Queen Victoria

Overview
Extended Catalogue Entry

Queen Victoria

by Sir David Wilkie
pen and ink and watercolour, circa 1840
9 1/8 in. x 6 in. (232 mm x 152 mm)
Given by Lord Ronald Charles Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 1901
Primary Collection
NPG 1297

Sitterback to top

Queen Victoria (1819-1901), Reigned 1837-1901. Sitter associated with 546 portraits, Artist or producer associated with 5 portraits.

Artistback to top

Sir David Wilkie (1785-1841), Painter. Artist or producer associated with 17 portraits, Sitter in 21 portraits.

Linked publicationsback to top

Smartify image discovery app
Kidson, Alex, Earlier British paintings in the Lady Lever Art Gallery, 1999, p. 173 figure 74
Ormond, Richard, Early Victorian Portraits, 1973, p. 476
Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 634

Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top

Celebrating Queen Victoria: 200 Years (5 March 2019 - 1 September 2019)

Subjects & Themesback to top

Events of 1840back to top

Current affairs

Victoria marries her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha; he is given the title of Prince Consort.
The Penny Black stamp is introduced by Rowland Hill; the first pre-paid, self-adhesive stamp, it marks the start of the modern postal system.
The start of the Irish potato famine, which by the time of its peak in 1851, had caused the deaths of one million, and contributed to the sharp rise of emigration from Ireland to England and America.

Art and science

Beau Brummel, the fashion leader responsible for sparking the culture of 'Dandyism', dies of syphilis.
The first stone is laid on the new Houses of Parliament, based on the gothic designs by the architects Charles Barry and Augustus Pugin. The old buildings had burned down in 1834, following a blaze caused by burning wooden tallies used by the Exchequer to calculate tax.

International

The Afghans surrender to Britain during the Afghan-British war (1839-42). The war was sparked by British fear over Russian influence in Afghanistan, with the British East India Company resolving to depose the Afghan leader, Dost Muhammad, who was insistent on Afghan independence, and restore the former leader Shoja Shah.
The Maoris yield sovereignty of New Zealand under the Treaty of Waitangi.

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