A watercolour view of the Small Knights' Hall in the castle of Stolzenfels; the frescoes seen in the lunettes, painted by Hermann Stilke (1803-60), depict knightly virtues and scenes from history. Signed and dated bottom right: C. Graeb / 1847.

In August 1845 Queen Victoria visited Germany for the first time, in company with her husband Prince Albert. The main purpose of the couple’s trip was to stay with Albert’s brother Duke Ernest II and his wife Alexandrine in Coburg, where Albert grew up and where Queen Victoria’s mother, the Duchess of Kent, was also born. On their way to Coburg the couple stayed at the castles of Brühl and Stolzenfels as guests of the King of Prussia. During their stay there, Victoria described in her journal how they went with their host to "what is called the Painted Room [the hall shown in this watercolour] & had tea, quite in the German way," (Queen Victoria's Journal, 15 August 1845).

Victoria and Albert commissioned a number of watercolours capturing scenes of their visit and views of places in which they stayed and the sights they saw during their visit to Germany. In 1847 they were also given an album of watercolour views of the castles of Brühl and Stolzenfels (including this one) by the King of Prussia. Victoria wrote to him that she was "greatly delighted" with the present, which reminded her of "all the charming places that we visited in 1845 and our delightful meeting at the time." (Millar 1995, I, p. 35).