Christ Church Picture Gallery

Christ Church Picture Gallery is an art gallery inside Christ Church, one of Oxford University’s colleges. It holds about 300 Old Master paintings and nearly 2,000 drawings. Most of the works are Italian, dating from the 14th to the 18th centuries. The collection includes paintings by Fra Angelico, Salvator Rosa and Paolo Veronese. Drawings by Raphael, Albrecht Dürer and Michelangelo are also on display, alongside Russian icons. The gallery’s core was bequeathed in 1765 by General John Guise, a former Christ Church undergraduate. Later bequests added earlier Italian works, including 14th and 15th-century paintings donated by William Fox-Strangways and Walter Savage Landor. Smaller gifts from Lord Frederick Campbell and others expanded the range further. In 2020 thieves stole three paintings worth over £10 million, though one has since been recovered. The gallery is entered through Christ Church’s Canterbury Quadrangle near Oriel Square. The present building, designed by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, opened in 1968. Inside, visitors see the paintings arranged in simple galleries lit by natural light. The rooms are quiet and uncluttered, letting the art take centre stage. Outside, the college’s historic stone walls frame views of Oxford’s spires.