Queen Victoria (1819-1901) Reigned 1837-1901

Location

Country: Germany
City: Berlin
Place: British Embassy

Franz Xaver Winterhalter was one of Queen Victoria’s favourite artists. Born in Menzenschwand, Germany, he settled in Paris in 1834. He was introduced to Queen Victoria by her uncle, Leopold King of the Belgians. Between 1843 and 1871, Winterhalter carried out a vast number of royal commissions in England, spending six to seven weeks there each summer, where he painted chiefly at Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace. Winterhalter left Paris to live in Karlsruhe in 1871. Two years later, news of his death in Frankfurt, the result of typhus, reached Queen Victoria. ‘With all his peculiarities,’ she wrote to her eldest daughter, ‘I liked him so much’.
Frederick Christian Lewis senior was born in London; the son of a miniature painter. He was taught by his father and apprenticed to J. C. Stadler. In 1797 he entered the Royal Academy Schools. He married Elizabeth Exton and their children included painters John Frederick and Frederick Christian junior. He engraved Girtin’s illustrations to ‘Twenty of the Most Picturesque Views in Paris and its Environs’ (1803) and exhibited at the Royal Academy, British Institution, Society of British Artists and Old Watercolour Society. He also engraved Old Master drawings for Otley’s ‘The Italian School of Design’ (1808-23) and work by contemporary artists. Lewis served as engraver to several royals including Queen Victoria. He died in Middlesex, aged 77.

People

Victoria (1819 - 1901)

Places

Subjects

female portrait, 19th century costume, Order of the Garter, Queen

Materials & Techniques

lithograph, tinted lithograph

Artist

Franz Xaver Winterhalter (1806 - 1873)
Frederick Christian Lewis (1779 - 1856)

Title

Queen Victoria (1819-1901) Reigned 1837-1901

Date

published 1 March 1851

Medium

Tinted lithograph

Acquisition

Purchased from Christopher Wood Gallery, July 1982

Provenance

Collection of Martin R. Morland of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office; collection of Jennifer Morland; from whom purchased by the Christopher Wood Gallery, London, on 8 April 1982 (with GAC 16076); from whom purchased by the Government Picture Collection in July 1982

GAC number

16075