Royal art collection opening in Edinburgh

Royal art collection opening in Edinburgh

An exhibition of some of the world's greatest drawings from the past 500 years is opening in Edinburgh.

Entitled Holbein to Hockney, the display contains a selection of works from the Royal Collection, including drawings by Leonardo da Vinci and Michaelangelo.

"The Queen is a huge fan of Holbein, but I am less sure about Hockney," commented Martin Clayton, deputy curator of the Royal Library at Windsor Castle, where the collection usually resides.

The artworks, gathered by Britain's monarchs over the centuries, will now go on show at the Palace of Holyroodhouse until the beginning of March.

The exhibition draws from the sketches and watercolours in the Royal Collection, which ranges from about 40,000 items from the court of Henry VIII through to a pencil portrait by David Hockney.

The Palace of Holyroodhouse display is made up of 75 works which have been chosen to represent every important group of drawings from the Royal Library at Windsor.

A spokeswoman for the collection said: "From quick sketches to finished presentation works, the exhibition covers every type of drawing practised in Europe since the Renaissance, including compositions for paintings, studies from the model, portraits, landscapes and observations from nature."