James Hamilton, 2nd Marquess, and later 1st Duke, of Abercorn (1811-85) 1856
Oil on canvas | 58.8 x 49.1 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 404892
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Muller was born in Paris and studied with Baron Gros (1771-1835); he became the Director of the Gobelins Manufacture. This portrait is one of a set of eight studies (RCIN 404885-92 and 403665) made in preparation for Muller's painting of the reception of Queen Victoria by Napoleon III at St Cloud on 18 August 1855. The finished painting was destroyed during the Franco-Prussian War. Queen Victoria's son-in-law, the Crown Prince of Prussia, recorded in his war diaries how he tried to save 'the great picture representing the arrival of my mother-in-law at the Palace in 1855' but it proved impossible. He asked the rescuers to try to 'at least to cut out for me the figure of my wife, but even this had to be given up'. The artist's compositional sketch for the entire painting is also in the Royal Collection (RCIN 404893).
James Hamilton was Groom of the Stole to Prince Albert, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and in 1878 he was Envoy Extraordinary to invest the King of Italy with the Order of the Garter. He was also a patron of the artist Edwin Landseer and lent Ardverikie, his house in the Scottish Highlands, to Queen Victoria in 1847.
Inscribed on the back by the artist: 'Lord d'Abercorn / Londres 24 et 25 juin / Schesterfield House.'Provenance
Acquired by King Edward VII, when Prince of Wales, from the painter's widow in Paris in 1892
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Medium and techniques
Oil on canvas
Measurements
58.8 x 49.1 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
72.8 x 59.2 x 4.8 cm (frame, external)
Category
Object type(s)