0:00:09 > 0:00:13In 1779, Britain lost one of its greatest treasures,
0:00:13 > 0:00:18a stunning art collection, one of the finest in Europe.
0:00:19 > 0:00:24More than 200 paintings by some of the greatest artists in history.
0:00:24 > 0:00:29Rembrandt, Rubens, Van Dyck, Poussin.
0:00:29 > 0:00:31They were stripped from the walls of Houghton Hall in Norfolk
0:00:31 > 0:00:33and sold abroad.
0:00:33 > 0:00:38Shipped over 1,000 miles away to Saint Petersburg in Russia.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42Awaiting their arrival with great anxiety
0:00:42 > 0:00:45was Tsarina Catherine II,
0:00:45 > 0:00:48Empress Catherine the Great of Russia.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51She acquired the private art collection
0:00:51 > 0:00:54of Britain's first prime minister, Sir Robert Walpole.
0:00:58 > 0:01:04It was an artistic loss that was to cause public outrage in Britain.
0:01:04 > 0:01:06But for Catherine the Great of Russia,
0:01:06 > 0:01:09it would be the cornerstone of a great new collection
0:01:09 > 0:01:12that would confirm Russia as a civilised nation.
0:01:15 > 0:01:20This is the forgotten story of Russia's most-celebrated empress,
0:01:20 > 0:01:21Britain's first prime minister
0:01:21 > 0:01:24and how shifting family fortunes
0:01:24 > 0:01:27saw Britain lose one of its first great art collections.
0:01:34 > 0:01:37But now the paintings are coming home.
0:01:37 > 0:01:42The clock will turn back 234 years for one brief summer,
0:01:42 > 0:01:46when Houghton Hall will be reunited with its lost masterpieces.
0:02:08 > 0:02:10Houghton Hall in Norfolk.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13One of Britain's finest country houses.
0:02:14 > 0:02:19Like a great Roman temple set deep in the English countryside.
0:02:22 > 0:02:24This magnificent building
0:02:24 > 0:02:27is a masterclass in the power of architecture.
0:02:27 > 0:02:31Or perhaps to be more correct, the architecture of power.
0:02:31 > 0:02:34It's also, in many ways, a portrait of its age
0:02:34 > 0:02:38and of the man for whom it was built, Sir Robert Walpole,
0:02:38 > 0:02:40Britain's first prime minister.
0:02:44 > 0:02:49Sir Robert Walpole was a political colossus of the 18th century.
0:02:49 > 0:02:54For more than 20 years, from the 1720s to the 1740s,
0:02:54 > 0:02:56he dominated public life.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02In many ways, he is the man who invented modern politics
0:03:02 > 0:03:04and the way cabinet government works today.
0:03:06 > 0:03:09He even gave 10 Downing Street to the nation
0:03:09 > 0:03:12as the official residence of the prime minister.
0:03:14 > 0:03:16Walpole was from a prosperous Norfolk family
0:03:16 > 0:03:19with its roots in trade and farming.
0:03:20 > 0:03:22But as he grew in power and prestige,
0:03:22 > 0:03:25he built Houghton Hall and its great estate
0:03:25 > 0:03:29to display his new place in the world.
0:03:31 > 0:03:35And Houghton was constructed not merely as a grand country house,
0:03:35 > 0:03:38but as a temple to the arts and learning.
0:03:47 > 0:03:51The library has barely changed since Sir Robert's day.
0:03:52 > 0:03:57And it remains a very direct expression of his power,
0:03:57 > 0:03:59prestige and passions.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02There, a portrait of George I stares down.
0:04:02 > 0:04:06His books are largely still on the bookcases and the shelves here.
0:04:06 > 0:04:07Incredible!
0:04:07 > 0:04:12You can imagine him reclining here, on his day bed,
0:04:12 > 0:04:16reading his state papers, looking at his books.
0:04:16 > 0:04:20Here, you get a very direct and intimate sense
0:04:20 > 0:04:23of Sir Robert in his house in Houghton.
0:04:23 > 0:04:28There, of course, is his absolutely magnificent mahogany desk.
0:04:30 > 0:04:35Here, Sir Robert would have sat, contemplating his idyllic landscape,
0:04:35 > 0:04:40at this desk, essentially ruling the English-speaking world.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51Sir Robert's position, and the grandeur of his lifestyle,
0:04:51 > 0:04:53made him a controversial figure.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58Accusations of corruption, favouritism
0:04:58 > 0:05:02and naked ambition swirled around him.
0:05:03 > 0:05:07He found himself mercilessly ridiculed by contemporary satirists
0:05:07 > 0:05:09who questioned the source of his wealth
0:05:09 > 0:05:12and the honesty of his political dealings.
0:05:14 > 0:05:16But despite these accusations,
0:05:16 > 0:05:18Walpole enjoyed the longest period of power
0:05:18 > 0:05:21of any British prime minister.
0:05:21 > 0:05:23He was a shrewd political operator
0:05:23 > 0:05:26who knew how decisive appearances could be.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31Walpole understood how to use his position of public power
0:05:31 > 0:05:35to his own private best advantage.
0:05:35 > 0:05:37He also recognised the power of art
0:05:37 > 0:05:41in creating and sustaining a strong public image.
0:05:45 > 0:05:47In the 18th century, an art collection
0:05:47 > 0:05:51was proof of cultural and social standing.
0:05:51 > 0:05:55For any aspiring politician, it was a vital tool,
0:05:55 > 0:05:58one that displayed his wealth and superior taste.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05But for Walpole, it went further.
0:06:05 > 0:06:07He wanted to shape national taste
0:06:07 > 0:06:10and inspire the arts in Britain to greater heights.
0:06:12 > 0:06:14So he set about building an art collection
0:06:14 > 0:06:17of the very highest quality.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20The way in which Walpole collected art
0:06:20 > 0:06:24demonstrates his network of power and influences.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27He had ambassadors, and indeed spies, out in Europe
0:06:27 > 0:06:29collecting political information,
0:06:29 > 0:06:31but they were also charged with keeping an eye open
0:06:31 > 0:06:33for good works of art.
0:06:33 > 0:06:35You've got to remember, at the time,
0:06:35 > 0:06:37paintings were a form of currency.
0:06:37 > 0:06:41And a good tip about an outstanding piece,
0:06:41 > 0:06:44well, could secure political advantages.
0:06:52 > 0:06:54Today, the impact and quality
0:06:54 > 0:06:56of Walpole's collection at Houghton Hall
0:06:56 > 0:07:00is suggested only by a set of engravings.
0:07:00 > 0:07:02These were commissioned in the 18th century
0:07:02 > 0:07:05to memorialise the lost pictures.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13These monotone images are all that's left here.
0:07:13 > 0:07:17A mere shadow of the once glorious collection.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21The real pictures, of course, had been sold,
0:07:21 > 0:07:24taken down from the walls and shipped abroad.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36The house was left naked, its meaning diminished.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40Rooms like this, the common parlour,
0:07:40 > 0:07:42lost more than a few paintings.
0:07:42 > 0:07:43They lost their soul.
0:07:44 > 0:07:48This was a house that had been conceived around the collection.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51And now a crucial part of Houghton was missing.
0:07:56 > 0:08:00Sir Robert had employed one man to oversee all the interior decoration.
0:08:00 > 0:08:04In 1725, he'd engaged the services
0:08:04 > 0:08:07of one of the most sought-after young painters
0:08:07 > 0:08:10and architects in Britain, William Kent.
0:08:17 > 0:08:22Kent combined classical elements to create a grand Roman palace.
0:08:23 > 0:08:27He drew on the inspiration of classical Rome
0:08:27 > 0:08:29and the art of antiquity.
0:08:29 > 0:08:32Designed, of course, with one aim in mind -
0:08:32 > 0:08:37to underline the power and prestige of Robert Walpole.
0:08:39 > 0:08:43We have a revealing portrait here of Sir Robert.
0:08:43 > 0:08:47Again, we see the tone of antiquity.
0:08:47 > 0:08:51He's dressed here as a Roman senator, very grand.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54But one touch is not historically correct.
0:08:54 > 0:08:58He had to have his Roman toga and garb altered
0:08:58 > 0:09:00to reveal a garter star.
0:09:00 > 0:09:03He'd been awarded that in 1726.
0:09:03 > 0:09:04He just had to show it, didn't he?
0:09:05 > 0:09:11Rooms like this were designed to proclaim Walpole as a man of taste.
0:09:11 > 0:09:16But this grand entrance hall was a mere fanfare for what was to come -
0:09:16 > 0:09:17the great canvases.
0:09:19 > 0:09:25Drawings by William Kent from 1725 demonstrate something remarkable.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28Walpole's paintings were an integral part
0:09:28 > 0:09:31of the architectural scheme at Houghton.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34Every bit as important as the mouldings and furniture.
0:09:35 > 0:09:39Houghton Hall was, in essence, conceived as a picture gallery.
0:09:39 > 0:09:44And a gallery built for a very specific collection of paintings.
0:09:44 > 0:09:49So now, for the first time in 234 years, the paintings,
0:09:49 > 0:09:51or at least those that can travel,
0:09:51 > 0:09:54are being reunited with the house.
0:09:54 > 0:09:55Over the next few weeks,
0:09:55 > 0:09:58Houghton will be restored to its former glory.
0:10:01 > 0:10:05The man who's turning back the clock is the current owner,
0:10:05 > 0:10:09David Rocksavage, the seventh Marquess of Cholmondeley.
0:10:09 > 0:10:13He has long dreamt of bringing the paintings home.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16David is a direct descendant of Sir Robert Walpole.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19How do you feel about some of them coming back,
0:10:19 > 0:10:23and, therefore, recreating part of the meaning of the interior,
0:10:23 > 0:10:24as conceived by Sir Robert?
0:10:24 > 0:10:27It will be extraordinary to see pictures back.
0:10:27 > 0:10:31It's something we have always thought about and dreamt about,
0:10:31 > 0:10:33but never imagined possible.
0:10:33 > 0:10:37Well, how did this project start, bringing the paintings back?
0:10:37 > 0:10:41When I first took over from my grandmother in 1990,
0:10:41 > 0:10:44I discovered these drawings of the picture hang
0:10:44 > 0:10:47in Sir Robert's desk in his library,
0:10:47 > 0:10:54showing two or three of the rooms as they were hung probably in 1743.
0:10:54 > 0:10:57So it was a project of a picture hang.
0:10:57 > 0:10:58So this was enormously exciting
0:10:58 > 0:11:01because we could see where things were.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04Where the Rembrandt was, where the Rubens were.
0:11:04 > 0:11:08And from there, the excitement grew and the project grew.
0:11:11 > 0:11:15So today, it's these remarkable diagrams from 1743
0:11:15 > 0:11:17that provide the crucial evidence
0:11:17 > 0:11:21to reconstruct the original look of the house.
0:11:21 > 0:11:25- You have the Grinling Gibbons portrait by Kneller here.- Yes.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28Which, of course, was placed with the Gibbons wooden surround...
0:11:28 > 0:11:32- Right.- ..in the common parlour.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35And the Teniers' Kitchen Scene.
0:11:35 > 0:11:39- They're going to go where they were hanging in the 1740s?- That's right.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42Well, how exciting you found these, though, in the drawers.
0:11:42 > 0:11:46I mean, they're now in mounts to be framed,
0:11:46 > 0:11:49but presumably, they were just simply folded up.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52They were folded up, exactly, in the back of the drawer.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55I think they were placed there by my grandmother,
0:11:55 > 0:11:58but she never told me about them, so it was an extraordinary discovery.
0:11:58 > 0:12:01What's fantastic about this, one takes it slightly for granted,
0:12:01 > 0:12:04but these are incredibly important, rare documents,
0:12:04 > 0:12:07to have 18th-century picture hangs,
0:12:07 > 0:12:12designed...well, designed and preserved as designs,
0:12:12 > 0:12:14and then the paintings' names
0:12:14 > 0:12:17so you know exactly what went where.
0:12:17 > 0:12:19This is really an amazing discovery.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22- An amazing document, isn't it? - Amazing document.
0:12:22 > 0:12:27These drawings are a fascinating record of 18th-century taste.
0:12:27 > 0:12:29A faithful picture of Houghton Hall
0:12:29 > 0:12:32as it was before the collection was lost.
0:12:37 > 0:12:40So, how on earth had circumstances conspired
0:12:40 > 0:12:43to cause Houghton to lose its great collection?
0:12:43 > 0:12:48The beginning of the sorry story is revealed by Sir Robert's son Horace,
0:12:48 > 0:12:53who wrote of his father falling deeper into debt and despair.
0:12:53 > 0:12:56Horace recorded how he had come across his father
0:12:56 > 0:12:58in tears in the library.
0:12:59 > 0:13:03Constructing this temple to the arts had crippled him financially.
0:13:03 > 0:13:05Sir Robert admitted to a neighbour
0:13:05 > 0:13:08that it had cost around £200,000.
0:13:08 > 0:13:12That's over £37 million in today's money.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15As Horace said of his father,
0:13:15 > 0:13:18his fondness for Houghton had endangered Houghton.
0:13:22 > 0:13:27In 1745, Sir Robert Walpole died.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30And by the early 1750s, the house,
0:13:30 > 0:13:33the collection and inevitably, the debts,
0:13:33 > 0:13:36had passed to Sir Robert's grandson, George.
0:13:39 > 0:13:44George Walpole, or Mad George, as he has come down to posterity,
0:13:44 > 0:13:46became, in the words of his uncle Horace,
0:13:46 > 0:13:49"The most ruined young man in Britain."
0:13:51 > 0:13:54George, alas, was his own worst enemy.
0:13:54 > 0:13:58Horace later described him in less forgiving terms.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01"The most selfish man in the world.
0:14:01 > 0:14:03"He loves nobody but himself,
0:14:03 > 0:14:08"yet neglects every view of fortune and ambition.
0:14:08 > 0:14:10"He drinks without inclination,
0:14:10 > 0:14:13"has women, not without inclination,
0:14:13 > 0:14:15"games without attention.
0:14:15 > 0:14:17"Is immeasurably obstinate."
0:14:21 > 0:14:23Under the stewardship of George Walpole,
0:14:23 > 0:14:25things went from bad to worse.
0:14:25 > 0:14:30He was profligate, impressionable, prone to bouts of insanity.
0:14:30 > 0:14:32He surrounded himself with hangers-on
0:14:32 > 0:14:36and was only interested in pursuing his own pleasures.
0:14:39 > 0:14:43It would be Mad George who set in motion the series of events
0:14:43 > 0:14:47that led directly to the sale of Houghton's great art collection.
0:14:49 > 0:14:51But a problem for George
0:14:51 > 0:14:54was that Sir Robert's dream of shaping national taste
0:14:54 > 0:14:56had, in part, at least, come true.
0:14:58 > 0:15:00In the years since his death,
0:15:00 > 0:15:03Houghton Hall and its fine collection
0:15:03 > 0:15:06was increasingly perceived as a cultural jewel of the nation.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12With the founding of the National Gallery still some 45 years away,
0:15:12 > 0:15:15Walpole's paintings were just about the closest thing
0:15:15 > 0:15:18Britain had to a national collection.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21Selling up was not going to be quite as easy
0:15:21 > 0:15:24or uncontroversial as George anticipated.
0:15:26 > 0:15:32In October 1778, he engaged the services of a London art dealer
0:15:32 > 0:15:34by the name of James Christie.
0:15:34 > 0:15:38The sale would put the name of Christie's auction house on the map.
0:15:49 > 0:15:51George Walpole gave explicit instructions
0:15:51 > 0:15:54about which paintings were to be valued for sale
0:15:54 > 0:15:56and which were to be ignored.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59He also instructed that the whole business
0:15:59 > 0:16:03should be undertaken with utmost secrecy.
0:16:03 > 0:16:07Now, George had moments of madness, but he wasn't silly.
0:16:07 > 0:16:12He realised that the public was hostile towards his proposed sale.
0:16:15 > 0:16:17Questions were raised in Parliament.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20Outrage and indignation spread.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23It was a thoroughly modern dispute.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27A cultural treasure of national importance
0:16:27 > 0:16:31in danger of leaving these shores for ever.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37Here at the Fitzwilliam are some revealing documents
0:16:37 > 0:16:41that shed light on what would become the sale of the century.
0:16:45 > 0:16:50This is a copy of Horace Walpole's Aedes Walpolianae,
0:16:50 > 0:16:54which basically means shrine or treasures of the Walpole family,
0:16:54 > 0:16:58is, of course, Horace's description, catalogue,
0:16:58 > 0:17:00of the paintings owned by Sir Robert
0:17:00 > 0:17:03displayed at Houghton and Downing Street.
0:17:03 > 0:17:07Second edition, 1752, but rather important
0:17:07 > 0:17:09because this edition, this particular copy, I should say,
0:17:09 > 0:17:14is annotated in the margins, with the values
0:17:14 > 0:17:19of most of the paintings, the values worked out by Mr James Christie.
0:17:19 > 0:17:23It's a fascinating document. Let's have a look at some of them.
0:17:23 > 0:17:28So, let's go to an important room, in Houghton,
0:17:28 > 0:17:30the Common Parlour.
0:17:30 > 0:17:33Many fine paintings were displayed there.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36Looking through this we can see... Ah, here we have it,
0:17:36 > 0:17:38the Bacchanalian by Rubens.
0:17:38 > 0:17:41Not famously, in Horace's view,
0:17:41 > 0:17:43not a very pleasant picture.
0:17:43 > 0:17:45He didn't like all the nakedness,
0:17:45 > 0:17:48but he loved the way the flesh was rendered by Rubens.
0:17:48 > 0:17:51That painting was valued at £250,
0:17:51 > 0:17:53a lot of money.
0:17:54 > 0:17:58Flip over, let's see what else was in the Common Parlour.
0:17:58 > 0:18:02Ah, yes, Rembrandt's Wife, half length, by Rembrandt.
0:18:02 > 0:18:04In fact, not Rembrandt's wife,
0:18:04 > 0:18:06but one of Rembrandt's paintings of an old woman.
0:18:06 > 0:18:10A beautiful piece, this is valued at £300.
0:18:13 > 0:18:17'But this remarkable catalogue is not just a list of prices.
0:18:17 > 0:18:21'It also confirms the fate of their paintings.
0:18:21 > 0:18:22'After months of speculation,
0:18:22 > 0:18:25'and desperate calls on the British government to buy the collection
0:18:25 > 0:18:28'on behalf of the nation,
0:18:28 > 0:18:31'a powerful frontrunner had emerged.'
0:18:31 > 0:18:37"This is to certify that this collection was valued at £40,500
0:18:37 > 0:18:40"by Mr James Christie of Pall Mall.
0:18:40 > 0:18:43"And that the said collection was purchased by
0:18:43 > 0:18:47"her Imperial Majesty Catherine of Russia."
0:18:47 > 0:18:51So we learn from this, not only the value of the paintings,
0:18:51 > 0:18:56but, more importantly, that Christie,
0:18:56 > 0:19:01in his role as an auctioneer found a purchaser, found Catherine.
0:19:01 > 0:19:04He found someone with the money and the will
0:19:04 > 0:19:07to buy this capital collection.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14'In all, Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia
0:19:14 > 0:19:20'and the most powerful woman in the world, had bought 204 paintings.
0:19:20 > 0:19:25'There was an outcry in the British press, the nation was bereft.
0:19:30 > 0:19:32'And Catherine was pilloried
0:19:32 > 0:19:37'as a woman notorious for her voracious appetites,
0:19:37 > 0:19:41'a sexual predator who was now targeting Britain's culture.
0:19:44 > 0:19:48'But Catherine had a bigger problem than a bad press in Britain.
0:19:48 > 0:19:51'How to transport these fragile, precious works
0:19:51 > 0:19:57'over 1,000 miles to Saint Petersburg, across treacherous seas.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08'The port closest to Houghton Hall, and suitable for the size
0:20:08 > 0:20:12'of ship needed to do the job, was King's Lynn.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15'Catherine despatched a naval frigate, the Natalia,
0:20:15 > 0:20:18'to collect the paintings.'
0:20:21 > 0:20:25Dispatching the paintings must have been a nerve-racking business.
0:20:25 > 0:20:27Ships were regularly lost in the 18th century,
0:20:27 > 0:20:31victims to ill winds, piracy,
0:20:31 > 0:20:32even acts of war.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35Catherine herself had lost a large treasure,
0:20:35 > 0:20:37about eight years earlier,
0:20:37 > 0:20:40in a ship bound for Saint Petersburg that had been wrecked
0:20:40 > 0:20:43off the coast of Sweden.
0:20:43 > 0:20:46I suppose she thought sending a frigate would be safer.
0:20:46 > 0:20:50It could defend itself and was a more robust type of ship.
0:20:50 > 0:20:53In fact, she was wrong.
0:20:58 > 0:21:03'On the 3rd October, the Natalia was wrecked off the Dutch coast.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08'News of the shipwreck quickly spread across Britain...
0:21:12 > 0:21:15'..and it was received with as much anguish
0:21:15 > 0:21:17'as news of the sale itself.
0:21:18 > 0:21:22'Even artists captured the imagined scene.
0:21:22 > 0:21:25'Britain had not merely lost a great treasure.
0:21:25 > 0:21:29'It now seemed that the masterpieces of the Walpole collection
0:21:29 > 0:21:32'were at the bottom of the sea.
0:21:34 > 0:21:38'Yet these reports were wrong on one key point.
0:21:38 > 0:21:41'The Natalia had been wrecked on its way to Britain.
0:21:43 > 0:21:46'All the pictures were still awaiting collection.
0:21:46 > 0:21:49'The paintings eventually sailed on two replacement ships
0:21:49 > 0:21:56'and reached Russia without incident.'
0:22:18 > 0:22:22'The sale of The Walpole Collection to Russia had indeed been
0:22:22 > 0:22:25'a blow to British self-esteem.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28'But it was to become more than that.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31'It would become a symbol of the changing fortunes
0:22:31 > 0:22:34'of these two great empires.
0:22:37 > 0:22:42'In 1779, Britain was immersed in the American War of Independence,
0:22:42 > 0:22:45'a war that would see the loss of the American colonies
0:22:45 > 0:22:48'and a crisis of confidence at home.
0:22:49 > 0:22:54'The feeling of despair and outrage was growing in Britain.'
0:22:58 > 0:23:04The European Magazine of February 1782 contains a most powerful
0:23:04 > 0:23:07letter which captures the mood of Britain.
0:23:07 > 0:23:12It says here, "Gentlemen, The removal of the Houghton Collection
0:23:12 > 0:23:16"of Pictures to Russia is, perhaps, one of the most striking instances
0:23:16 > 0:23:19"that can be produced of the decline of the empire
0:23:19 > 0:23:22"of Great Britain and of the advancement of that
0:23:22 > 0:23:25"of our powerful ally in the North."
0:23:25 > 0:23:29This letter makes clear that the loss of Walpole's collection
0:23:29 > 0:23:33represented a loss of national pride and, more than that,
0:23:33 > 0:23:38it seemed to confirm the collapse of Britain as a world power.
0:23:43 > 0:23:48'To most British eyes, Russia remained a backward nation.
0:23:48 > 0:23:50'But since the reign of Peter the Great
0:23:50 > 0:23:53'it had been slowly changing, modernising.
0:23:56 > 0:24:00'Catherine was determined to accelerate that pace of change
0:24:00 > 0:24:03'and from the moment she took power in 1762,
0:24:03 > 0:24:06'she worked hard to transform Russia
0:24:06 > 0:24:10'into an enlightened, European nation.
0:24:11 > 0:24:14'And art was central to that transition.'
0:24:16 > 0:24:19This is a popular image of Catherine II.
0:24:19 > 0:24:23She surrounded herself with cultured advisers
0:24:23 > 0:24:25and was in correspondence with leading figures
0:24:25 > 0:24:28of the European Enlightenment,
0:24:28 > 0:24:30men like Diderot and Voltaire.
0:24:30 > 0:24:32She believed that art, along with science,
0:24:32 > 0:24:37were fundamentally important tools to sustain the transformation
0:24:37 > 0:24:42of Russia from a feudal country, into a modern society.
0:24:52 > 0:24:55'Just like Sir Robert Walpole, Catherine employed
0:24:55 > 0:24:59'a network of spies and agents across Europe,
0:24:59 > 0:25:02'men who could help her change the image of Russia
0:25:02 > 0:25:06'by buying up some of the finest works of art available.'
0:25:13 > 0:25:16Catherine embarked on a spending spree.
0:25:16 > 0:25:20She bought up fine collections of art wherever she could
0:25:20 > 0:25:24and brought them here to The Winter Palace, in Saint Petersburg.
0:25:24 > 0:25:26She was a woman obsessed.
0:25:26 > 0:25:28She admitted with charming honesty,
0:25:28 > 0:25:32"It's not a love of art, it's a voracity,
0:25:32 > 0:25:34"I'm not an art lover,
0:25:34 > 0:25:36I'm a glutton."
0:25:46 > 0:25:52'In truth, Catherine had an astute eye and a shrewd business head.
0:25:52 > 0:25:55'If an aristocratic family anywhere in western European
0:25:55 > 0:25:58'had an impressive art collection and fell on hard times,
0:25:58 > 0:26:01'she was ready to pounce.'
0:26:07 > 0:26:12Over 15 years Catherine's art collection grew to an enormous size,
0:26:12 > 0:26:15as did, eventually, the buildings that house it.
0:26:15 > 0:26:20The collection and the buildings are now the State Hermitage Museum,
0:26:20 > 0:26:24one of the most important and largest art collections in the world.
0:26:24 > 0:26:28And Walpole's paintings formed one of the cornerstones
0:26:28 > 0:26:30of this fantastic museum.
0:26:32 > 0:26:36'In the grand surroundings of the Hermitage galleries,
0:26:36 > 0:26:39'even today the sheer size of some of the canvases
0:26:39 > 0:26:44'that made the perilous journey from Norfolk is staggering.'
0:26:44 > 0:26:49This is wonderful, here are the Frans Snyders' Market Scenes.
0:26:49 > 0:26:53Catherine acquired four of these from Walpole.
0:26:56 > 0:26:59So, Walpole got his paintings very early on, 1723,
0:26:59 > 0:27:02amongst the earliest paintings he acquired,
0:27:02 > 0:27:07and they were put into the saloon and Houghton, fascinating.
0:27:07 > 0:27:10So Kent drawing, William Kent drawing design for the saloon,
0:27:10 > 0:27:131725, when the saloon is still being designed,
0:27:13 > 0:27:17and these are already shown in place, making it clear, to a degree,
0:27:17 > 0:27:20that the paintings determined the interior decoration of Houghton.
0:27:20 > 0:27:24The paintings came first, the architecture arranged around them.
0:27:26 > 0:27:28The paintings show four market scenes.
0:27:28 > 0:27:31Obviously here the fish market.
0:27:31 > 0:27:34A wonderful collection of fish being delivered,
0:27:34 > 0:27:37and a rather cheeky seal there, look, looking rather greedily
0:27:37 > 0:27:40at this bucket of eels being delivered. Wonderful!
0:27:47 > 0:27:51Sadly these are not going to be returning for the exhibition,
0:27:51 > 0:27:54they are too delicate to travel, so you have to come here,
0:27:54 > 0:27:57to the Hermitage to enjoy them.
0:28:05 > 0:28:10'Larissa Dukelskaya is a senior curator at the Hermitage
0:28:10 > 0:28:14'and the story of how Catherine came to buy the Walpole Collection
0:28:14 > 0:28:18'is a subject she has researched in detail.'
0:28:18 > 0:28:20Are you excited that after so many hundreds of years
0:28:20 > 0:28:23Walpole's Collection, or at least a large part of it,
0:28:23 > 0:28:27is being reassembled and going back to its original context?
0:28:46 > 0:28:49In your opinion, when the paintings arrived here in 1779,
0:28:49 > 0:28:51how important were they for Catherine?
0:28:51 > 0:28:55Were they indeed the cornerstone of the collection she was building up?
0:29:16 > 0:29:19Of course, Catherine had an obsession about art.
0:29:19 > 0:29:22I mean, she admitted herself that she wasn't a great lover of art,
0:29:22 > 0:29:24she was a glutton.
0:29:31 > 0:29:34All of it, at once!
0:29:38 > 0:29:42'Today, Walpole's paintings are no longer displayed together.
0:29:42 > 0:29:46'You have to search for them because they have been distributed around
0:29:46 > 0:29:49'the Hermitage to fit in with the other collections.
0:29:52 > 0:29:55'Tucked away in an unassuming corner,
0:29:55 > 0:29:57'hangs a work that, in Walpole's possession,
0:29:57 > 0:30:01'was loaded with extra significance.'
0:30:05 > 0:30:08Here's the self-portrait by Jacob Jordaens,
0:30:08 > 0:30:10there he is on the left, with his family,
0:30:10 > 0:30:13his father, his mother, brothers and sisters, I suppose.
0:30:13 > 0:30:15A wonderful collection of characters
0:30:15 > 0:30:19and one of Walpole's earliest acquisitions, 1722.
0:30:19 > 0:30:22He was making a point when he got this that he was going to put
0:30:22 > 0:30:26together a collection of the highest standard, this was a major work.
0:30:26 > 0:30:30It was displayed in the great room of Downing Street,
0:30:30 > 0:30:33so the whole world who came to the Prime Minister's office and house
0:30:33 > 0:30:36would see this, a real proclamation of intent
0:30:36 > 0:30:39of building up one of the world's great collections.
0:30:39 > 0:30:41A wonderful piece.
0:30:47 > 0:30:51'One of Walpole's greatest treasures is easy to miss
0:30:51 > 0:30:54'hanging above a doorway.'
0:30:54 > 0:30:57Ah, well, one of my favourite paintings, although I suppose
0:30:57 > 0:31:01it's most people's favourite painting. It's lovely, isn't it?
0:31:01 > 0:31:04Paris Bordone shows Flora and Venus,
0:31:04 > 0:31:08emblematic figures of love, of course,
0:31:08 > 0:31:11peace, plenty, fertility.
0:31:11 > 0:31:15Together there, absolutely delightful young women,
0:31:15 > 0:31:17shouldering Mars out of the way.
0:31:17 > 0:31:20Mars is war, there is Mars on the right,
0:31:20 > 0:31:25and above the two girls floats Cupid, so love reinforced.
0:31:25 > 0:31:27A wonderful painting for him,
0:31:27 > 0:31:31a prosperous Prime Minister to have in his private apartments,
0:31:31 > 0:31:34symbolising, of course, commerce, peace,
0:31:34 > 0:31:37the banishment of strife.
0:31:46 > 0:31:50'I'm also here to meet art historian Thierry Morel,
0:31:52 > 0:31:55'the go-between who has brokered the agreement
0:31:55 > 0:31:57'between the Hermitage and Houghton Hall.
0:32:00 > 0:32:02'There was one painting in particular
0:32:02 > 0:32:05'that Thierry was determined to see return to Norfolk.'
0:32:07 > 0:32:10So, tell me about the painting, and why this one?
0:32:10 > 0:32:12So this painting was very important to Walpole.
0:32:12 > 0:32:16In fact he had two Salvator Rosa's, this one is the largest and biggest,
0:32:16 > 0:32:20and also at the time a very valuable painting, he paid £500 for it.
0:32:20 > 0:32:23- Which was a lot.- It's one of the most expensive paintings.
0:32:23 > 0:32:27That one could have built a large, sumptuous town house
0:32:27 > 0:32:29in Mayfair in the 1740s, say.
0:32:29 > 0:32:32I suppose the story of The Prodigal Son
0:32:32 > 0:32:34is one of redemption and forgiveness.
0:32:34 > 0:32:36- He is here showing repentance.- Yeah.
0:32:36 > 0:32:41- He has been given his inheritance and has wasted it away.- Yes.
0:32:41 > 0:32:44This painting also, in a way, has become emblematic
0:32:44 > 0:32:47of the collection. This is what people remember.
0:32:47 > 0:32:50When the grandson, George, is undertaking the sale,
0:32:50 > 0:32:54which is outrageous to many people, this image of The Prodigal Son
0:32:54 > 0:32:56is used for cartoons.
0:32:56 > 0:32:58Do you remember the cartoon I mean?
0:32:58 > 0:33:00Yes, it's him kneeling in the same position.
0:33:00 > 0:33:02So the cartoon shows George kneeling,
0:33:02 > 0:33:05stripped of his grandeur and wealth, almost asking for forgiveness
0:33:05 > 0:33:09for this great crime of selling the collection abroad.
0:33:12 > 0:33:15So this is The Immaculate Conception by Murillo.
0:33:19 > 0:33:22It was hanging in the saloon, we know that,
0:33:22 > 0:33:23and we know exactly where it was.
0:33:23 > 0:33:25It was on the left-hand side of the fireplace.
0:33:25 > 0:33:27Fascinating, the left-hand side.
0:33:27 > 0:33:31So we see now this is the picture exactly as it was in Houghton
0:33:31 > 0:33:33with the original Kent frame.
0:33:33 > 0:33:36So here we have vine leaves, grapes, so it's convivial,
0:33:36 > 0:33:38so it's all part of a room of entertainment.
0:33:40 > 0:33:43And Murillo was the most famous Spanish artist at the time, you see,
0:33:43 > 0:33:46and this picture that Sir Robert was very keen to obtain.
0:33:46 > 0:33:48So he sent emissaries to Spain and said,
0:33:48 > 0:33:51"I want the best version of that picture."
0:33:51 > 0:33:54So this is again for him connoisseurship,
0:33:54 > 0:33:58this is purely a brilliant painting by a brilliant painter, he wants it.
0:33:58 > 0:34:01- He wanted the best.- The best, right.
0:34:01 > 0:34:03Did he have many religious paintings?
0:34:03 > 0:34:05He had largely religious paintings.
0:34:05 > 0:34:08And that again is the taste of the time, rather than his...
0:34:08 > 0:34:11No, it's his taste. I think he really had a taste for religious paintings.
0:34:11 > 0:34:15This is a Catholic image, it's fascinating to be hanging in the home of the Prime Minister,
0:34:15 > 0:34:18who was a great defender of Protestant and Whig values.
0:34:18 > 0:34:19I just can't understand...
0:34:19 > 0:34:22Well, you see, the thing is that's art for you.
0:34:22 > 0:34:25- He was keen to collect the best pieces of art.- Yeah.
0:34:28 > 0:34:33'Walpole's Catholic taste was not confined to images of the Virgin.
0:34:33 > 0:34:38'Incredibly, his collection even included pictures of the Pope.'
0:34:38 > 0:34:40- In fact there were two popes in the collection.- Two popes!
0:34:40 > 0:34:43Yes, one by Maratta and the other one by Velazquez.
0:34:43 > 0:34:46He's got a very direct stare.
0:34:46 > 0:34:49It's a fabulous portrait. It was done towards the end of his life,
0:34:49 > 0:34:53he was almost dying, but you see this penetrating gaze
0:34:53 > 0:34:56and you almost feel like he is next to you.
0:34:58 > 0:35:01- And of course this is an artist that Walpole absolutely loved.- Yes.
0:35:01 > 0:35:05- Horace wrote and said, "This is my father's favourite artist."- Yeah.
0:35:05 > 0:35:08We have to bear in mind that for Walpole, Maratta
0:35:08 > 0:35:12was more or less a contemporary artist, it was a modern art.
0:35:12 > 0:35:15Well, yes, Maratta died in 1715, yes, Walpole could have known him.
0:35:15 > 0:35:18It's amazing, this is a portrait of a man of power,
0:35:18 > 0:35:21a great patron of the arts, a great collector.
0:35:21 > 0:35:24It's almost a portrait of Walpole himself, isn't it?
0:35:34 > 0:35:38'The fact that the Walpole Collection has remained largely together
0:35:38 > 0:35:41'is a miracle, given Russia's turbulent history.
0:35:41 > 0:35:46'It has survived revolution, civil war, siege and bombardment
0:35:46 > 0:35:50'during the Second World War, and years of Soviet upheaval.
0:35:52 > 0:35:54'And most of the Walpole paintings that aren't here
0:35:54 > 0:35:58'are still in Russia adorning the interiors of former
0:35:58 > 0:36:01'royal palaces and museums around the country.
0:36:07 > 0:36:12'Even so, gathering together these paintings is quite an undertaking.
0:36:12 > 0:36:15'And it's not always as simple as taking them off a wall.
0:36:18 > 0:36:24'This extravagant Baroque building was once the summer residence of the Russian Tsars.
0:36:24 > 0:36:27'Like the acquisition of the Walpole Collection,
0:36:27 > 0:36:30'it reflects an appetite for the tastes of Western Europe,
0:36:30 > 0:36:32'rather than traditional Russia.'
0:36:34 > 0:36:37This rich elevation was created in the mid 18th century
0:36:37 > 0:36:40by an Italian architect, Bartholomeo Rastrelli,
0:36:40 > 0:36:44for the empress, Elizabeth I.
0:36:44 > 0:36:50I love this Southern Italian, I suppose, ostentatious Baroque,
0:36:50 > 0:36:55set in the snowy landscape of northern Europe.
0:36:55 > 0:36:59It's so surprising and so utterly wonderful - tremendous colours.
0:37:04 > 0:37:08'But today, this grand palace is the site of the most tricky
0:37:08 > 0:37:11'operation of the whole project.
0:37:11 > 0:37:13'Moving Old Masters is always risky,
0:37:13 > 0:37:16'but this one poses extra problems.
0:37:18 > 0:37:21'Fixed in the ceiling high above the main staircase
0:37:21 > 0:37:26'is a stupendous canvas by the Italian artist Carlo Maratta,
0:37:26 > 0:37:28'The Judgement of Paris.'
0:37:35 > 0:37:38Gosh! Well, there it is, so high up.
0:37:38 > 0:37:41I've been here before, but I didn't really noticed it before
0:37:41 > 0:37:43as there is so much to see on this staircase.
0:37:43 > 0:37:46Rococo plaster, the wonderful oriental pots,
0:37:46 > 0:37:48and then at the top,
0:37:48 > 0:37:51in the crowning place, the Carlo Maratta painting.
0:37:51 > 0:37:53My God, this looks risky to me!
0:37:53 > 0:37:56Those chaps are up there even now, taking out the screws
0:37:56 > 0:37:59and the whole thing is going to come down.
0:38:00 > 0:38:02'The canvas was installed in the ceiling
0:38:02 > 0:38:04'after World War II
0:38:04 > 0:38:07'when the badly-damaged palace was restored.
0:38:08 > 0:38:12'Today is the first time it's come down since then.
0:38:12 > 0:38:15'When negotiations started for it to return to Houghton,
0:38:15 > 0:38:19'the Palace authorities were so nervous about damaging the picture
0:38:19 > 0:38:25'they refused Thierry's request twice before finally relenting.
0:38:25 > 0:38:28'Even now nobody is quite sure if it's going to work.'
0:38:30 > 0:38:34I'll tell you, there is quite an atmosphere of tension and worry.
0:38:34 > 0:38:36Of course, to take down such a wonderful piece,
0:38:36 > 0:38:39that was put up, maybe, not very well,
0:38:39 > 0:38:40whatever it is, 50 years ago.
0:38:40 > 0:38:45I'm not quite sure how it was put there. I suppose, a few screws.
0:38:45 > 0:38:48It's got an audience of anxious museum curators here.
0:38:54 > 0:38:58The anxiety mounts. I think there's no-one's who...
0:38:58 > 0:39:00No-one's got a plan for how to get the canvas down from the top
0:39:00 > 0:39:03of the scaffold, there's no sort of cradle rigged up.
0:39:03 > 0:39:08A bit of string, er, this guy is drilling some hooks into the canvas,
0:39:08 > 0:39:11into the frame. I presume they are going to lower it on a bit of...
0:39:11 > 0:39:13..well, string, down here.
0:39:15 > 0:39:17There's not room to manoeuvre.
0:39:17 > 0:39:20I think, they'll have to lower it down face-side
0:39:20 > 0:39:21against the scaffolding.
0:39:21 > 0:39:24It could be very dangerous, here it comes now and they are, my God!
0:39:24 > 0:39:26You can hear the scratching.
0:39:29 > 0:39:32OK, there is a guy down here with the string, keeping the face away,
0:39:32 > 0:39:36pulling it to keep the face away from the scaffold poles.
0:39:41 > 0:39:44It is now in the air with no human hands attached.
0:39:44 > 0:39:46Ah...
0:39:59 > 0:40:02I take it all back, brilliantly done,
0:40:02 > 0:40:04they knew what they were doing, it was just me panicking.
0:40:08 > 0:40:13'Safely down, the canvas is taken away to be prepared for its journey.
0:40:16 > 0:40:19'The next time I see it,
0:40:19 > 0:40:22'the painting will be once again hanging on the wall at Houghton.'
0:40:35 > 0:40:39'A number of Walpole's paintings came here to Moscow
0:40:39 > 0:40:42'after the Russian Revolution, when the capital
0:40:42 > 0:40:44moved from Saint Petersburg.
0:40:44 > 0:40:49'Then, as in Walpole's day, fine art bestowed status
0:40:49 > 0:40:53'and a capital city needed a capital collection.
0:40:55 > 0:40:58'In the Pushkin Museum is one of the Houghton highlights,
0:40:58 > 0:41:02'Walpole's glorious celebration of drunkenness and nudity.'
0:41:04 > 0:41:08This is the Bacchanalia by Rubens.
0:41:08 > 0:41:11Walpole acquired it in 1726,
0:41:11 > 0:41:15and originally it was displayed in his dressing room
0:41:15 > 0:41:20at Downing Street, it then went to the Common Parlour at Houghton.
0:41:20 > 0:41:23An amazing powerful image.
0:41:23 > 0:41:26Here Silenus is, sort of, the epitome of
0:41:26 > 0:41:28aged, drunken character,
0:41:28 > 0:41:31supported by nymphs, who are actually satyrs,
0:41:31 > 0:41:33look at their goats' legs,
0:41:33 > 0:41:37pouring wine over this collapsed female satyr here.
0:41:37 > 0:41:40Another woman here, suckling these monstrous babies
0:41:40 > 0:41:43at her pendulous breasts,
0:41:43 > 0:41:46an incredible image.
0:41:46 > 0:41:49What's one to make of this in Walpole's perception?
0:41:49 > 0:41:52Obviously a great work, by a great artist,
0:41:52 > 0:41:56so a lot of credit to his collection.
0:41:56 > 0:42:00But I can't help but think that it appealed to his sense of fun.
0:42:00 > 0:42:03One thinks of these great convivial congresses at Houghton
0:42:03 > 0:42:06where people would go down to hunt and drink,
0:42:06 > 0:42:08political debate, networking.
0:42:08 > 0:42:11So this is partly an evocation of that side
0:42:11 > 0:42:13of Walpole's life at Houghton,
0:42:13 > 0:42:16the drunkenness, the frolicking
0:42:16 > 0:42:20and, um, misbehaviour.
0:42:23 > 0:42:26'Sadly, the authorities have deemed the canvas too popular
0:42:26 > 0:42:29with visitors to leave the museum.
0:42:30 > 0:42:34'But the Pushkin also holds a work by one of the greatest artists
0:42:34 > 0:42:36'collected by Walpole
0:42:36 > 0:42:39'and this one is returning to Norfolk.'
0:42:39 > 0:42:42The painting is now described as being of an elderly woman,
0:42:42 > 0:42:45which is correct I'm sure.
0:42:45 > 0:42:47It was a theme that Rembrandt
0:42:47 > 0:42:50depicted on numerous occasions, representing the passage of time,
0:42:50 > 0:42:54people at different stages of their lives.
0:42:54 > 0:42:59But Walpole thought that this was a portrait of Rembrandt's wife,
0:42:59 > 0:43:03which is interesting if one thinks of the meaning this painting
0:43:03 > 0:43:05could have had for Walpole.
0:43:05 > 0:43:07As he contemplated this he would no doubt
0:43:07 > 0:43:11have thought of his own marriage arrangements, which were,
0:43:11 > 0:43:14I suppose, typical of the 18th century, but a bit irregular.
0:43:14 > 0:43:17He had a wife who lived in London mostly, and a mistress,
0:43:17 > 0:43:20a long-term mistress, who tended to reside at Houghton.
0:43:20 > 0:43:25But whatever the reading of this, Walpole is certain
0:43:25 > 0:43:28this painting is of the highest quality,
0:43:28 > 0:43:32and would have made it clear to all the high status of his collection
0:43:32 > 0:43:37and his talent as a collector of fine works of art.
0:43:52 > 0:43:56'My final destination in Russia is yet another royal residence.
0:43:58 > 0:44:02'Pavlovsk is home to two Walpole paintings of particular interest,
0:44:02 > 0:44:04'which are undergoing restoration,
0:44:04 > 0:44:07'in readiness for their journey to Norfolk.'
0:44:12 > 0:44:15Well, here we are in the conservation studio
0:44:15 > 0:44:19and this is the pair of paintings by Jan Griffier,
0:44:19 > 0:44:24a Dutch artist that Sir Robert acquired in about 1718,
0:44:24 > 0:44:28as far as we know the earliest paintings in his great collection.
0:44:28 > 0:44:31They are wonderful. They have views of a classical landscape,
0:44:31 > 0:44:34the world of antiquity, the power of Rome.
0:44:37 > 0:44:42This one with the great city, a lush and wonderful landscape,
0:44:42 > 0:44:46an evocation of Pompeii before Pompeii had been discovered!
0:44:46 > 0:44:48Incredible, temples, obelisks,
0:44:48 > 0:44:51figures here contemplating it.
0:44:51 > 0:44:53And here a very lovely touch -
0:44:53 > 0:44:55Griffier.
0:44:55 > 0:45:01He signed it as part of the architecture on this fountain.
0:45:03 > 0:45:06And here, this was a great Roman-style temple,
0:45:06 > 0:45:08but also with trade going on,
0:45:08 > 0:45:11great ships arriving with goods
0:45:11 > 0:45:13being put on the quay.
0:45:13 > 0:45:16Again, fruit and vegetables and barter.
0:45:16 > 0:45:18So classical architecture and trade. Wonderful.
0:45:18 > 0:45:22A great insight, of course, into Walpole's tastes.
0:45:24 > 0:45:26Now here are some telling details.
0:45:26 > 0:45:30This ship has as its figurehead a lion that's crowned,
0:45:30 > 0:45:34and here appears to be the Union Flag,
0:45:34 > 0:45:38so a British ship, quite possible, because the artist didn't die
0:45:38 > 0:45:41until 1718, by which time the Union Flag had been established.
0:45:41 > 0:45:44This ship is firing a salute of all smoke,
0:45:44 > 0:45:47presumably welcoming another British ship of trade arriving here.
0:45:47 > 0:45:51So these British ships in this classical landscape,
0:45:51 > 0:45:56it is clear that, for Walpole, Britain was the new Rome.
0:46:11 > 0:46:12'Back at Houghton Hall,
0:46:12 > 0:46:16'the magnificent State Rooms have been lying empty for almost a month.
0:46:18 > 0:46:22'Some of them have been transformed.
0:46:22 > 0:46:24'The old silk hangings of the White Drawing Room
0:46:24 > 0:46:29'have been replaced with rich green velvet, as in Walpole's day.
0:46:31 > 0:46:35'And now, at last, the pictures are arriving.
0:46:36 > 0:46:39'More than 60 of them.
0:46:39 > 0:46:41'They've reached the end of a long and risky journey
0:46:41 > 0:46:44'by sea and by road,
0:46:44 > 0:46:48'transported in a dozen climate-controlled lorries.
0:46:51 > 0:46:55'And all done in the utmost secrecy and security.'
0:46:55 > 0:46:57DOORS CREAK
0:46:59 > 0:47:03'Thierry is visibly nervous as they come to be unpacked.'
0:47:06 > 0:47:09For many months there were... I had so many anxieties,
0:47:09 > 0:47:12one could be delayed and then the whole show is impossible.
0:47:12 > 0:47:16So to see the first truck arriving exactly on schedule, and on time
0:47:16 > 0:47:20with the curators happy, it's fabulous.
0:47:28 > 0:47:32'More than 100 people have been involved in the huge operation.'
0:47:38 > 0:47:42'The first job is to check for any damage,
0:47:42 > 0:47:44scratches, scuffs and tears.
0:47:44 > 0:47:47- That's in the surface.- Yeah.
0:47:47 > 0:47:50- What do you think? I think we could get rid of that.- Yeah.
0:47:50 > 0:47:52I think it's insect!
0:47:52 > 0:47:56The pictures are somehow, sort of, coming back to life,
0:47:56 > 0:47:58not that they were muted in the Hermitage,
0:47:58 > 0:48:01but there are so many masterpieces that you really can't...
0:48:02 > 0:48:05It's very difficult to isolate one in particular,
0:48:05 > 0:48:08whereas here you feel that they were...
0:48:08 > 0:48:11Yes, they are like returning to their home.
0:48:11 > 0:48:13It's like a member of the family returning to see
0:48:13 > 0:48:15their brothers and sisters.
0:48:29 > 0:48:33'It's six weeks since I was last at Houghton.
0:48:33 > 0:48:35'I wonder if this extraordinary project
0:48:35 > 0:48:37will live up to expectations?'
0:48:40 > 0:48:43I've not seen the house since my trip to Russia.
0:48:43 > 0:48:46There's a sense of great anticipation.
0:48:46 > 0:48:49For the first time in over 230 years
0:48:49 > 0:48:51it should be possible to see the state rooms
0:48:51 > 0:48:54as they were meant to be seen,
0:48:54 > 0:48:57to get an insight into the world of Sir Robert Walpole
0:48:57 > 0:49:01and to immerse myself in the taste of the early 18th century.
0:49:21 > 0:49:23This is the Common Parlour.
0:49:23 > 0:49:27The last time I was here it was empty and echoing.
0:49:27 > 0:49:30Now it's transformed, wonderfully transformed,
0:49:30 > 0:49:32the paintings are back.
0:49:32 > 0:49:36In Walpole's time, Sir Robert's time, there were 27 paintings
0:49:36 > 0:49:40hanging here towards the end of his life,
0:49:40 > 0:49:41about the same number now.
0:49:41 > 0:49:45So the feel is right, the number, the quantity
0:49:45 > 0:49:49and...many are back where they would have been hanging.
0:49:49 > 0:49:52That one, for example, the Teniers, the cook shop,
0:49:52 > 0:49:55that's where that did hang in Sir Robert's lifetime.
0:50:01 > 0:50:05Also, I observe the Grinling Gibbons, by Kneller ,
0:50:05 > 0:50:09back where it was in Sir Robert's lifetime.
0:50:09 > 0:50:13The great craftsman hanging between the swags which he'd carved.
0:50:14 > 0:50:17You can imagine Sir Robert standing here very proudly
0:50:17 > 0:50:19contemplating his creation looking
0:50:19 > 0:50:21at this painting he'd bought.
0:50:27 > 0:50:30And here, great to see,
0:50:30 > 0:50:34this is the Rembrandt Portrait of an Old Lady.
0:50:36 > 0:50:39I last saw this in the Pushkin Museum in Moscow,
0:50:39 > 0:50:44a wonderful work, but terrific now to see it
0:50:44 > 0:50:47in the sort of setting that the artist had in mind
0:50:47 > 0:50:51when he painted it, a sumptuous domestic interior,
0:50:51 > 0:50:52not an academic museum.
0:50:52 > 0:50:56So really, these wonderful painting has regained meaning
0:50:56 > 0:50:58by being put back in this sort of setting.
0:50:58 > 0:51:00Lovely to see it again.
0:51:03 > 0:51:06And here, another old friend...
0:51:07 > 0:51:10..the lovely Jacob Jordaens,
0:51:10 > 0:51:11the artist with his family.
0:51:11 > 0:51:15It's a self-portrait with the people he loved.
0:51:15 > 0:51:19It must have had a great meaning for Walpole this painting.
0:51:19 > 0:51:22It shows, I'd say, a happy gathering of people,
0:51:22 > 0:51:24in a very convivial setting.
0:51:24 > 0:51:26Incredible.
0:51:28 > 0:51:33So, a very historically important
0:51:33 > 0:51:36room now reunited with a tremendously historically
0:51:36 > 0:51:39important collection of paintings.
0:51:39 > 0:51:41Very, very thrilling.
0:51:52 > 0:51:55'The effect is overwhelming.
0:51:55 > 0:51:57'With the return of the paintings,
0:51:57 > 0:51:59'so many of the rooms in Houghton
0:51:59 > 0:52:03'have regained their original meaning and visual punch.
0:52:15 > 0:52:18'And here is the green velvet restored to the walls
0:52:18 > 0:52:20'of the White Drawing Room,
0:52:20 > 0:52:25'the perfect backdrop for the glorious Carlo Maratta canvases.
0:52:29 > 0:52:33'This entire room was once dedicated to his works.
0:52:38 > 0:52:42'Pride of place is given to The Judgement of Paris,
0:52:42 > 0:52:46'safely back on the wall after half a century
0:52:46 > 0:52:48'fixed in the ceiling of the Catherine Palace.'
0:53:00 > 0:53:05Seeing Houghton like this, once again a temple of outstanding art,
0:53:05 > 0:53:11it is easy to understand the impact the house had in Sir Robert's day.
0:53:11 > 0:53:15Lord Harvey wrote about the house in 1731 to the Prince of Wales
0:53:15 > 0:53:19and he was describing this floor as a place of taste,
0:53:19 > 0:53:22expense, state and parade.
0:53:22 > 0:53:24He was talking not just about the architecture
0:53:24 > 0:53:27but about what the rooms contained,
0:53:27 > 0:53:30the outstanding, beautiful works of art, such as this
0:53:30 > 0:53:32terrific painting here by Bordone.
0:53:32 > 0:53:37Flora and Venus shouldering Mars out of the way,
0:53:37 > 0:53:40peace and plenty pushing war aside,
0:53:40 > 0:53:42a great emblematic work.
0:53:49 > 0:53:51And here...
0:53:51 > 0:53:54the Salvator Rosa, The Prodigal Son above the fireplace.
0:53:59 > 0:54:01And there by Murillo,
0:54:01 > 0:54:03The Immaculate Conception,
0:54:03 > 0:54:06an incredible painting this really because it's rising up
0:54:06 > 0:54:08and essentially representing what happened here,
0:54:08 > 0:54:12that became not just a wonderful piece of architecture,
0:54:12 > 0:54:15but one of the, I suppose, most important,
0:54:15 > 0:54:18artistically important, places on earth.
0:54:22 > 0:54:25'Another 18th-century visitor wrote,
0:54:25 > 0:54:29"The finishing of the inside is a pattern for all the great houses
0:54:29 > 0:54:33"that may hereafter be built."
0:54:33 > 0:54:36"The vast quantity of mahogany,
0:54:36 > 0:54:39"the finest chimneys of statuary
0:54:39 > 0:54:42"and other fine marbles.
0:54:42 > 0:54:44"The ceilings in the modern taste,
0:54:44 > 0:54:48"painted by Mr Kent and finely gilt.
0:54:48 > 0:54:51"The furniture of the richest tapestry,
0:54:51 > 0:54:55"the pictures hung on Genoa velvet and damask."
0:55:21 > 0:55:26'This fine summer's evening is the grand opening of the exhibition.
0:55:26 > 0:55:30'The great and the good, from Saint Petersburg to Norfolk,
0:55:30 > 0:55:33'are here to witness an event few thought possible.
0:55:36 > 0:55:40'The architecture, furniture and paintings of Houghton are reunited.
0:55:40 > 0:55:46'To be here is to experience the very finest of 18th-century taste.'
0:55:46 > 0:55:50How do you feel, I mean, presumably elated,
0:55:50 > 0:55:52a certain amount of relief as well?
0:55:52 > 0:55:56A great deal of relief, after three years of planning,
0:55:56 > 0:55:59this is what we have been waiting for,
0:55:59 > 0:56:02getting all the pictures up and being able to celebrate.
0:56:02 > 0:56:05I think you can imagine, looking here tonight,
0:56:05 > 0:56:09you can imagine back in the 1720s, 1730s,
0:56:09 > 0:56:14Sir Robert's great gatherings, and the candles and the fires burning
0:56:14 > 0:56:17and what it must have been like.
0:56:17 > 0:56:21It's so true, of course, because having these paintings of the highest quality back
0:56:21 > 0:56:26just reminds us exactly what an incredible creation this was in Sir Robert's day,
0:56:26 > 0:56:31a temple to the arts full of the highest quality works of art.
0:56:31 > 0:56:35Exactly. It's replacing the last piece in the jigsaw,
0:56:35 > 0:56:40the lost jewel in the brooch, if you like, bringing the pictures back.
0:56:40 > 0:56:43I suppose that if Sir Robert were looking down
0:56:43 > 0:56:46he'd be delighted, wouldn't he, of what you have done?
0:56:46 > 0:56:48And, of course, he is looking down
0:56:48 > 0:56:54because of his bust in the stone hall looking very magnanimous in his Roman garb.
0:56:54 > 0:56:57You feel he is sort of looking down tonight.
0:57:01 > 0:57:04- Well, Thierry, it's happened. - It's happened.
0:57:04 > 0:57:06How do you feel about it?
0:57:06 > 0:57:08I feel ecstatic.
0:57:08 > 0:57:12Yes, it's one of the great joys of my life, I think.
0:57:13 > 0:57:18In terms of the rooms, in terms of what the visitor is to expect,
0:57:18 > 0:57:21this has the biggest punch, the Common Parlour,
0:57:21 > 0:57:24almost as much, because it's got a lot of the paintings.
0:57:24 > 0:57:27The Common Parlour has stellar pictures - you have the Velasquez the Rembrandt
0:57:27 > 0:57:30and each picture is better than the next.
0:57:30 > 0:57:34What you see when you come here is how discerning
0:57:34 > 0:57:37a collector Robert was. He really picked the best.
0:57:39 > 0:57:42'With launch night successfully achieved,
0:57:42 > 0:57:45'now the house opens to the public.
0:57:45 > 0:57:49'The pictures return to Russia later in the autumn.'
0:57:55 > 0:57:57'There's one final piece of the jigsaw.
0:57:59 > 0:58:01'Shortly after the treasures of the Walpole collection
0:58:01 > 0:58:04'had safely arrived in Russia,
0:58:04 > 0:58:08'a large package was delivered to Houghton Hall,
0:58:08 > 0:58:10'What could it be?'
0:58:12 > 0:58:16George opened it and discovered this.
0:58:16 > 0:58:19As a token of her esteem, gratitude,
0:58:19 > 0:58:23or simply of a transaction successfully concluded,
0:58:23 > 0:58:27Catherine sent George a portrait of herself.
0:58:27 > 0:58:30It has hung in Houghton ever since.
0:58:30 > 0:58:33George is said to have been rather fond of it,
0:58:33 > 0:58:36and perhaps as a token of his esteem,
0:58:36 > 0:58:40he called his favourite racing dog, a bitch, Tsarina.
0:58:59 > 0:59:02Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd