Year of the Portrait

300 Years of Portraits in Yorkshire Houses

Launched June 2006 

In 2006, the Yorkshire Country House Partnership launched The Year of the Portrait: 300 Years of Portraits in Yorkshire Houses, an exciting collaboration between the National Portrait Gallery and four country houses (from across the region), namely Beningbrough Hall, Harewood House, Lotherton Hall and Temple Newsam.

The houses brought their impressive portrait collections to life through a series of linked activities, displays and interactive galleries. Visitors were encouraged to take fresh look at portrait-painting, investigating clues as to how and why portraits were painted, and discover the stories behind the people depicted.

The project was launched at Beningbrough Hall in June 2006, to coincide with the opening of Making Faces – Eighteenth Century Style, its new interactive portrait galleries designed to engage families with portraiture.