| Built in the shell of the former Holyrood Free Church and Duchess of Gordon's School, the Gallery provides purpose-built, state-of-the-art facilities to enable a programme of changing exhibitions of the most delicate works of art from the Royal Collection to be shown in Scotland for the first time.
Forthcoming Events:
Bruegel to Rubens: Masters of Flemish Painting
Until 6 April 2008
This first exhibition ever mounted of Flemish paintings in the Royal Collection brings together 51 works from the 15th to 17th centuries, including masterpieces by Hans Memling, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Jan Brueghel, Van Dyck and Rubens. By the 1550s the Netherlands enjoyed a level of wealth that remained unmatched in the West for centuries. The Eighty Years War with Spain, from 1568 to 1648, all but destroyed the region’s infrastructure and creative industries. The paintings in the exhibition were produced in the Southern (Spanish-ruled) Netherlands during this period of extraordinary turbulence and its immediate aftermath, when peace was finally restored to the region.
The Art of Italy in the Royal Collection: The Renaissance
25 April – 26 October 2008
The highly acclaimed exhibition of 16th- and 17th-century Italian art in the Royal Collection comes to Scotland in two parts in 2008 and 2009. It celebrates the artistic legacy of the Stuart kings, Charles I and his son, Charles II, whose taste profoundly influenced the character of the British Royal Collection.
Part one presents 32 paintings and 42 drawings from the period of the Italian Renaissance, including works by many of the greatest masters of 16th-century Venice, Florence and Rome. Drawings by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael and Tintoretto, and paintings by Giovanni Bellini, Lorenzo Costa and Titian are among those brought together from royal palaces and residences across Britain.
The Art of Italy in the Royal Collection: The Baroque
13 November 2008 – 1 March 2009
The drama of the Baroque comes to Edinburgh in part two of The Art of Italy, which focuses on the 17th century. Among the masterpieces on show is The Calling of Saints Peter and Andrew, recently revealed as one of only 50 surviving works by Caravaggio. Other highlights include Annibale Carracci’s Allegory of Truth and Time, Orazio Gentileschi’s Joseph and Potiphar’s wife, Cristofano Allori’s Judith with the Head of Holofernes and drawings by Guido Reni, Guercino and Bernini.
Ticket includes an audio tour with Sir David Attenborough. | 
