Burlington House invites

The Royal Academy requests the pleasure of your company at an exclusive private view for a forthcoming exhibition, and tour behind the scenes

Re-built by the 3^rd Earl of Burlington in the early 18^th century, Burlington House on Piccadilly, was the first building in England to be designed along Neo-Palladian lines. It has been home to the Royal Academy since 1867.

Private View: The RA is generously inviting you and three of your guests to jump the queue and avoid the crowds by attending a special private view of one of their upcoming exhibitions, and have a bespoke behind the scenes tour of Burlington House with one of the Academy’s directors. Choose your privileged access from the RA’s exciting programme of forthcoming shows, such as the major retrospective of the work of leading post-War painter Francis Bacon which opens to the public on 30th January.

Bespoke Tour: Recently transformed by the linking of the main buildings on Piccadilly with exciting new exhibition spaces which lead on to Burlington Gardens to the north, your tour will explore the new layout. You and your three guests will see the Fine Rooms designed by William Kent, the Reynolds Room where on 1^st July 1858 Charles Darwin presented his theory of evolution for the first time in public, and visit the Royal Academy Schools among a number of other historic parts of the building that are not normally open to the public.

Purchased by the 1^st Earl of Burlington in 1667, the ‘Architect Earl’s’ remodelling of the house fifty years later was inspired by the Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio, whose treatises on classical architecture had recently been republished. Burlington worked with the architect Colen Campbell and designer William Kent. Among many of the notable innovations he made in the design, at either end of the south façade he inserted the distinctive form of the tripartite Venetian window – still to be seen to this day. They were the first such Neo-Palladian windows to be seen in England, and their form has since become one of the hallmarks of the style. Shortly afterwards Burlington developed his Neo-Palladian theories further in the construction of his country retreat: Chiswick House.

Donated by the Royal Academy.

Terms Conditions:
To be taken by the highest bidder before 1^st October 2021
For four people
Dates for the preview and tour to be agreed with the RA
Not transferable