The prized Buckingham Palace paintings on loan to Scotland - here's how to see them

Italian, Dutch & Flemish Paintings: Highlights from Buckingham Palace is a temporary display of 16th and 17th-century paintings usually situated in the King’s official London residence.

The display provides an opportunity for visitors to see some of the greatest paintings in the Royal Collection while a rehang of the Picture Gallery of Buckingham Palace – where the paintings can usually be seen – takes place.

The paintings can be viewed as part of a visit to the official Scottish royal residence.

Subscribe today to the Scotsman’s Arts newsletter

Emma Stead, curator at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, said: “These paintings are masterful examples of artistic skill from some of the most innovative periods of European art. We are delighted that visitors to the Palace of Holyroodhouse can now see these beautiful works, which usually capture the imagination of visitors to Buckingham Palace.

“Our newly permanent scheme of £1 tickets for visitors receiving Universal Credit and other benefits means more people than ever can visit the palace and enjoy this exciting display.’

A highlight is Portrait of a Man by the Dutch painter Frans Hals, which was last on public display in Scotland 13 years ago.

The oldest work is a brooding portrait by Titian of Jacopo Sannazaro, a prominent scholar and court poet to King Ferdinand I of Naples, completed around 1514.

At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1642, Charles I owned one of Europe’s most important collections of Italian Renaissance and early Baroque art, but this was sold off during the Commonwealth.

Upon his Restoration to the throne, Charles II set about reassembling the collection. A painting thought to have been reacquired by him is Cristofano Allori’s Judith with the Head of Holofernes. The artwork is one of Allori’s best-known and most copied compositions .

Another painting also included in the exhibition, Portrait of a Young Nobleman by the Italian painter Parmigianino, was also likely acquired during the reign of Charles II.

The Royal Collection has one of the finest holdings of 17th-century Dutch paintings in the world, mainly formed by George IV. The former monarch collected portraits, landscapes and genre scenes by artists including Aelbert Cuyp and Pieter de Hooch – whose A Courtyard in Delft at Evening: A Woman Spinning features in the display.

The Dutch Golden Age, as it became known, involved advances in painting that coincided with the nation's growing influence in international politics and commerce.

The works are on display in the 17th-century, wood-panelled exhibition space within the palace. The paintings can be seen by visitors in addition to the other outstanding works throughout the State Apartments, such as the magnificent portrait of Charles II by John Michael Wright.

More Italian art, including a striking pen study of dogs by Parmigianino, can be seen in the Drawing the Italian Renaissance exhibition at The King’s Gallery at the Palace of Holyroodhouse until March 8. It is the widest-ranging exhibition of Italian Renaissance drawings in Scotland for over half a century.