Theresa Thompson on the treasures at the Christ Church Picture Gallery

YOU expect quality, you expect masterpieces when you go to the Christ Church Picture Gallery, and now with its exhibition celebrating the 250th anniversary of the extraordinary bequest by General John Guise of his art collection to his former college, Christ Church, you can revel in 33 of the best drawings from the famous collection.

Undisputed Masterpieces – General John Guise’s Swans – Leonardo, Michelangelo, Bellini, Titian, offers some of the most important Old Master drawings in this country. The roll call of illustrious names by no means stops with the four of the show’s title: it continues with Dürer, Holbein, Tintoretto, Titian, Rubens, and many, many more. From northern to southern artists, from drawings you may recognise from previous displays to those not seen for ages, it is pure delight.

Let’s take a few examples. Choosing which to focus on for this article is hard enough; imagine the task that faced picture gallery curator Jacqueline Thalmann, settling on 33 from the almost 2,000 drawings. Catching the eye straight away was an unusual drawing I had not seen before: a silverpoint drawing set into an elaborate brown ink ‘frame’ – two ranks of figure studies by Florentine artist Filippino Lippi that once were part of Vasari’s collection.

The adjacent Hugo van der Goes drawing, Jacob and Rachel, the drapery here also carefully highlighted, is a great example from the Flemish artist, born in Ghent in 1440, who was incredibly influential in Italy and his homeland. Fewer drawings by northern artists survive. The idea of including landscapes in such works came from the north, and here it stretches behind the subjects, while the trees help the viewer read the story.

A lovely small work by Hans Holbein the Elder, stylised and ornamental compared to his more famous son’s work, is an exploration of how to capture a woman’s head (or maybe two women wearing similar headdresses) and hands too. He might have been aiming to catch something of the personality as well, for there is a stillness about the women, a pensiveness, a distance that is intriguing, in the eyes especially.

Next, who else but Michelangelo? Two works, one a crucifixion (The Good Thief on the Cross) and one an anatomical study of a leg that’s not been out on display for a long time, Thalmann tells me. Drawn in red chalk, it is staggeringly beautiful, the moulding of the taut leg muscles beyond belief. Look around the sheet and you also see a sketch of the leg in profile, a ribcage, and a faint outline of the back of the knee he is studying. There are two landscapes exhibited, Italian scenes by Claude Lorrain and Nicolas Poussin to illustrate French artists working in Rome.

Of the four Leonardos here, apart from the iconic Grotesque head (probably the largest of the many he drew. Vasari said Leonardo was so delighted when he saw curious heads he would follow them around all day), studies of bows, and one including his mirror handwriting, there is an tiny intricate sketch of a sleeve. This utterly delighted me once Thalmann pointed out it was a study for the angel in the Uffizi’s Annunciation. It’s delightful to think painting and sketch both exist today.

Where & When
Undisputed Masterpieces – General John Guise’s Swans – Leonardo, Michelangelo, Bellini, Titian. Christ Church Picture Gallery