A Capital Collection
Subtitle: Houghton Hall and the Hermitage, with a Modern Edition of Aedes Walpolianae, Horace Walpole's Catalogue of Sir Robert Walpole's Collection
Contributors: Larissa Dukelskaya (Editor); Andrew Moore (Editor)
Publisher: Paul Mellon Center BA
Published: November 1, 2002
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 448
ISBN-13: 9780300097580
Subjects: Exhibition catalogues and specific collections; History of art & design styles: c 1600 to c 1800; Painting & paintings; c 1700 to c 1800; Exhibition Catalogs; Art; Art & Art Instruction; England; Russia; Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions - Museum; Essays; European; Art / History / European; Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions - General
Description: "After the fall of Sir Robert Walpole, Britain's first 'prime' minister, from political power in 1742, most of his celebrated collection of Old Master paintings was removed to his newly-built Palladian house in Norfold, Houghton Hall. In 1779 this collection was sold by Sir Robert's grandson to the Empress Catherine II of Russia, which was seen as a scandalous loss to Britain.

This book catalogues for the first time the entire collection in Russia as well as those works of art that remained at Houghton Hall. Accompanying the catalogue are essays on various aspects of the formation and sale of the collection."--BOOK JACKET.