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Queen Victoria

2 of 6 portraits by Thomas Sully

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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Queen Victoria

reduced copy by W. Warman, after Thomas Sully
watercolour, 1838-1870, based on a work of 1838
8 1/8 in. x 6 1/4 in. (206 mm x 159 mm)
Given by Ernest E. Leggatt, 1920
Primary Collection
NPG 1891a

Sitterback to top

  • Queen Victoria (1819-1901), Reigned 1837-1901. Sitter associated with 548 portraits, Artist or producer associated with 5 portraits.

Artistsback to top

  • Thomas Sully (1783-1872), Painter. Artist or producer associated with 6 portraits.
  • W. Warman (active 1830s), Artist. Artist or producer associated with 1 portrait.

This portraitback to top

This work is a copied detail of a larger portrait of Queen Victoria by the American artist Thomas Sully that was painted shortly after her coronation, showing the queen dressed in her parliament robe and posed by her throne. Early depictions of Queen Victoria communicated a romantic image of the queen, who was eighteen when she succeeded to the British throne following the death of her uncle King William IV. Portraits such as this are important sources for theatre and film designers working on portrayals of Queen Victoria, as well as for the actors studying the role of the young queen.

Linked publicationsback to top

Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top

Subjects & Themesback to top

Events of 1838back to top

Current affairs

The Anti-Corn Law league is established in Manchester, led by Richard Cobden and John Bright, aiming to create a fully free-trade economy.
The People's Charter is published, demanding many constitutional amendments that would become central to future democratic reform, including universal male suffrage and secret ballots. Despite having one million signatures (and 5 million by 1848), the petition was rejected.
Slavery is completely abolished.

Art and science

Turner's The Fighting Temeraire is exhibited at the Royal Academy. The Temeraire, which had broken the line at the Battle of Trafalgar, was a reflection on the rapid changes of the industrial age. This was demonstrated this year when Isambard Brunel's Great Western crosses the Atlantic, in just fifteen days - a ship under sail could take a month.
The London-Birmingham railway is also completed, the line engineered by Robert Stephenson.

International

The first stage in the formation of independent Boer republics in South Africa, as the Republic of Natal is formed in South Africa, following the Boers defeat of the Matabele of Mzilikasi. This comes two years after the Dutch-speaking inhabitants of the British-ruled colony of South Africa set out on the Great Trek, in search of their own independent state.
The Central American Federation, an experimental republic formed of several Latin states splits.

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