Ducal Splendour
Goodwood is the seat of the Dukes of Richmond, Lennox, Gordon & Aubigny, whose family art collection is one of the greatest in any English country house. The present Duke’s son and heir, the Earl of March & Kinrara, restored the rooms to their former glory, including a complete picture re-hang and rearrangement of all of the Goodwood Art and the superb English and French furniture.
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The origins of the Goodwood Art Collection lie with the Royal house of Stuart. The 1st Duke of Richmond & Lennox (1672-1723) was the natural son of King Charles II and his French mistress, Louise de Keroualle, Duchess of Portsmouth.
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Portraits of the Stuart Royal family were added to the collection by the 2nd Duke of Richmond (1701-1750 ) and it was further augmented by his Grand Tour purchases, culminating in the first commissions of London given to Canaletto.
The 2nd Duke (1701-1750) was also very involved in the new Palladian movement, building the banqueting pavilion, Carnè's Seat and the Shell House, and commissioning fireplaces and furniture by William Kent, originally for Richmond House in London but now part of the Goodwood Collection. The 2nd Duke inherited many superb works of art from his grandmother, Louise de Keroualle, as well as the French title, Duke of Augbigny, thereby becoming Duke of Richmond, Lennox & Aubigny.
The 3rd Duke of Richmond (1735-1806) not only added another group of superb portraits to the Goodwood Art Collection, but also - from his time as Ambassador to Paris - Gobelins tapestries and furniture by some of the greatest French eighteenth-century cabinet-makers. He commissioned a spectacular Sèvres dinner service, now beautifully displayed in the circular Card Room, while his racehorses and hunters were painted by George Stubbs. The 3rd Duke was the builder of the great Regency state apartments, including the magnificent Egyptian dining-room. Designed for entertaining on a lavish scale, these rooms are still used to this day for parties and events.
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We welcome visitors to the house with a wide range of historical, artistic, and domestic interests, be it in Kings and Queens, Scottish history, marine paintings, women's lives, the Regency style, the Edwardian period, sporting art, landscape, the history of horse-racing and the history of cricket.
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