A watercolour view of the interior of the Queen's Ballroom, Windsor Castle, showing figures conversing with an artist who is copying Van Dyck's portrait of Queen Henrietta Maria. Signed and obscurely dated at bottom left: 'Joseph Nash 1846'.

Through comparing this watercolour with a view of the room by Charles Wild made in 1817 (RCIN 922101) significant changes in the interior can be seen. The original ceiling by Antonio Verrio, which depicted Charles II giving freedom to Europe, has been removed and replaced with a plasterwork construction; so too were the upper sections of Carolean panelling removed, all during the remodelling of Windsor Castle by Jeffry Wyatville in the 1830s. By 1841 the walls had been hung with crimson silk damask, and the paintings arranged in a double - rather than single, as in the earlier watercolour - hang. Finally, this watercolour shows the addition of a fireplace in the east wall; this was originally been sited in the Queen's State Bedchamber, which was remodelled into the Royal Library during the reign of William IV.

This watercolour records a number of paintings hanging in the Queen's Ballroom, with a particular concentration of Van Dycks, including the equestrian portrait of Charles I at the north end. The first recording of a complete Van Dyck hang in this room dates from 1837, and by the end of the 1830s the ballroom was known as the Van Dyck Room, a title that endured into the twentieth century. Thematic arrangements of this type, which survive to this day in several rooms of the castle (including this one), were instigated in George III's reign. Prince Albert continued this style of arrangement as part of his methodical reorganisation of the paintings in the Royal Collection. The Queen's Ballroom, or the Van Dyck Room, is today known as the Queen's Gallery.

Text adapted from Royal Treasures, A Golden Jubilee Celebration, London 2002.

Nash appears to have first worked for Victoria and Albert in 1844, when he was commissioned to record events from the visits of, first, the Emperor of Russia and then Louis-Philippe, King of the French. A version of this watercolour was reproduced as a lithograph by Nash in his publication Views of the Interior and Exterior of Windsor Castle (1848), which he dedicated to the Queen. The introduction states: "On the various occasions when the Continental Sovereigns were entertained by Her Majesty at Windsor Castle, Mr Nash had the honour of receiving Her Majesty's commands to make Drawings of the scenes illustrative of the state and ceremony which distinguish the Royal hospitality". As well as such narrative scenes (see, for example, RCIN 919791), Nash's publication also included illustrations of rooms and spaces within the Castle (such as this one), which must have been made with Victoria and Albert's permission. Some watercolours by Nash connected with the publication are in the Royal Collection; three were acquired by Victoria and Albert for their watercolour albums, but the majority were purchased in the twentieth century. A complete set of 26 watercolours, which are probably the final works on which the lithographs in the publication were based, is in the collection of Anglesey Abbey (National Trust).