Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee Service outside St Paul’s Cathedral, 22 June 1897

Location

Country: Other
City: other locations abroad

This painting is based closely on a photograph by Argent Archer, London, which was reproduced in ‘The Illustrated London News’ on 26 June 1897. It represents the Thanksgiving Service outside St Paul's Cathedral on the occasion of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, on 22 June 1897.

In the same issue another painting of the event by Gennaro d'Amato was reproduced, showing a closer view of the carriage outside the Cathedral and the crowds behind. The illustrations accompanied a lengthy account of the ‘Queen's Day’, which was hot and sunny. Queen Victoria was greeted by over a million-and-a-half of her subjects. She travelled through London in a horse-drawn carriage, from Buckingham Palace to St Paul's Cathedral, together with members of her family. Here, she is seen seated in the carriage under a parasol, accompanied by Princess Helena and the Princess of Wales.

This painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy in London in 1899. It is the only work by d’Amato to have been shown at the Academy during the artist’s lifetime.

Gennaro d'Amato was magazine illustrator, who specialised in wash drawings. Between 1894 and 1901 he worked for ‘The Illustrated London News’, as well as for ‘The Graphic’ and the French publication ‘L'Illustration’. In 1894, his profession took him to Russia, then to Crete in 1896 and to Rome in 1901. His wash drawing of 'The Assassination of the King of Monza' was published in ‘The Illustrated London News’ in 1900. Most of his work was concerned with important events in the lives of the crowned heads of Europe. Examples of his work are in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.

People

Victoria (1819 - 1901)

Places

England, London, St. Paul's Cathedral, City of London

Subjects

carriage, horseback, choir, choral music, topography, history painting, townscape/cityscape, horse, crowd, ceremonial costume, robe, clerical costume, military uniform, parasol, sash, helmet, royal footman, Queen, parade, guardsman, jubilee, street, cathedral, pillar (architectural feature)

Materials & Techniques

canvas, oil, oil painting

Artist

Gennaro d' Amato (1857 - 1947)

Title

Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee Service outside St Paul’s Cathedral, 22 June 1897

Date

1898

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

height: 131.00 cm, width: 185.00 cm

Acquisition

Purchased from Sir Bruce Ingram, March 1952

Inscription

bl: G d'AMATO / 1898

Provenance

Collection of journalist and newspaper editor Sir Bruce Stirling Ingram (1877-1963) and on loan to the Ministry of Works from 1952; from whom purchased by the Ministry of Works in 1963

GAC number

1495