The Queen’s Gallery – Buckingham Palace
The ruins of what was once the private chapel, destroyed by bombs were reused to create the Queen’s Gallery. Constructed only forty years ago the gallery was extensively developed and enlarged to house exhibitions placed on view to celebrate the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 2002. The Queen herself reopened the display in May that year. The gallery is used to display a range of exhibitions of items held in the Royal Collection.
The Royal Collection is a very wide ranging and diverse collection of sculptures, paintings and other beautiful and rare items that the queen holds in trust for the Nation. The Queen’s gallery is a permanent exhibition space given over to showing some of the incredibly rare and sometimes personal artworks that the public would not otherwise get to see.
Current Exhibition (Until April 15, 2012)
The current exhibition is titled ‘Scott and the Great Alone’ and is a display of the striking and atmospheric photography from the original Scott and Shackleton expedition to the Antarctic. The exhibition marks the 100 year anniversary of the ill fated and tragic exhibition to the South Pole. The images are dramatic to say the least and provide a clear pictorial record of the Terra Nova Expedition of 1910-1912, an expedition that lead to the deaths of five of the expedition team on the return leg of their journey. Images of incredible icescapes captured during Shackleton’s 1914-1917 polar expedition are also on display. Both of these iconic photograph collections were given to King George V and form part of the extensive Royal Photograph Collection.
Forthcoming Exhibition (4th May – 7th October 2012)
Following on from the inspiring icescapes and intrepid polar explores comes ‘Leonardo Da Vinci – Anatomist. This exhibition it set to be the largest ever display of Da Vinci’s anatomical works, his intricate and highly detailed studies of the human form. Da Vinci has long been regarded as a master of his craft, and one of the finest artists of the Renaissance, yet he was also on the cutting edge of science and discovery. Da Vinci had pioneering ideas and made ground breaking anatomical discoveries. Some, even now, question how he had such a level of knowledge that was beyond his time. The pieces of work in this exhibition had lain undiscovered for over 400 years, bundled in a mass of Da Vinci’s private papers after his death, they are now widely regarded as some of the most valuable and interesting pieces in the royal collection.
Tickets
While a limited number of tickets are placed on one side for sale on the day, this is on a strict first come first served basis. It is a much better idea to book your tickets in advance of your visit to avoid and disappointment. Once you are in the Queen’s Gallery take advantage of the Family Activity Bags and get the kids involved in creating their own art works and working through exhibition based activities as you tour the gallery.
