Buckingham Palace Gallery Rehangs in Salon Style, Doubling Works on View

The Picture Gallery at Buckingham Palace has reinstalled its collection in a dense, floor-to-ceiling Salon-style hang, increasing the number of works on view from 63 to 120. The rehang, unveiled July 9, was carried out at the wish of King Charles III, who was kept aware of plans. Anna Reynolds, surveyor of the King's pictures, noted the tradition of rehanging the gallery at the start of a new reign. The Salon style, popularized in 18th-century Paris, peaked at 209 paintings under Edward VII but was reduced by the 1950s for clearer sightlines. Curator Lucy Peter said the rehang seeks a balance between density and spacing. Highlights include Johan Zoffany's The Tribuna of the Uffizi (1772–78), last displayed in 1841, and a portrait of George IV's dog by George Stubbs. A Thomas Gainsborough portrait, Johanna Christian Fischer (1774), hangs for the first time in the gallery. Rubens's self-portrait now sits beside his portrait of Anthony Van Dyck. Johannes Vermeer's Lady at the Virginals with a Gentleman is recontextualized among Dutch works including Gerard ter Borch's The Letter. The walls have been recovered in emerald-green silk damask, replacing a coral pink. A controversial 2023 portrait of the king by Jonathan Yeo hangs in the adjacent Silk Tapestry Room.