Nearly 200 Old Master treasures from the Schroder Collection, amassed by the late banker Bruno Schroder and his family over more than a century, will go on long-term display at the Holburne Museum in Bath, UK, starting 10 September. The collection includes silver, maiolica, and paintings by artists such as Lucas Cranach the Elder and Hans Holbein the Elder, many shown publicly for the first time. The loan was facilitated by Bruno’s daughter Leonie, who requested the works remain in the UK and be placed in a regional museum rather than London.
This exhibition matters because it brings a major private collection of Renaissance and 17th-century art to a regional museum, offering public access to objects that have rarely been seen. The display, housed in a newly created Schroder Gallery, aims to tell a multi-faceted story of the Renaissance through trade, war, looting, and cultural exchange. It also highlights the growing trend of wealthy families placing their collections in regional institutions, enriching cultural offerings outside London and potentially inspiring new scholarship on works with unresolved attributions and histories.