Featuring works by Old Masters such as El Greco, Titian, Tintoretto, Bellini, Cima and others, it was brought together by Henry Viscount Lascelles, later 6th Earl of Harewood, following an unexpected bequest during the First World War. Today, the collection hangs in Harewood’s magnificent Gallery.

From a young age, the Henry developed a keen interest in fine art and as a young man travelled to Europe. This passion for the arts received a great boost in 1916 after the death of Henry’s great-uncle, the 2nd Marquess of Clanricarde, who left him around £2.5 million, in addition to his Irish estate and collection. 

Henry used this inheritance to indulge his passion for Italian Old Master paintings, particularly those by Venetian artists, whom he had developed a particular interest in. A number of the pictures in Henry’s collection were purchased whilst on active duty in the trenches, aided by his art advisor, Dr Tancred Borenius. 

At a time when many private British Old Master collections were being sold abroad due to economic pressures, Henry’s collection represents a rare exception to this rule. The pictures now on display in the Gallery at Harewood not only represent the work of some of the finest Italian masters of the Renaissance but also a remarkable collecting story.