Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, and his party at Capernaum 21 April 1862
Albumen print | 20.0 x 27.5 cm (image) | RCIN 2700947
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Photograph of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, seated (centre) with his party under a fig tree with their picnic laid out on the ground in front of them. From left to right: Joseph J Kanné (c.1818-88); Major Christopher Teesdale (11833-93); Rev Arthur Stanley (1815-81); Colonel Frederick Keppel (1831-76); the Prince of Wales (1841-1910); Dr John Minter (1815-91), Hon. Robert Meade (1835-98); Hon. Major Robert Bruce (1813-62); unknown man.
On 21 April 1862, he wrote in his diary 'We lunched under a fig tree at 12 o'clock on the site of where once the city of Capernaum is said to have stood, & Mr Bedford photographed us en groupe'. In the spring of 1862, according to a plan made by his father, who had died in December 1861, the Prince of Wales was sent on an educational journey to Palestine and the Near East. Francis Bedford had been commissioned to act as the official photographer. Bedford's task was fraught with some difficulties and his work was hindered by heat, rain, dust, insects and transport difficulties. On the other hand, since he was with the royal party, he was able to photograph in places not open to ordinary tourists. 210 plates were the final results. Bedford was subsequently invited to show his work to the Queen at Osborne on 18 July 1862. 172 prints were later exhibited at the German Gallery in Bond Street, where they were acclaimed by the photographic press. They undoubtedly represented some of Bedford's best work and some were later used to illustrate books about the Near East.
Exhibited in 'Crown and Camera', London, 1987 (plate 54) and in the 2014 exhibition 'Cairo to Constantinople'. The photograph is unsigned and undated in the negative. It was number 84 in the Day & Son series.Provenance
Acquired by King Edward VII when Prince of Wales
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Creator(s)
(photographer)Acquirer(s)
Subject(s)
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Medium and techniques
Albumen print
Measurements
20.0 x 27.5 cm (image)
Category
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Other number(s)
Alternative title(s)
Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, and his party at Capurnaum, 1862