Prince Albert (1819-61) 1850
Oil on canvas | 91.8 x 64.3 x 2.3 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 402327
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Winterhalter was born in the Black Forest where he was encouraged to draw at school. In 1818 he went to Freiburg to study under Karl Ludwig Schüler and then moved to Munich in 1823, where he attended the Academy and studied under Josef Stieler, a fashionable portrait painter. Winterhalter was first brought to the attention of Queen Victoria by the Queen of the Belgians and subsequently painted numerous portraits at the English court from 1842 till his death. Prince Albert is wearing evening dress with the ribbon and star of the Garter. This is probably the portrait of the Prince painted at Osborne on 11 and 12 June 1850. It was finished by 4 o’clock on the second day and was ‘very successful & a really good likeness’ according to a note in the Queen’s Journal. There is an alteration in the outline of the right shoulder. Signed and dated: F Winterhalter / Osborne 1850. Inscribed on the back with the names of the artist and sitter (aged thirty) and the date, June 1850.
Provenance
Presumably painted for King Edward VII when Prince of Wales
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Medium and techniques
Oil on canvas
Measurements
91.8 x 64.3 x 2.3 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
122.0 x 95.1 x 17.0 cm (frame, external)
Category
Object type(s)