LONDON, ENGLAND.- The Queen’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace will present The Art of Italy in the Royal Collection: Renaissance and Baroque, on view March 30, 2007 to January 20, 2008. The first exhibition of Italian art in the Royal Collection for over 40 years brings together 90 paintings and 85 drawings from royal palaces and residences across Britain. It celebrates the artistic legacy of the Stuart kings, Charles I and his son, Charles II, whose taste so profoundly influenced the character of the British Royal Collection. Described by the painter Peter Paul Rubens as ‘the greatest amateur of paintings among the princes of the world’, Charles I built up a collection of Italian masters to rival that of any European court of the period. Although Charles I’s collection was sold during the Commonwealth, a significant number of paintings were reclaimed or bought back by Charles II after the Restoration of the Monarchy.

Research for the exhibition has resulted in a number of important re-attributions. Among these, two paintings previously thought to be versions of lost works by Caravaggio, The calling of Saints Peter and Andrew and A boy peeling fruit, are now generally recognised by experts as original works by this distinctive master.