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Princess Victoria, Duchess of Kent and Strathearn

1 of 68 portraits by Franz Xaver Winterhalter

Princess Victoria, Duchess of Kent and Strathearn, by Franz Xaver Winterhalter, circa 1857 -NPG 2554 - © National Portrait Gallery, London

© National Portrait Gallery, London

Regency Portraits Catalogue

Princess Victoria, Duchess of Kent and Strathearn

reduced version by Franz Xaver Winterhalter
circa 1857
24 in. x 20 in. (610 mm x 508 mm) oval
NPG 2554

This portraitback to top

The original at Windsor Castle, signed and dated F. Winterhalter, London, 1857, was exhibited Third Exhibition of National Portraits, South Kensington, 1868 (369) and Exhibition of the Royal House of Guelph, New Gallery, 1891 (1882) and engraved by Holl as above; a three-quarter-length variant, seated with right hand on table, the head turned slightly further to right, was also engraved by Holl. They stem from an earlier portrait by Winterhalter, a three-quarter-length given by the Duchess to Queen Victoria in 1849; the face and hair-style are similar but in the 1849 portrait she wears a straw bonnet with feather and a black shawl over a white silk dress; a later whole-length c.1855 is still nearer to the NPG portrait, though in this she wears a dress with bare shoulders and a slightly different head-dress. The hair in all three is jet black and plaited in coils at the sides.

Physical descriptionback to top

Head and shoulders to right in blue-grey dress with black lace shawl, black and white cap with green and yellow check ribbons; black hair, light brown eyes, rosy complexion; plain background.

Provenanceback to top

Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein; Prince Leiningen; bought from Evelyn Reynolds 1932.

Reproductionsback to top

(Of the original)
Stipple by Francis Holl in Theodore Martin, Life of the Prince Consort, 1878, III, frontispiece.


This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: Richard Walker, Regency Portraits, National Portrait Gallery, 1985, and is as published then. For the most up-to-date details on individual Collection works, we recommend reading the information provided in the Search the Collection results on this website in parallel with this text.