The Grand Tour – Destination Italy

18 September 2025 – 4 January 2026

The Grand Tour – Destination Italy takes you back to the 17th and 18th century, when young British aristocrats would set out on a multi-year educational journey across Europe upon completion of their studies, with Italy as the ultimate final destination. They liked to take home tangible memories for their British (country) houses – but instead of photographs or postcards, they fancied a portrait of themselves, cityscapes or Roman sculptures.

You can view these ‘souvenirs’ during the exhibition at the Mauritshuis. By rare exception, we have a number of masterpieces on loan from the monumental British country houses of Burghley House, Holkham Hall and Woburn Abbey. Are you coming on a Grand Tour? Visiting the exhibition also gives you a chance to win a trip to Rome, the ultimate destination for every Grand Tourist.

A respectable, educational journey… or was it?

Through paintings and objects, we’re showing you what it was like to undertake such a grand journey in the 17th and 18th century. Just imagine being on the road for years, with horses dying from heat exhaustion and carriages repeatedly breaking down. Were those wealthy youngsters really just dutifully studying (spoiler alert: certainly not!)? You can only imagine what happens when you bring together a bunch of wealthy young people with too much time on their hands in Europe’s finest cities. What were the highlights, what was the right way of getting your portrait done and by whom, and where did those ‘souvenirs’ end up next?

From dining rooms to the Mauritshuis

Ordinarily, this stunning Canaletto is on display in Woburn Abbey’s dining room, the age-old family residence of the Russell family in Bedfordshire. Woburn’s renovation allows us to welcome two of Canaletto’s cityscapes to The Hague. The exhibition’s highlights also include a magnificent portrait of Thomas William Coke (Holkham Hall) by Pompeo Batoni, and work by Angelica Kauffman – the Lady Gaga of her time (Burghley House).