Queen Victoria commissioned James Giles to record views on the Balmoral estate. In September 1849 she visited the Dubh Loch, a remote expanse of water spectacularly sited within an amphitheatre of rock. Afterwards she asked Giles to make drawings of the loch and other views around Lochnagar. Giles travelled through sleet and snow to make a sketch and then worked on the finished watercolour in his studio. Commissioned by Queen Victoria