Fit for a King ; Once Reserved for the Eyes of Royalty, This Unparalleled Exhibition of Italian Renaissance Art Can Now Be Enjoyed by All. Sue Hubbard Unpacks the History of the Stuart Collection

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In 1623, the future Charles I, then the Prince of Wales, embarked for Spain disguised as a Mr Smith to woo Philip IV's sister the Infanta Maria.

Sadly for the King, the charms of Mr Smith were not sufficient a lure for him to return either with a bride or an Anglo-Spanish alliance but he had, during his visit, seen one of the finest collections of Italian paintings that existed in the world at that time and resolved to create a rival collection in Britain.

This exhibition at The Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace, is the first to survey 16th- and 17th-century Italian art in the Royal Collection for more than 40 years, and brings together 90 paintings and 85 …