Treasures of the Royal Collection
The books published by Royal Collection Trust explore all elements of the Royal Collection, one of the most important art collections in the world. Made up of over a million objects, the Collection comprises paintings, sculpture, furniture, metalwork and almost all aspects of the fine and decorative arts. It is a priceless record of the personal tastes of kings and queens from the past 500 years, and important additions to the Collection have been made by some of our most well-known monarchs including Charles II, George IV and Queen Victoria.
Learn about the treasures of the Royal Collection through our range of books. Explore highlights from our list below.
Masterpieces from Buckingham Palace
In this beautiful art book, Surveyor of The Queen’s Pictures, Desmond Shawe-Taylor, and Assistant Curator, Isabella Manning, examine 65 of the most celebrated paintings from the Picture Gallery at Buckingham Palace, including works by Vermeer, Rembrandt, van Dyck, Rubens, Titian and Canaletto.
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Leonardo da Vinci: A Life in Drawing
Leonardo da Vinci drew to develop his artistic and engineering projects, to record his perceptions of the world around him, to explore his own imagination and to think. This publication brings together 200 of Leonardo's drawings and provides an authoritative survey of the richness of Leonardo’s works in the Royal Collection.
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The Queen's Diamonds
This book tells the story of the magnificent royal inheritance of diamonds from the time of Queen Adelaide in the 1830s to the present day. Illustrated with a wealth of archive material as well as extensive new photography of the jewels, this is the first authorised account of the history of some of the finest diamond jewellery in the world.
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Arms and Armour
The Royal Collection holds one of the finest collections of arms and armour in the world, including the famous set of armour made for Henry VIII around 1540. At more than six foot tall, Henry was renowned for his physical prowess, but this armour was enlarged several times with strips of metal to fit the King’s expanding waistline. Arms and Armour in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen is the first detailed study of European arms and armour in the Royal Collection for over 100 years.
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Masters of the Everyday
During the 17th century, Dutch artists were unparalleled in their dedication to depicting ordinary people doing everyday things, offering candid glimpses into the peasant cottages and village courtyards of the Dutch Golden Age. While the subject matter may be ordinary, the meticulously documented details often allude to a work’s deeper meaning. Masters of the Everyday explores hidden moral messages in the paintings as well as the artists' penchant for clever visual puns.
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Early British Photographs from the Royal Collection
In terms of artistic achievement, Roger Fenton and Julia Margaret Cameron are probably the two most important British photographers of the 19th century. This book illustrates Queen Victoria’s personal set of Cameron’s remarkable portraits alongside Fenton’s images of Windsor Castle and the royal children, which together provide a glimpse into a life ordinarily hidden from public view.
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