Waddesdon Manor Summer Season Launch 2017


There is always something spectacular and new to view at Waddesdon Manor.
A special display exploring how Elizabeth I and her courtiers used portraits to fashion their public image and promote themselves in a glamorous, dangerous world.

Two spectacular panel paintings by Nicholas Hilliard will be accompanied by loans from the Royal Collection and National Portrait Gallery. Visitors will learn about the scientific and scholarly detective work that has led to this important discovery and will be able to compare it with the famous ‘Phoenix’ portrait of Elizabeth I.

Images of the queen will be flanked by those of her charismatic suitor, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, her ambassador to France, Sir Amias Paulet and the doomed nobleman, Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk.

Witness nature reimagined in this exhibition that sees an amalgamation of fashion, digital art and animal specimens on show. In collaboration with the Natural History Museum at Tring, Walter Rothschild’s spectacular collection of natural history provides the inspiration for colourful virtual collages by Platon H and couture dresses by Mary Katrantzou.

Walter Rothschild, 2nd Lord Rothschild, nephew of Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild (who built Waddesdon), dedicated his life to the natural sciences. His private collection of specimens formed the foundation of his museum at Tring which opened to the public in 1892. An eccentric character, Walter was fascinated by birds, butterflies and giant tortoises, and famously trained zebras to draw his carriage.

For More Details: waddesdon.org.uk