B.

The connection between King Henry VIII, Michelangelo and our city, Christchurch, is one of many tales that might be associated with this exhibition, for the works and the institution from which the exhibition is on loan – Christ Church, Oxford – span over 500 years of European history.

Christ Church, Oxford is unique among institutions in being both the Cathedral of the Diocese of Oxford and a College (the largest, in fact) of Oxford University.

King Henry VIII founded Christ Church 454 years ago, just a few years after the Reformation took place, thus completing the work begun in 1523 by Cardinal Wolsey (whose arms the College crest bears). In Hugh Trevor-Roper's Christ Church, Oxford: Portrait of a College, King Henry VIII is described as 'the greatest patron of learning that ever sat on the English throne', though popular history has immortalised him for the rotund figure he developed in later years, and for his six wives.

When Henry VIII was born in 1491, Michelangelo Buonarroti was 16 years old. Dying at the incredible age of 89 he outlived Henry by 17 years. At this youthful age Michelangelo was already an accomplished artist. A student of Ghirlandaio's, he described in his diary the passion which imbued his art – 'my mind was a battlefield: my love of pagan beauty, the male nude, at war with my faith.' His personal life and his conflict with Pope Julius II are interpreted in Irving Stone's novel The Agony and the Ecstasy (filmed by Carol Reed in 1965, and starring Charlton Heston). Unlike Henry VIII, who is not remembered for his contribution to education but for his gluttonous despotism, Michelangelo is universally remembered for his creative output. The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, in Rome, and his gigantic sculpture, David, in Florence, are familiar in every household in the Western world. The recent, sensational sale of one of his drawings (for US$12 million) serves to emphasise the astronomic value put on his works.

The presence of a Michelangelo drawing is not the only high point in the exhibition, however. Raphael, Tintoretto and Rubens will be well known to anyone who has even cursorily studied the history of art. Vasari himself, the great documenter of Renaissance art, is also represented. Forty-five rare and incredibly valuable Old Master drawings comprise the major part of the exhibition, spanning a period from the fifteenth to the eighteenth century.

The greatest single gift of drawings and paintings to Christ Church came from General John Guise, a former student of the college. Guise, a distinguished soldier, was a connoisseur who spent a good deal of his life on the continent, and was an art advisor to Frederick Prince of Wales. His bequest, following his death in 1765, included 143 drawings – many by major European masters – formed one of the finest collections in the world. So bitter a blow was this bequest to some members of his family that their attempts to retain some of the collection resulted in a lawsuit, the outcome of which was the delivery of the entire collection to Christ Church. In a generous act the Dean and Chapter returned two of the drawings to the family – one of which was (ironically) a portrait of the deceased donor.

Subsequent gifts of drawings and paintings included a number of pictures from the Italian Schools of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries donated by the Hon. William Fox-Strangways in 1828 and 1834, and a gift of several fourteenth- and fifteenth-century pictures which had belonged to the poet Walter-Savage Landor – donated by Miss C.E. Landor and Miss Duke in 1897. Fox-Strangways had been a member of Christ Church and entered the diplomatic service in 1819, subsequently serving in Florence from 1825–9. Landor had attended Trinity College and was in Florence from 1821. College tradition has it that Fox-Strangways and Landor cooperated as art collectors.

The drawings are not the only treasures held by Christ Church. There are collections of icons, statuary, coins and an exquisite collection of gold and silver plate. The exhibition includes 15 pieces of plate, whose history is as rich and fascinating as the sheer weight of the precious metals from which they are crafted. The oldest work is a Catalonian chalice from the sixteenth century. Apart from a Bible and prayer book, only one other piece predates 1660 – a silver paten from 1566, by Roger Flint – as Christ Church, like any loyal English institution of that time, had given its collection in the cause of the Restoration.

Following his father's execution under Cromwell's rule in 1649, Charles II spent time in exile in Holland. He returned to Scotland in 1650 and in 1651 led a force of 10,000 courageous Scots to defeat at the hand of Cromwell's forces at Worcester. He spent six weeks as a fugitive, fled to France, and spent the next eight years in exile on the Continent. The investment in gold plate donated in the Royalist cause by Christ Church was rewarded following Charles ascension to the throne in 1660. But what was given in gold was returned largely in silver, in the form of the great presentation service seen in the exhibition. The new king was on a tight budget. Charles' administration was funded from customs taxes and a pension from Louis XIV. Parliament maintained from that point on a position superior to royalty, and his powers and wealth were severely limited. The absolute monarchy so evident in Henry's rule was over.

The arrival in Christchurch of these treasures in October of this year is a most significant one. In 1848 two members of Christ Church established the Canterbury Association in order to establish a settlement in the new colony of New Zealand. In December 1850 two ships of the Canterbury Association arrived with the first of nearly 3,500 settlers. The significance of the sesquicentennial anniversary has been recognised this year in ceremonies at Christ Church and in St Pauls Cathedral in London. Here in Christchurch we are pleased to offer this exhibition, in collaboration with Christ Church, as our contribution to the celebration of 150 years of English settlement.

The exhibits will be supported by interactive educational displays and a programme of lectures and events focusing on the historic context, materials and methods used by the artists. The value of these works to the educational community is equalled only by the sheer excitement induced by the quality and value of the works.

The Robert McDougall Art Gallery is pleased to announce that, in recognition of the importance of the exhibition to the Canterbury community, and thanks to the generosity of the Community Trust, admission to the exhibition will be by a gold coin donation.

With proud support of the Community Trust, Mr and Mrs Adriaan Tasman and AMI Insurance Ltd.

This exhibition is indemnified by the New Zealand Government with the assistance of the Ministry of Culture and Heritage.

Ronnie Kelly

This exhibition was held at the Robert McDougall Art Gallery in the Botanic Gardens.