The Picture Gallery at Buckingham Palace has nearly doubled the number of paintings on display to the public, with 120 works now exhibited. This significant increase from the previous 63 paintings is part of an effort to share more of the Royal Collection.
The gallery, which is open to visitors during the summer months as part of the State Rooms tour, underwent a transformation that required 875 hours of work. The changes include the installation of new emerald-green silk wall hangings and updated lighting systems to better showcase the art.
Anna Reynolds, surveyor of the King's pictures, described the redisplay as an "exciting and rare opportunity" to increase the number of paintings accessible to the public. This initiative aligns with the charitable objective of making as much of the Royal Collection as possible available for viewing.
The works now displayed include significant pieces from the Royal Collection, which comprises over 150,000 objects accumulated by British monarchs since the 15th century. The Picture Gallery itself has been a feature of Buckingham Palace since the 1840s, evolving through various redecorations and redisplays over the decades.