The vault of the Stanza della Segnatura

Prince Albert met the engraver Ludwig Grüner in Rome in 1839, the year before the Prince married Queen Victoria, and in 1841 Grüner arrived in London to serve as Albert’s artistic adviser. He was a pioneer in the rapidly developing technique of chromolithography, seen most spectacularly in his volume Specimens of Ornamental Art, which presented the 'best models' of decorative art from the Classical era to the Renaissance.  As with photography, Prince Albert embraced this new medium, and initiated or supported several illustrative projects employing chromolithography.