, The King and Queen with The Emperor and Empress of Japan at the State Banquet at Buckingham Palace.

 

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What does the order comprise?

Creating a Royal Family Order is very much a team effort - although I'm focusing on the miniature painting which sits at the centre of the order in this post.

The Royal Family Order comprises:

• a miniature portrait of the Monarch, typically at the beginning of their reign
• a jewelled encasing which features loose jewels from the Royal Collection
• a ribbon which is used to hang the portrait and its case - and to hide the method used to attach it to the dress worn for the occasion! The colour of the ribbon can vary.

The new Royal Family Order commissioned for the female relatives of King Charles III was created by the following individuals and comprises:

• a miniature portrait by leading professional miniature portrait painter Elizabeth Meek MBE PPRMS. 
• This was based on a photograph of the monarch wearing the uniform of Admiral of the Fleet and his array of decorations taken by the official Royal Photographer Hugo Bernard at Windsor Castle in 2023. This depicts the King wearing the ceremonial day uniform of a Royal Navy Admiral of the Fleet with the collar of the Order of the Garter, the Royal Victorian Chain, the riband of the Royal Victorian Order, the badges of the Order of the Bath and Order of Merit and various medals.
• A miniature Tudor Crown sits at the top of the jewelled casing that surrounds the portrait. This includes diamonds weighing 10.41 carat - which came from loose jewels in the Royal Collection. This was created by British jewellery designer Fiona Rae Goldsmiths has been designing and making jewellery for over 34 years, after graduating from Central St Martins and receiving a business loan from the Prince's Trust. She was recently granted a Royal Warrant from HM King Charles III. 
• The enamelled reverse of the case depicts the King's cypher in gold. The case and goldwork was engineered by Seth Kennedy, a scholar from the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust.
• The casing for the portrait is suspended from a pale blue moiré silk bow created by the leading milliner Philip Treacy who makes lots of hats for the Queen.
• His Majesty personally selected the colour of the ribbon, which is based on the Family Order of his great-grandfather, King George V. 
• This marks a change from the yellow that decorated the late Queen’s Order.
• Those wearing the Royal Family Orders usually arrange them in layers on the left shoulder.

You can see an image of Queen Camilla wearing the new Royal Family Order with that created for HM Queen Elizabeth 11 in this Tatler article Queen Camilla debuts King Charles' new Family Order at Buckingham Palace: everything we know about the honour

The Miniature Portrait - by Elizabeth Meek

Now on to the art involved!

The Artist formerly known as Prince

There have been a few posts on social media using this quip.

However it's worth remembering that King Charles III is an artist who is a keen painter in watercolours and who exhibits his paintings on a regular basis. 

He is also a Patron of drawing, traditional art and crafts in different locations both in the UK and abroad.

I remember when Prince Philip died I made reference in Prince Philip (1921-2021) - the painter to his interest in painting.  I guess this interest must have influenced his son. I'm hoping it passes on to more of his progeny.

Below you can find out more about his activities - when Prince of Wales in terms of: 

• watercolour painter
• timeline of exhibitions
• patron of art

Watercolour Painter

As a Prince, he painted from childhood. 

However he did not become dedicated to plein air painting of landscapes and nature in watercolour until the mid 1980s. After which he produced paintings of places he visited and generally produced about 30 paintings each year.

He has, up until now, painted under the name A.G Carrick. The A. G. relates to two of his names 'Arthur George' and the Carrick references one of his titles 'Earl of Carrick' - one of the Scottish titles held by the Heir Apparent.  I think I'm correct in saying that he has typically signed his watercolours AG. 

However he's no longer the Earl of Carrick as that title has now passed to his son! 

I wonder if being King might mean we no longer see his watercolours even if he continues to paint them.

Timeline of Exhibitions

Masterpieces from Buckingham Palace

In early December we're going to get to see masterpiece paintings that normally hang in The Picture Gallery in Buckingham Palace in a NEW exhibition called Masterpieces from Buckingham Palace at the Queen's Gallery.

Card Players in a sunlit Room (1658) by Pieter de Hooch (1629-1684)

oil on canvas, 77 x 67 cm

We're getting to see art in different ways during the Coronavirus Pandemic. 

One of the more curious ways comes as a result of the decision to go ahead with much needed renovation to Buckingham Palace to protect the historic building for future generations - while the Queen is isolating away from London.

Renovation means that the priceless collection of paintings actually hung in the Palace must move

This year, 65 paintings from Buckingham Palace’s Picture Gallery will be displayed together in an @RCT exhibition for the the first time.

📸 “Masterpieces from Buckingham Palace” at The Queen’s Gallery will include works by artists including Titian, Rembrandt and Vermeer. pic.twitter.com/KxAozKXssp

— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) August 13, 2020

The Reservicing Programme has presented other opportunities for highlights of the Royal Collection @RCT to be displayed publicly for the first time.

Last year, a George IV exhibition opened at Brighton Pavilion, with a major loan of items removed from the Palace’s East Wing. pic.twitter.com/TKJSAL4QrB

— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) August 13, 2020

The Exhibition

Sixty-five paintings, that usually hang in the Picture Gallery at Buckingham Palace and are widely acknowledged to be among the highlights of the Royal Collection, will be brought together in a gallery exhibition for the first time.

The Picture Gallery is top-lit and 55 yards (50 m) long and was originally designed by the architect John Nash for George IV to display his collection of Dutch, Flemish and Italian Old Master paintings. 

The Picture Gallery, Buckingham Palace

In Masterpieces from Buckingham Palace, spectacular works by artists such as Titian, Rembrandt, Vermeer, van Dyck and Canaletto can be enjoyed ‘close up’, and visitors will be encouraged to consider

• the artists’ intentions, 
• why the paintings were highly prized in their day and 
• why we would now consider these works to be ‘masterpieces’.

Details

Where you can see the Leonardo da Vinci drawings

144 of Leonardo da Vinci's greatest drawings in the Royal Collection are currently on display in 12 simultaneous exhibitions of Leonardo da Vinci: A Life in Drawing across the UK.

If you want to get to see the various exhibitions around the UK - or even all of them(!) - this is where you can see them.

• They are listed below in alphabetical order of the locations
• PLUS one of the images that can be seen at that location.

From 1 February - 6 May 2019, to mark the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo da Vinci, 144 of the Renaissance master's greatest drawings in the Royal Collection will go on display in 12 simultaneous exhibitions across the UK.

This is a nationwide event. It rebuffs the notion that all the good art is only shown in London. In fact, it will give da Vinci's drawings the widest-ever audience to celebrate the 500th anniversary of he death of da Vinci in 1519.

12 drawings selected to reflect the full range of Leonardo's interests – painting, sculpture, architecture, music, anatomy, engineering, cartography, geology and botany – will be shown at each venue in Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Derby, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Southampton and Sunderland.

Longer exhibitions will then be held at first the Queen's Gallery in London - followed by the Queen's Gallery in Edinburgh.

The exhibitions include examples of all the drawing materials employed by the artist, including

• pen and ink, 
• red and black chalks, 
• watercolour and 
• metalpoint. 

They also present new information about Leonardo's working practices and creative process, gathered through scientific research using a range of non-invasive techniques, including ultraviolet imaging, infrared reflectography and X-ray fluorescence.

I've also included

• links to BBS news items - with the relevant gallery - which show more images and videos of the drawings on display.
• links to any useful items relevant to particular exhibitions

The drawings in the Royal Collection have been together as a group since the artist's death, and provide an unparalleled insight into Leonardo's investigations and the workings of his mind.Leonardo da Vinci drawings to go on display in Birmingham in 2019 | Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery Blog

For more information

• visit www.royalcollection.org.uk/Leonardo 500
• view this video
• view the listings below for each of the twelve exhibitions

The Nationwide Exhibitions

Exhibitions will be held in the following twelve locations between 1 February – 6 May 2019

Belfast - Ulster Museum

• Venue: Ulster Museum, Belfast
• Admission: FREE (on the basis I can't see any charging info)
• BBC - Leonardo Da Vinci drawings on display at Ulster Museum

Ulster Museum, Belfast

Leonardo da Vinci, The skull sectioned, 

1489, traces of black chalk, pen and ink

Birmingham - Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery

• Venue: Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery
• Admission: FREE
• BBC: Leonardo da Vinci works on display at Birmingham Museum

Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery

Leonardo da Vinci, A Map of the Valdichiana, 

c.1503-4, watercolour, pen and ink, ink wash over black chalk

You can download the large print copy of the labels before you go - and you'll get to see the explanations for each of the drawings

Leonardo was an accomplished map maker. This map illustrates the Chiana valley in central Italy, with north to the left of the sheet. The river Tiber can be seen running along the top edge, the river Arno on the left and the city of Siena in the lower centre.

The marshy lake in the valley allowed the spread of malaria. It seems probable that Leonardo was employed by the Florentine government to create this map as part of a civil engineering project to drain the marsh. (Label for exhibit)

Bristol - Bristol Museum and Art Gallery

• Venue: Bristol Museum and Art Gallery
• Admission: 
• £6 adult* | £5 concession* 
• Under 16s FREE
• Tue-Sun: 10am-5pm Closed Mondays except Bank Holiday Mondays and Mondays during Bristol school holidays: 10am-5pm

Bristol are charging people for entry - while most other cities are showing their exhibitions for free. Bristolians may want to comment on this!

Bristol Museum & Art Gallery 

Leonardo da Vinci, Cats, lions and a dragon, 

c.1517-18, black chalk, pen and ink, wash

Anybody else got visions of da Vinci the cat lover - drawing next to a cat who likes to walk all over his drawings?

The Last of the Tide: Portraits of D-Day Veterans

HRH Prince of Wales has commissioned twelve portraits of D-Day veterans which can be seen in an exhibition called The Last of the Tide at The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace until 17 June 2015.

The idea behind the exhibition is to pay tribute to those extraordinary men who played a role in the Allied Invasion of Normandy in June 1944.  The title of the exhibition comes from a message to the troops.

On the eve of D-Day General Eisenhower sent a message to all troops in which he declared, 'The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to Victory!'.

Twelve leading portrait painters were selected for the commission - one for each portrait. They include:

• four past winners of the BP Portrait Award First Prize - Catherine Goodman, James Lloyd, Ishbel Myerscough and Stuart Pearson Wright
• one winner of the BP Travel Award - Carl Randall
• winner of the BP Portrait Award Public Choice Award (twice) - Paul Benney
• Ondaatje prizewinner 1995, 2012 - Antony Williams RP PS NEAC
• Professor in Fine Art in the Camberwell, Chelsea and Wimbledon art schools Graduate School, University of the Arts London - Eileen Hogan

Other artists are: Clara Drummond, Peter Kuhfeld (painter of "The Last Tommy"), Jonathan Yeo and Martin Yeoman

The exhibition opened on 6th June - the 71st anniversary of the Allied invasion of Normandy. The D-Day Landings involved  some 7,700 ships and 12,000 aircraft  and began the slow process of liberatingGerman-occupied France. It was and still is the largest amphibious invasion in history.

Prior to this in 2010 HRH The Prince of Wales commissioned 15 portraits of surviving servicemen by alumni and faculty of The Royal Drawing School (previously known as The Prince’s Drawing School), to mark the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain.

Admission to the exhibition is free.

Below you can see the portraits and hear something of what the men were involved in.

My thanks to the Press Office of the Royal Collection for the images you see in this post. Obviously not everybody is going to be able to get to see the exhibition - however this important series needs highlighting - hence this post.

The portraits - the men and the artists

'I am delighted to introduce this exhibition of portraits of veterans of the D-Day landings and very much hope that all who see it will share my belief that this wonderful collection of paintings captures the spirit, resolve, warmth and humanity of these remarkable men. It seemed to me a tragedy that there were no portraits of D-Day veterans, hence this collection of remarkable old soldiers from the regiments of which my wife and I are Colonel or Colonel-in-Chief.'HRH The Prince of Wales 

The 12 veterans all served in regiments with which HRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall have a formal association.

They are all shown wearing their medals win during WW2.

Thomas ‘David’ Burke (b. 1924) - Sergeant with Royal Signals and later the Cheshire Yeomanry
Artist: © James Lloyd | Photograph: © Royal Collection Trust

Mr Burke landed with Canadian forces as a signals sergeant and served through France and Germany until the Nazi surrender. He subsequently worked with the Allied Joint Signals Unit at the Nuremberg war crimes tribunal, and became part of the Cheshire Yeomanry after the war.