
Art and collections
We care for one of the world's largest and most significant collections of art and heritage objects. Explore the highlights, our latest major exhibitions, curatorial research and more.
Throughout history artists have been drawn to the emotional highs and lows of love, inspired by tragic tales of doomed lovers and unrequited passion, and uplifting romances of all-conquering true love. Step into this intoxicating world with a selection of objects found at places we look after that are inspired by love.
The title of this painting by Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones (1833–1898) at Wightwick Manor in the West Midlands was taken from an 1855 poem by Robert Browning, but it is not a direct illustration of the text. Instead it possibly depicts Poliphilo and Polia, characters in an early Venetian romance called the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili.
Legend has it that a silver, heart-shaped locket at Moseley Old Hall in Staffordshire was a present from Charles II to one of his mistresses. Dating to around 1660, it bears a portrait of the king and is engraved with the words, ‘Cvpid's dart posses yovr hart’. Charles hid in a priest hole at the hall in 1651 after his defeat at the battle of Worcester.
An anthology of Italian poetry at Sissinghurst Castle Garden in Kent was a gift to Vita Sackville-West from her mother, Victoria in 1911. The ornate leather binding features heart decorations and inside there is a heart-shaped leather label with an inscription from mother to daughter. It is one of several beautifully bound books given to Vita by her mother.
A colourful mosaic of intricately arranged seashells at Basildon Park is a charming example of a sailor's valentine. Made primarily by women in Barbados in the 19th century, these souvenirs were sold to British and American sailors as last-minute mementoes to take home after long journeys at sea.
With its pastel shades and delicate decoration, the boudoir at Attingham Park in Shropshire is the embodiment of femininity and romance. A series of roundels, attributed to French artist Louis-André Delabrière and depicting scenes on the theme of love, adorn the elaborate domed ceiling.
Romanticism was an artistic and intellectual movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries that shifted away from the Enlightenment’s focus on reason and instead emphasised the importance of emotion and imagination. In Romantic art, nature, with its uncontrollable power, unpredictability, and potential for cataclysmic extremes offered an alternative to the ordered world of Enlightenment thought.
Storm and Avalanche by Philip James de Loutherbourg at Petworth House in West Sussex embodies this approach. It depicts a fast-moving avalanche and captures the vulnerability of humans caught in the throes of nature.
Known as the isolated baronet, Sir Harry Harpur of Calke Abbey in Derbyshire was painfully shy, shutting himself off from society and even giving his servants orders by letter. He found happiness in 1792, marrying Nanette Hawkins, but as she was a lady’s maid and not a member of the aristocracy the marriage caused a scandal. A watercolour of Nanette is in the collection at Calke Abbey.
When Italian dancer Giovanna Zanerini, nicknamed La Baccelli, became lover to John Frederick Sackville, the third Duke of Dorset, he had a life-size plaster statue made of her. After the pair separated and John married, the statue was discretely moved to a less prominent position at Knole in Kent, and rechristened A Naked Venus.
We care for one of the world's largest and most significant collections of art and heritage objects. Explore the highlights, our latest major exhibitions, curatorial research and more.
From 18th-century mini palaces to entire model villages, discover where to find rare and exquisite dolls’ houses in the National Trust’s collection here.
Learn how the Romantic movement, led by poets and artists such as Byron and J.M.W. Turner, broke with the Enlightenment’s teachings to celebrate emotional sensitivity over reason.
The places and collections in our care are rich with different sporting cultures. Find celebratory sports-themed sculptures and paintings, sportswear through the ages and historic sporting equipment.
From goldwork and gilding to goldsmithing and jewellery making, take a look at the ways in which gold has been used in objects in the National Trust’s collections.
We look after the largest collection of tapestries in Britain and one of the largest in the world. Discover some examples of this outstanding craftmanship at the places in our care.
100 Paintings from the Collections of the National Trust showcases works by some of the most renowned European artists of all time, cared for by the Trust and housed in its properties.
Dummy boards, also called silent companions, are life-size, flat, wooden figures. Find out why they were popular in the 17th century and where you can see them at the places we care for.
Learn about some of the misleading objects, paintings and architectural features in the historic houses we look after, and discover the truth behind these optical illusions.