English School c.1520, Portrait of Henry VIII. Photo: Christie's Images Ltd 2012. 

LONDON.- To mark the celebration of the Diamond Jubilee, Christie’s announced ‘Jubilee Line’, an exceptional exhibition dedicated to the Royal Portrait Collection of Sir Timothy Rice. From 30 May to 1 June, this collection of important works of art will be open to the public at the historical London premises of Christie's, King Street. The collection comprises of more than fifty portraits of members of The Royal Family, ranging from a very young Henry VIII to Chris Levine’s recent haunting hologram of the Queen. 

The magnificent image of Henry VIII is the finest portrait of the King to sur­vive from the period before the arrival of Hans Holbein at the Royal Court. It comes from the collection of the Dukes of Sutherland at Trentham and dates from c.1520. 

George Gower 1540–1596, Portrait of Elizabeth I holding a sieve, 1579. Photo: Christie's Images Ltd 2012. 

Also on display is the beautiful yet curious depiction of Queen Elizabeth I, which Sir Timothy Rice says is his favorite piece in the collection. This work is known as the Sieve Portrait. 

Sir Timothy also collects contemporary works such as the Elizabeth Peyton, which portrays Queen Elizabeth as a young princess (‘Princess Elizabeth, 1995’) and Andy Warhol’s silkscreen ‘Portrait of Prince Charles, 1983’. 

This is a unique opportunity to view such an exquisite collection while getting to learn about Sir Tim Rice’s method of collecting, as he declared: ‘My only qualification for a portrait to make the cut is that it had to have been painted during the reign of the King or Queen in question but it doesn’t necessarily have to be one that royal actually sat for.’ 

Sir Tim Rice plans to repeat the exhibition in the near future with school parties, with the intent of using his collection as an educational tool. 

British School, c.1603, Portrait of King James I & VI. Photo: Christie's Images Ltd 2012.