Napoleon III driving with Prince Albert from Boulogne to St Omer, 6 September 1854 drawn 1854
Pencil, pen and ink, watercolour and bodycolour, with gum arabic | 19.4 x 34.0 cm (whole object) | RCIN 920049
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A watercolour showing Emperor Napoleon III and Prince Albert travelling in an open barouche, with a small cottage to the middle ground on the right and a windmill to the background right.
In September 1854 Prince Albert visited Boulogne at the invitation of Napoleon III, who the British had allied with - along with Turkey and Sardinia - in the Crimean War against Russia. It was suggested that Albert's visit to the military camp on the French coast would boost morale and provide a visible demonstration of the solidarity between France and Britain. It was also the first time Albert and the Emperor met, and he dictated a long memo after the visit regarding his host. The following year, the Emperor and his wife made a State Visit to England (see, for example, RCIN 919799) and Victoria and Albert then travelled to Paris (RCIN 920059).
This watercolour was given by Albert, along with two others (see RCINs 920050 and 920051), to Victoria as a present for Christmas 1854. The couple mounted two of the three works in View Album VI. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert compiled nine View Albums during their marriage. These albums contained watercolours and drawings documenting their life together and were arranged in chronological order. The albums were dismantled in the early twentieth century and rebound in new volumes both in a different arrangement and with additional items, but a written record of their original contents and arrangement still exists.Provenance
Given to Queen Victoria by Prince Albert, 24th December 1854. [Victoria & Albert: Art & Love, London, 2010, pg 458]
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Creator(s)
Acquirer(s)
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Medium and techniques
Pencil, pen and ink, watercolour and bodycolour, with gum arabic
Measurements
19.4 x 34.0 cm (whole object)
Object type(s)
Other number(s)
RL 20049