Welcome to the virtual Picture Gallery

The spectacular façade of Royal Holloway is a familiar sight to motorists on the A30 between Egham and Sunningdale. Financed by the patent medicine millionaire, Thomas Holloway, it was designed by William Henry Crossland (1823-1909) who took the sixteenth-century Chateau de Chambord as his model. It opened as a College for women in 1886. The building stands as a monument to the wealth, optimism and spirit of philanthropy which so characterized the Victorian age; but even more famous is the collection of paintings which Holloway assembled in the last two years of his life, as the final educative touch to his generous endowment.

Virtually all the paintings were bought at Christie’s, and the vast majority were modern. Amongst Holloway’s purchases were some of the most important of the period, including William Powell Frith’s Railway Station (1862), Luke Fildes’s Casual Ward (1874), John Everett Millais’s Princes in the Tower (1878) and Edwin Landseer’s Man Proposes - God Disposes (1864).

In current values, Holloway spent at least £50,000,000 on the building and the collection. He died rightly confident that his generous gift would inspire generations of students and teachers; and that inspiration has also been shared by the numerous visitors who have flocked to the College ever since it opened.

The website enables browsers from anywhere in the world to enjoy the same privilege. Via the BROWSE option, clicking on a wall of the Gallery in the 3D interface or on the name of the wall (North, East, South, West), opens up a virtual version of it, allowing the user to view the paintings hanging in situ. When a specific image is clicked on, it appears centre screen in a larger size. It is also possible to zoom in on any detail of the frame or painting. In the left-hand box below the image, the browser is able to scroll down to links which lead to detailed descriptions of the paintings and a biography of the artist. This information is also accessible via the SEARCH option, where the collection may also be explored by means of Keywords and other options listed (Artists’ names, Picture titles, etc.). Some paintings have links to supplementary information, listed in the right hand boxes, which is intended to give the website an interdisciplinary dimension. Provided by colleagues, research students and contributors from outside the College, these links will continue to multiply over the coming months.

The Curator, Dr. Mary Cowling, hopes that the information provided on this website will encourage further research. Anyone who has a query, or information relating to any of the artists or paintings included in it, is invited to contact her at m.cowling@rhul.ac.uk

Before entering the gallery, you may wish to read "Buying at Christie's: Thomas Holloway and the Victorian Art Market" by Pippa Biltcliffe. There is also a brief history of the College available by Richard Williams.

Please note that the Virtual Picture Gallery requires Flash.