Rare peek of Chatsworth private collection at Bellagio gallery

LAS VEGAS -- Spanning the last five centuries, a new exhibit at the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art presents a rare glimpse of a private collection held by the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire.

Although many of the family's treasures are routinely displayed at the Chatsworth Estate in Derbyshire, England, this unique exhibit, titled "Treasures from Chatsworth: A British Noble House," showcases their private holdings, including Henry VIII's rosary, Kniphausen's "Hawk," and antique gems that date back nearly 2,000 years.

"These are rarely out in public," said Matthew Hileman, the gallery's director of marketing. "It's a rare opportunity for people to see these."

Beginning with a 16th Century portrait of Bess of Hardwick, the Countess of Shrewsbury and matriarch of the Cavendish family, and ending with portraits of the current Duke and Duchess of Devonshire and their son, Lord Hartington, the exhibit includes a variety of media, ranging from paintings and books to furniture and jewels.

Lord Hartington said his family is excited about the show, which opened Saturday, because it will reach a broader audience.

"The art world knows about Chatsworth. They may or may not have been there, but they know about it," he said. "A large number of people (in Las Vegas) will be on holiday, maybe shopping or doing a little gambling, and then they hear about this exhibit. It's a different sort of pace, and hopefully they will want to experience it."

Perhaps the signature piece of the exhibit is the "Idealized Portrait of Girolamo Casio." Thought for many years to be a work by Leonardo da Vinci, the portrait was presented to King Charles I in 1636 on behalf of Pope Urban VIII, as an attempt to strengthen ties between England and the papacy. Scholars now attribute the portrait to Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio, one of da Vinci's premier students and a master painter.

Encrusted with a multitude of gemstones, the "Hawk" is believed to be the inspiration for Dashiell Hammett's "Maltese Falcon." A pouring vessel that dates to 1697, the "Hawk" was created by Georg Wilhelm von Kniphausen, a count of the Holy Roman Empire.

The exhibit also includes "The Devonshire Parure," a collection of seven bejeweled pieces made for Countess Granville to wear in Moscow at the coronation of Czar Alexander II in 1856. The parure was assembled from the 2nd Duke of Devonshire's collection of antique gems.

The exhibition debuted in the United States in April at the Dixon Gallery and Gardens, in Memphis, Tenn.

After Las Vegas, the exhibit will travel to the Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture in New York City; the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Mass.; the Society of the Four Arts in Palm Beach, Florida; the Mobile Museum of Art in Mobile, Ala.; and the Tyler Museum of Art in Tyler, Texas, before returning to England in late 2005.

More than 600,000 people visited the Chatsworth Estate in 2002. Known as the "National Gallery of the North of England," Chatsworth houses a massive art collection, including nearly 2,000 drawings. It's library, containing more than 40,000 volumes, is considered one of the greatest private collection of books and manuscripts in the world.

------

On the Net:

Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art, http://www.bgfa.biz/

Chatsworth Estate: http://www.chatsworth.org