Guglielmo Faija (1803-73)
Prince Alfred (1844-1900) and Princess Helena (1846-1923) 1849
Watercolour on ivory laid on card | 8.0 x 7.6 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 420320
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Faija's miniature shows the second son and third daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert playing together with two feathers which Prince Alfred holds just beyond the reach of his infant sister, Princess Helena; both are in Highland dress, the Prince wearing a plaid shawl, and they are seen against a mountainous moorland background. Faija's source was the double portrait in oils painted by Franz Xaver Winterhalter in 1849 (403053; Royal Collection) considered by Queen Victoria 'wonderfully like & a charming picture' (Journal, 24 May 1849).
Provenance
Commissioned by Queen Victoria from the artist in 1849 and listed in her private accounts (RA VIC ADD T/231/151)
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Medium and techniques
Watercolour on ivory laid on card
Measurements
8.0 x 7.6 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
9.4 x 8.1 cm (frame, external)
7.9 x 6.4 cm (sight)
Category
Object type(s)
Other number(s)
Alternative title(s)
Prince Alfred, later Duke of Edinburgh (1844-1900) and Princess Helena, later Princess Christina of Schleswig-Holstein (1846-1923), as children
