Princess Louise with Prince Arthur and Prince Leopold 1856
Oil on canvas | 127.3 x 88.3 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 403193
Franz Xaver Winterhalter (1805-73)
Princess Louise (1848-1939) with Prince Arthur (1850-1942) and Prince Leopold (1853-1884) when children 1856
Royal Collection Trust/© His Majesty King Charles III 2023. Photographer: Mike Davidson
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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. Princess Louise (1848–1939) was the sixth of Queen Victoria’s nine children. Beautiful and artistic, as an adult she supported the women’s movement and helped launch the Girls Public Day School Company. Prince Arthur (1850–1942), was the third son and seventh of the nine children of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. He was born on 1 May 1850, the birthday of his godfather, the Duke of Wellington, after whom he was named. He had a career in the army and became Governor-General of Canada. Prince Leopold (1853–84) was the fourth and youngest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. A scholarly child, he attended Christ Church College in Oxford. He was a haemophiliac, suffered from epilepsy and died at the age of 31. The Queen noted in her journal that this painting was ‘the one which gave me most pleasure…charmingly grouped…wonderfully like & so beautifully painted, with so much light & freshness about it.’ Signed and dated: F Winterhalter / 1856. Inscribed on the back with the names of the artist and sitters and the date, May 1856.
Provenance
Given to Queen Victoria by Prince Albert for her birthday, 24th May 1856. [Victoria & Albert: Art & Love, London, 2010, pg 459]
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Creator(s)
Acquirer(s)
Commissioner(s)
Subject(s)
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Medium and techniques
Oil on canvas
Measurements
127.3 x 88.3 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
166.1 x 127.4 x 14.0 cm (frame, external)
Other number(s)
Alternative title(s)
Princess Louise (1848-1939) with Prince Arthur (1850-1942) and Prince Leopold (1853-1884) when children.
Princess Louise, later Marchioness of lorne & Duchess of Argyll (1848-1939) with Prince Arthur, later Duke of Connaught (1850-1942) & Prince Leopold, later Duke of Albany (1853-1884) when children.