The Princely Collections, Liechtenstein: Five Centuries of European Painting and Sculpture

Image: Leonardo da Vinci, Ginevra de' Benci [obverse], c. 1474/1478, oil on panel, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1967.6.1.a

Established in the mid-16th century and built over successive generations, the Princely Collections, Liechtenstein is one of the most storied private art collections in Europe. In the aftermath of the Second World War, the princely family made the decision to sell a number of their most important paintings and sculptures, which soon found homes in museums around the world, including the National Gallery of Art, Washington, and the National Gallery of Canada.

Highlights of the collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, that were once part of the Princely Collections include Leonardo da Vinci’s Ginevra de’ Benci (c. 1474/1478), Peter Paul Rubens’s Agrippina and Germanicus (c. 1614), and Orazio Gentileschi’s The Lute Player (c. 1612/1620).

Leonardo da Vinci, Ginevra de' Benci [obverse], c. 1474/1478, oil on panel, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1967.6.1.a

Treasures Past and Present: The Princely Collections, Liechtenstein presents nearly 100 works from the princely family’s historic and current collections. The exhibition marks the first time that these works have been reunited and features examples by some 60 artists such as Antico, Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Sandro Botticelli, Canaletto, Jean Siméon Chardin, Sir Anthony van Dyck, Fra Filipo and Filippino Lippi, Rembrandt van Rijn, Hyacinthe Rigaud, and Sir Peter Paul Rubens. The exhibition also provides a rare look at some of the nearly 1,000 works acquired by the reigning Prince Hans-Adam II over the past three decades.

National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, June 5–September 7, 2020
Seattle Museum of Art, October 15, 2020–January 10, 2021