School and family resources

From worksheets to online interactives, our resources are all full of historical facts, insights and fun learning opportunities

Decoding Art

Group of school pupils and teacher looking closely at a painting on a gallery wall
Pupils studying a painting in The Queen's Gallery, Buckingham PalaceCopyright: Royal Collection Enterprises Limited

When you look closely at a painting you will see there is often much more going on than you might notice at first glance. 

These interactives explore how artists use hidden clues and symbolism to send us important messages and how they can even tell a story without writing any words.

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Seeing the Story

This painting shows two grumpy looking men counting a pile of gold and silver coins. The artist is trying to make us laugh but he also has a serious message to share. Use this interactive to find out what the hidden clues and symbols mean. Even the parrot is telling us something!

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Resource

The Naughty Bits

This resource looks at all sorts of bad behaviour from different 17th-century paintings in the Royal Collection. Did these artists paint to make people laugh or to teach them how to behave? Investigate the hidden messages and decide!

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Royal Collection Trust is a charity caring for the Royal Collection, one of the world’s great art collections. Income from your visit helps us to conserve and share the Collection so that it can be enjoyed by everyone, wherever they are.