The Grand Tours re-visited
Lincolnshire’s Burghley House will introduce a new Elizabethan-themed exhibition when it opens its doors for the 2009 season at the end of March.
Inspired by the Grand Tours of Europe, which saw sons of the nobility exploring the continent to broaden their education and life experience, the Travelling Earls exhibition will highlight items bought by Burghley’s 5th and 9th Earls in the 17th and 18th century.
The Grand Tours are believed to have paved the way for more adventurous forms of travel, with the Earls of Burghley House among the first to pioneer this.
While many paintings brought back from journeys through France and Italy can already been seen in the state rooms of the house, Travelling Earls focuses on some of the intriguing smaller purchases, which have never been seen by visitors before. The exhibition also includes examples of postcards of the day.
Group rates will apply for the exhibition, including admission to the State Rooms, Gardens of Surprise and surrounding parkland.