The Hague – From 18 September 2025 to 4 January 2026 the Mauritshuis will be presenting The Grand Tour – Destination Italy, featuring masterpieces from three of the UK’s most esteemed stately homes: Burghley House, Holkham Hall and Woburn Abbey. The art in this exhibition was collected on Grand Tours in the 17th and 18th centuries, when young British aristocrats finished their education by spending several years travelling in continental Europe. The highlights will include an impressive portrait of Thomas William Coke (Holkham Hall) by Pompeo Batoni, work by Angelica Kauffman (Burghley House) and two grand Venetian cityscapes by Canaletto (Woburn Abbey), all of them on display in the Netherlands for the first time.
Burghley House – great collectors
Visitors will encounter two extraordinary travellers from the Cecil family: John Cecil, the 5th Earl of Exeter, and Brownlow Cecil, the 9th Earl. In the 17th century John and his wife made four tours of Europe, collecting pieces for their stately home, Burghley House. They purchased all kinds of things, including furniture and tapestries, but above all they purchased lots of paintings for their grand house. Their trips were far from easy. The couple travelled with their children, servants and dozens of horses. Grand Tours were not without their challenges. Sick servants would have to be left behind, horses died in the heat, and carriages broke down.
Beloved, talented and in demand
In the 18th century their great grandson Brownlow left for Italy after the death of his wife. He had a particular favourite, Angelica Kauffman, a Swiss-Austrian painter who worked in Italy for many years and was the star of her age – beloved, talented and in demand. The exhibition will include a magnificent portrait of her by Nathaniel Dance which shows her looking straight at the viewer. For many, meeting Kauffman was the highlight of their Grand Tour. Vesuvius can be seen in the background of her portrait of Brownlow. No visit to Naples was complete without a climb to the top of this volcano, which was a popular destination in the 18th century – the earliest example of ‘disaster tourism’. Pietro Fabris painted a detailed image of the eruption of Vesuvius in 1767, with a crowd in the foreground watching the awesome power of nature.
Holkham Hall – home of art
Thomas Coke, the 1st Earl of Leicester, was just fifteen when he embarked on his six-year Grand Tour (1712–1718). He travelled with a clear goal in mind: to collect art for the future Holkham Hall, which he had built after his return, in Palladian style, with Roman columns, façades resembling temples and strict symmetry. His artworks were displayed to their best advantage in his palatial country home. During his travels, he collected paintings, drawings, sculptures, books and manuscripts. Coke was regarded as one of the most important 18th-century collectors of the work of Claude Lorrain, the French master of Italian landscapes, including the fabulous View of a Seaport and Amphitheatre. The top item in the exhibition – an impressive portrait of his great nephew Thomas William Coke, painted by Pompeo Batoni, a typical Grand Tour portrait with a Roman statue from the Vatican in the background.
Woburn Abbey – obsession with Venice
The Grand Tour is synonymous with Rome, and also with Venice. John Russell, who became the 4th Duke of Bedford in 1735, visited the city on his Grand Tour (1730-1731). Like many young aristocrats, he wanted a permanent memento to take home with him, and what could be more appropriate than a cityscape by Canaletto – the leading painter of 18th-century Venice? Eventually, John Russell commissioned an entire series comprising more than 24 paintings, the largest series of Canalettos still in existence. The paintings normally hang in the dining room at Woburn Abbey, the ancient family seat of the Russells.
