Prince Albert. Franz Xaver Winterhalter. Signed and dated 1842. Oil on canvas. 132.7 x 97.2 cm. © Royal Collection Enterprises Limited 2024. RCIN 401412. Courtesy of the Royal Collection Trust. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]
Anna Reynolds writes, "Prince Albert wears a field marshal’s undress uniform with the star of the Garter and badge of the Golden Fleece, and carries a Mameluke-hilted sword. In 1843 the aiguillette – the decorative cord worn suspended from the right shoulder – would replace the traditional epaulettes and scales on all field marshal uniforms; the idea may have come from Prince Albert himself" (63). Reynolds adds that Queen Victoria loved this portrait of her young husband. Indeed, she did, right from the making of it to the finished article: "Sat again with Albert, whilst Winterhalter was painting him," she wrote in her journal on 27 July 1842, "It is such a beautiful picture." After his death, the young Albert would continue to be depicted in different mediums, not only in paint but in sculpture and mosaic. — Jacqueline Banerjee
Link to Related Material
Bibliography
A.R. (Reynolds, Anna). Entry 13 in Victoria & Albert: Art & Love. Edited by Jonathan Marsden. London: Royal Collection Publications, 2010: 63. [Review].
Prince Albert. Web. Royal Collection Trust. Web. 28 July 2024.
Queen Victoria's Journals (Library access).
Created 28 July 2024