Enfilade

Daniel Zuloaga y Bonetta, El Salón Gasparini del Palacio Real de Madrid, 1875, oil on canvas, 58 × 72cm
(Madrid: Museo Nacional del Prado, P006884)

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Attingham offerings for 2025:

London House Course
Led by David Adshead, 1–7 April 2025

 Applications due by 17 January 2025

This seven-day non-residential course studies the development of the London house from the Renaissance to the present. It combines numerous visits to houses, many of them private, with a series of lectures by leading authorities. Progressing broadly chronologically and exploring all over London, the course takes members inside grand aristocratic buildings, smaller domestic houses, artists’ studios, and the garden suburb.

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The 72nd Summer School
Led by Tessa Wild and David Adshead, 28 June — 13 July 2025

 Applications due by 31 January 2025

This intensive 16-day residential course will include visits to country houses in Sussex, Oxfordshire, Derbyshire, Northamptonshire, and Lincolnshire. Accompanied by specialist tutors and lecturers, the Summer School will examine the country house in terms of architectural and social history, focus on the collections of fine and decorative arts with close-up in-depth study, and encourage discussion on topical issues of conservation and interpretation.

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Royal Collections Studies
 Led by Helen Jacobsen, 31 August — 9 September 2025

Applications due by 14 February 2025

Run on behalf of The Royal Collection Trust, this ten-day residential course offers participants the opportunity to study the magnificent holdings of paintings, decorative art, jewelry, books, and arms and armor in the Royal Collection and to examine the architecture and interiors of the palaces that house them. Based near Windsor, the course will also examine the history of the collection and the key roles played by monarchs and their consorts over the centuries.

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New Perspectives in Country House Studies
Led by Elizabeth Jamieson, 21–25 September 2025

Applications due by 14 February 2025

Based in Yorkshire, this intensive five-day themed, residential course will focus on a series of fresh perspectives that are currently informing country house studies, including the global and colonial contexts of objects; craftspeople, and makers, both then and now; women as patrons, as collectors and as instigators of change in the country house; how the buildings were lived and worked in, and how they reflect both the lives of their occupants and wider social change.

N.B. This short course is intended for anyone who has a professional or academic interest in the arts and heritage. The Attingham Trust welcomes all applications, including those at the early stages of their career, in the process of completing their academic studies, and from backgrounds under-represented in these fields.

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The Study Programme: From Granada to Madrid
 Led by Annabel Westman and Helen Jacobsen, 12–18 October 2025

Applications due by 14 February 2025

This intensive seven-day residential course to Spain will begin at the Alhambra palace complex in Granada, renowned for its architectural and decorative beauty. The programme will continue to Madrid, where a mix of architecture, interiors, and works of art will be studied, with a focus on the exceptional decorative arts in Spanish royal and aristocratic collections. Visits are planned to palaces, private houses, and gardens and—as with all Attingham courses—the course will be supported by local curators and experts and will include visits with privileged access.