The Northern Renaissance at The Queen's Gallery

Subtitled Durer to Holbein, this exhibition shows a comprehensive collection of work with a whole room of Durer's astonishing engravings and a large number of portraits by Holbein and his followers, including some of the famous Holbein sketches that manage, in a few lines, to collapse time bringing the sitter vividly to life. They are displayed beside the final oils for which they were preparatory sketches – something I appreciated greatly. There is also a pair of fine tapestries and some Dutch works, including Breughel's extraordinary Massacre of the Innocents – a quotidian scene in which the butchered babies have been painted out at a later date with commentary on this. Another high point is the display of miniatures by Holbein, Horenbout and in particular Clouet whose portraits, both miniature and full-sized, are entirely beguiling. 

The sheer extent of the material on show is an indication of how comprehensive the royal Collection must be. For anyone interested in the period it's well worth a visit... I shall definitely be going back for a second look and perhaps to one of the curators' talks which are on offer. Look out too for In Fine Style: The art of Tudor and Stuart Fashion scheduled for May.

Link below to the Royal Collection site:

The Queen's Gallery – Buckingham Palace