Queen Victoria (1819-1901) Reigned 1837-1901

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Government Hospitality, Lancaster House

Queen Victoria is depicted in a black satin dress and white head-dress, still mourning the death of her husband, Prince Albert, who died on 14 December 1861. This painting by Dorofield Hardy is a copy after the original portrait of 1875 by Heinrich von Angeli. Victoria was clearly pleased with it as she commissioned a second portrait from the artist some 10 years later. Angeli painted her for a third time, as an elderly woman, just two years before her death in 1899 and all three portraits remain in the Royal Collection.

Heinrich von Angeli was born in Sopron, Austria. He moved to Vienna in 1853 to live with his uncle. In 1854 he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna and moved to Dusseldorf two years later to study under Friedrich von Amerling. From 1859 to 1862 he produced history paintings in Munich. He then returned to Vienna, where he exhibited at the World Fair. He moved to Italy in 1871, turning to genre and portrait painting. He received portrait commissions from the courts of Vienna, St. Petersburg and London. He became a professor of the Academy of Fine Arts and President of the Künstlerhaus in Vienna. He remained in Vienna (occasionally sending work to the Royal Academy or Grosvenor Gallery in London) until his death at the age of 85.
Dorofield Hardy was a painter of figures, landscapes, interiors and miniature portraits. In 1889, he was living in Pembridge Place, Bayswater, when he exhibited a single work at the Royal Society of British Artists, Suffolk Street, entitled ‘A New Piece’. Following this he exhibited at numerous other venues, including 16 works at the Dudley Gallery, London; eleven at the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours and eight at the Royal Miniature Society. Hardy was also frequently employed to produce accurate copies of works by other artists.

People

Victoria (1819 - 1901)

Places

Subjects

royal portrait, woman, 19th century costume, dress, ring, bracelet, necklace, brooch, earring, pearls, handkerchief, veil, riband, ribbon (as Subject - costume accessory), widow, Royal Order of Victoria & Albert, Order of the Garter, Queen, column, pillar (architectural feature)

Materials & Techniques

canvas, oil, oil painting

Artist

Heinrich von Angeli (after) (1840 - 1925)
Dorofield Hardy (1853 - 1937)

Title

Queen Victoria (1819-1901) Reigned 1837-1901

Date

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

height: 146.00 cm, width: 98.00 cm

Acquisition

Origin uncertain

Provenance

Copy by Hardy after original by von Angeli in Windsor Castle

GAC number

15369