Queen Victoria and Prince Albert: Portraits from the National Portrait Gallery, Exams of Painting

Download Queen Victoria and Prince Albert: Portraits from the National Portrait Gallery and more Exams Painting in PDF only on Docsity! The Victorians Introduction: Queen Victoria Queen Victoria 1819 – 1901 By Sir George Hayter (1792 – 1871) Oil on canvas, 1863 112 1/2 x 70 1/2 in. (285.8 x 179 cm) Queen Victoria (1819 – 1901) reigned from 1837 until 1901. Victoria was the daughter of the Duke of Kent and granddaughter of George III. Succeeding to the throne in 1837, she influenced foreign and domestic policies of successive governments, and her reign was the longest in British history. Queen Victoria came to the throne at the age of eighteen on the death of her uncle, William IV, in 1837 and was crowned queen on 28 June 1838. She wrote in her journal on the day of her coronation: ‘I really cannot say how proud I feel to be the Queen of such a Nation’, and some of this idealism is conveyed in Sir George Hayter's coronation portrait. Victoria described a small version of this portrait, which Hayter painted for her private apartments, as ‘excessively like and beautifully painted’. This replica version was commissioned by Queen Victoria in 1863 from the artist who painted the original in 1838. It was given to the National Portrait NPG 1250 The Victorians: Queen Victoria, 1 of 5 The Victorians Introduction: Queen Victoria Gallery in 1900. Other versions were produced for English embassies, another was given to the Crown Princess of Russia, and there is one in the Liverpool Town Hall. Under a huge canopy of vermilion red curtains heavily decorated with gold fringes and tassles, the delicate young Queen Victoria sits high on her massive throne. The armrests are carved in the form of large lion heads. Behind her a subdued red background shows a unicorn and a lion. Lifting the stem of the ceremonial Sceptre with the cross in her right hand, she points it in the direction followed by her own gaze up into the light shining from above to her right. The softly rounded face of the young Queen, with its long slender nose and rosebud lips, has a resolute expression. Her fine dark eyebrows are horizontal. On her head rests the Imperial State Crown. The crosses on top of the sceptre and crown symbolise the Sovereign’s temporal power under the Cross. Her heavy red and golden coronation robes are clasped across her chest by a band of gold. They spread over the lion-head armrests and trail onto the floor beside the throne. NPG 1250 The Victorians: Queen Victoria, 2 of 5 NPG 1250 The Victorians: Queen Victoria, 5 of 5 Queen Victoria 1819 – 1901 The Victorians Introduction: Queen Victoria The Victorians Introduction: Queen Victoria Prince Albert, Prince Consort of Queen Victoria 1819 – 61 By Franz Xaver Winterhalter (1805 – 73) Oil on canvas, 1867 95 x 61 3/4 in. (241.3 x 156.8 cm) Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Prince Consort of Queen Victoria (1819 – 61) was the second son of Ernest, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Albert married his cousin, Queen Victoria in 1840, and played an influential role in British public life. Noted as a patron of the arts, Prince Albert was largely responsible for the Great Exhibition of 1851. The original version of this portrait, showing Prince Albert wearing the Star of the Garter and the uniform of the Rifle Brigade, was one of the last portraits to be painted of him before his death from typhoid at the age of forty-two in 1861. This replica was commissioned by Queen Victoria from the original artist for the National Portrait Gallery. Prince Albert is forty years old in this portrait. Brightly lit in the foreground of a palace interior and standing tall, he thrusts out his chest in a commanding pose. Prince Albert wears the charcoal grey uniform of the Rifle Brigade with a black sword belt. His trousers are worn over black riding boots of NPG 237 The Victorians: Prince Albert, 1 of 5 The Victorians Introduction: Queen Victoria which only the toes and the spurs are visible. He stands in left profile and turns his face to engage you with the clear and gentle expression of large eyes which are light grey-green. He has a very slender long straight nose in a large egg-shaped face with a strong clean-shaven chin. His top lip is hidden by a light brown centrally parted thick moustache. His face is framed by long sideburns and soft light-brown hair which is carefully curled forwards above his ears. Parted low on the left, long hair is brushed over the receding hairline of his high rounded forehead. The bright shape of his face stands out from the tall collar of his dark jacket. On his chest Prince Albert proudly wears the Star of the Garter over his heart. His full rounded chest and narrow waist convey energy and strength. Albert’s left elbow is held out wide to rest his hand on the hilt of a long sword standing at his side. The thumb of his right hand is hooked lightly on his belt at the waist. At the right hand edge of the picture beside him, a small table is loaded with plans and folders containing his projects. Behind him, on his left, stands a vast column, swathed with red fabric. Huge crimson and white regal robes, the robes of the Bath, which symbolise NPG 237 The Victorians: Prince Albert, 2 of 5 NPG 237 The Victorians: Prince Albert, 5 of 5 Prince Albert, Prince Consort of Queen Victoria 1819 – 61 The Victorians Introduction: Queen Victoria The Victorians Expansion and Empire The Mission of Mercy: Florence Nightingale Receiving the Wounded at Scutari By Jerry Barrett (1824 – 1906) Oil on canvas, 1857 55 1/2 x 83 3/4 in. (141 x 212.7 cm) Florence Nightingale (1820 – 1910) reformed hospital nursing during the 19th century. After her training she was invited to take nurses out to tend the wounded in the Crimean War. Her sanitary improvements there diminished the spread of disease. She travelled to Scutari, a suburb of Constantinople in October 1854, where she transformed the appalling conditions at the Barrack Hospital. She looked after soldiers’ wives and children and wounded patients christened her ‘the Lady with the Lamp’. She was subsequently consulted by foreign governments at war as an authority on hospital administration and sanitation. In this complex narrative painting, Florence Nightingale is shown just over a third of the way into the painting from the left edge, standing under a window. She is surrounded by a semi-circle of people including many of her supporters, receiving casualties in the quadrangle of the Barrack Hospital. Close to us, situated in the right and left corners of NPG 6202 The Victorians: Florence Nightingale (Painting), 1 of 9 The Victorians Expansion and Empire the picture Turkish people gaze at the scene unfolding before them. On our left with his back towards us, a richly dressed man in a gold and red turban, red jacket and voluminous white pants or sherwal rests his right hand on a child’s shoulder. The fabric of the child’s pink skirts shimmers in the sun. Just visible on the man’s right is a figure holding some prayer beads behind his back. At the extreme right there are two veiled women in dark purple-blue robes, the one closest to us wears pointed pale yellow boots. At the right edge of the picture, visible through a wide arched gateway stretches the River Bosphorus painted a greyish green blending to ultramarine at its furthest bank. Beyond, the city of Constantinople is hazy in the distance beneath the expanse of a clear blue sky. A queue of the sick and wounded climb up from a makeshift landing stage and enter the quadrangle. Dramatic lighting brightly illuminates the curve of the left edge of the gateway and the face of an infantryman raised aloft on a stretcher. He points with his right hand towards Florence Nightingale, the red sleeve of his uniform contrasting with the dull green of a wooden door behind him. NPG 6202 The Victorians: Florence Nightingale (Painting), 2 of 9 The Victorians Expansion and Empire soldier. Other portraits of Nightingale’s close allies in the painting, include Revd Mother Mary Clare. Wearing a dark habit, the Revd Mother stands in shadow behind Dr Cruikshanks. Between her and Nightingale is the tall imposing figure of Major Sillery, military commander of the hospital at the time of Nightingale’s arrival. He has an impressive bushy moustache, waxed at the ends. To the immediate left of Nightingale stands Selina Bracebridge, her expression calmly solicitous, clutching her right hand to her breast. She and her husband, who is situated behind her, were old friends of Nightingale, offering assistance during her first nine months in Scutari. Mr Bracebridge is depicted in conversation with Lord William Paulet, commander of British forces in the Bosphorus. He is partly obscured by the stretcher- bearer to his left. In a dark doorway at the extreme left of the painting, appears the whiskered face of Paulet’s successor, General Henry Storks and to his left, the head and shoulders of Dr Linton, one of the medical officers at the hospital. In front of them cut off by the edge of the picture is the portly figure of the NPG 6202 The Victorians: Florence Nightingale (Painting), 5 of 9 The Victorians Expansion and Empire great chef, Alexis Soyer, who revolutionised dietary regimes at the Barrack hospital. He is depicted in profile holding a sunshade. Alongside Alexis Soyer, her body obscured by the Turkish man in the foreground, a nurse, Miss Tebbut, wearing a frilled bonnet, gazes thoughtfully out of the painting. To give authenticity to this image of life in the Barrack Hospital, the artist has included himself in the painting as a witness. He looks down on the scene below from a window in the sun baked wall above Nightingale’s head. In the foreground there are discarded items of uniform and two dogs lie sleeping in the heat. Hanging on the wall to the left is a small oil study for this painting measuring 16 x 24 in. (40.6 x 61cm). The paint is handled in a more fluid manner, providing us with an insight into the evolution of the finished picture’s composition. The organisation of the figures is well developed but there are significant differences in the pose of Nightingale herself and the positioning of Alexis Soyer and the others grouped around her. In the sketch, Nightingale is turned to our right and looks out of the painting and Alexis Soyer appears closer to her. The NPG 6202 The Victorians: Florence Nightingale (Painting), 6 of 9 The Victorians Expansion and Empire outstretched arm of the soldier being borne into the hospital, which provides a dramatic focus in the large painting, is not yet formulated. NPG 6202 The Victorians: Florence Nightingale (Painting), 7 of 9 The Victorians Expansion and Empire Florence Nightingale 1820 – 1910 By Sir John Robert Steell (1804 – 91) Bronze Bust, 1862 28 in. (71.1 cm) high Florence Nightingale (1820 – 1910) reformed hospital nursing during the 19th century. She trained as a sick nurse and was invited to take nurses out to tend the wounded in the Crimean War (1854 – 6). Her sanitary reforms there lessened cases of diseases such as cholera, typhus and dysentery. She travelled to Scutari, a suburb of Constantinople in October 1854, where she transformed the appalling conditions at the Barrack Hospital. She looked after soldiers’ wives and children and wounded patients christened her ‘the lady with the lamp’. She was subsequently consulted by foreign governments at war as an authority on hospital administration and sanitation. This bronze bust of Florence Nightingale, mounted on a curved polished pedestal of greenish marble is displayed to be viewed from the front. Her head is turned to our right and angled slightly downwards revealing a graceful neck. The hair at the front is drawn back from a centre parting, strands of hair NPG 1748 The Victorians: Florence Nightingale (Bust), 1 of 4 The Victorians Expansion and Empire modelled to convey texture. A soft-looking frilled cap covers the back of her head and ears. Her face is oval in shape; the light shining on the smooth bronze surface picks out hollow cheeks, a rather prominent, pointed noise and a small rounded chin. Finely arched eyebrows, eyes with heavy lids and a small-pursed mouth convey calm sympathy. The artist’s scrutiny has drawn attention to tiny details that make her face appear not perfectly symmetrical but suggest the character of a real person: the outline of her thin upper lip is more curved on her right, the eyes not exactly the same shape. She wears a cloak, drawn across her shoulders, loosely gathered at the base of the neck and fastened tightly at the front. The sculpture finishes below the breasts and the diagonal folds in the cloak’s fabric describe the contours of her body beneath. The edge of her shoulders and upper arms form elegant curves and the upper body is completed in the classical manner to resemble a softened hexagonal shape. NPG 1748 The Victorians: Florence Nightingale (Bust), 2 of 4 NPG 1748 The Victorians: Florence Nightingale (Bust), 3 of 4 Florence Nightingale 1820 – 1910 The Victorians Expansion and Empire The Victorians Expansion and Empire many portraits and coins. The glossy dark brown hair is smoothed back over the ears and adorned with a narrow gold crown, set with diamonds at the front and a soft white feather that curls onto her shoulder. The décolletage of her costume is wide, low-cut and edged with white lace. Three strings of pearls encircle her neck. A short, fine gauze, puffed sleeve is visible beneath an over sleeve of lace. At her breast, fastened to a blue sash is a cluster of white, blue and red flowers. The train of the dress is of satin, decorated with bows along the edge, shimmering blue and mauve in the light. The wide ivory silk skirt is embellished with broad, lace ruffles, delicately patterned. She holds the leatherbound bible in front of her with both hands. The African man leans forward, crystal necklace swinging, reaches out with his left arm and clasps the corner of the bible with delicacy, the right hand held back in an elegant gesture. The rich brown, muscular forearm, and that of the Queen, smooth and white, form a strong diagonal in the foreground composition. The man’s handsome profile with clipped beard, straight nose and high cheekbones expresses curiosity. He is magnificently attired in a cream coloured tunic, NPG 4969 The Victorians: The Secret of England’s Greatness – Queen Victoria, 2 of 5 The Victorians Expansion and Empire sumptuous, leopard skin cloak, spotted shoulder strap and a long red sash lined with gold tied round the waist, the fabric where it falls, partly concealing a sword that hangs at his left side. The cloth of his turban is pink and shiny embellished at the front with a stiffened plume that curves over his head and is fastened to the turban with a turquoise jewel. A hooped earring set with pearls hangs from his left ear. Prince Albert, situated behind Victoria is less strongly lit. He surveys the scene, a grave expression on his youthful face. The warm red of his uniform sets off Victoria’s white shoulders. A section of green throne is visible; the armrest ornamented with a gold lion’s head. A cool pinkish red curtain falls behind the armrest and frames the painting at the left edge. In the space between the curtain and Prince Albert’s shoulder, a shadowy female figure, perhaps a lady-in-waiting peers out. At the extreme right, behind the African man, the statesman, Lord Palmeston and Lord John Russell appear to exchange comments. In the background, indistinct in the darker shadows is Benjamin West’s large painting ‘The Institution of the Order of the Garter’. NPG 4969 The Victorians: The Secret of England’s Greatness – Queen Victoria, 3 of 5 NPG 4969 The Victorians: The Secret of England’s Greatness – Queen Victoria, 4 of 5 ‘The Secret of England’s Greatness’ (Queen Victoria presenting a Bible in the Audience Chamber at Windsor) The Victorians Expansion and Empire The Victorians Expansion and Empire His head is turned towards our right and slightly tilted back, mouth open and eyebrows raised above small eyes as if he is confidently recounting a fascinating adventure. The dark hair, clipped short, eyebrows and moustache, waxed and twirled at the ends, stand out against a very pale complexion. His right elbow is situated on the curved top of the sofa, the forearm angled downwards against the backrest, fingers curled next to one of two piles of books at his side. Burnaby’s long legs are crossed and stretched out so that the pointed toes of his highly polished shoes almost reach the bottom right corner of the painting. He is dressed in uniform as a Captain in the 3rd Household Cavalry. The sweeping red stripe along the side of his black trousers further emphasises the length of his legs. This stripe and the gleaming white shoulder strap curving across his chest provide strong features in the composition. The glossy surface of this painting with its array of detail and texture is striking in the bold use of contrasting black, white and red. Warm red on the band around a stiff cylindrical cap on the sofa in the foreground, on the cuffs of his uniform and other items of uniform gathered on a couch upholstered in NPG 2642 The Victorians: Frederick Gustavus Burnaby, 2 of 5 The Victorians Expansion and Empire flowery chintz in the background, provide rich accents in the painting. The elements in the picture are carefully arranged; the falling red horsehair plume on a spiked gilded metal helmet on the couch in the background emphasises the angle of his left forearm. The items of uniform next to the helmet are positioned in the space between his forearm and the right edge of the painting. Below, light glints on a breastplate leaning against the couch behind Burnaby’s legs. This breastplate fits neatly into the pictorial space between his knees and the right edge of the painting where a pair of long boots are just visible. Positioned centrally above the couch in the background, on pale wallpaper covered with a pattern of tiny flowers, a section of a large map of the world, reminds us of Burnaby’s love of exploration and adventure. The countries are loosely portrayed and the artist has painted small dashes to indicate the names of geographical features. NPG 2642 The Victorians: Frederick Gustavus Burnaby, 3 of 5 NPG 2642 The Victorians: Frederick Gustavus Burnaby, 4 of 5 Frederick Gustavus Burnaby 1842 – 85 The Victorians Expansion and Empire The Victorians Portraits and Politics party divided by Free Trade and Protectionism and he resigned. He worked with distinction during the First World War, succeeding Winston Churchill as 1st Lord of the Admiralty, and from 1916 to 1917, as Foreign Secretary, he was employed in enlisting the support of the United States. An act of far-reaching consequences was the Balfour Declaration of November 1917 that gave British support to ‘the establishment in Palestine of a home for the Jewish people’. Balfour continued in active politics until the age of 80. He served an exceptional length of time as a member of the cabinet: 27 years. G.K.Chesterton regarded the portrait as one of Sargent’s wisest works, a summing up ‘of not just the man but also the age’. In this very large painting the tall figure of Balfour stands life-size at the centre against a stone wall designed in the grand manner of classical architecture. Dressed in black, he wears a white collar and very discreet black bow tie, black trousers, and shiny black shoes with grey spats. His three-quarter length black coat hangs open. The edge of a carpet runs horizontally across the painting just behind his feet. It is patterned in blue NPG 6620 The Victorians: Arthur James Balfour, 2 of 6 The Victorians Portraits and Politics and red with touches of green, against a background of light golden brown. He stands in front of a shallow rectangular column which is about three feet or a metre wide, resting his right arm with suave assurance along a ledge just below shoulder height. His relaxed right hand hangs from the ledge at the extreme left of the painting. He stands in a position which suggests that from first standing alongside the wall, facing the left of the picture, he has now turned his upper body, twisting his spine, so that his shoulders rest against the ledge and his face is seen fully. He holds his left hand on his chest directly in line beneath his face, lightly grasping the collar of his coat with thumb and forefinger. His weight is on his left foot which points towards his right, while his right leg crosses in front of his left with the inner foot turned to face you. The right foot hides the left. Balfour’s face receives the full strength of a shaft of light from the right of the painting that casts a bold shadow of his head onto the column just above his right shoulder. He has receding wavy grey hair with a centre parting above his gleaming high-domed NPG 6620 The Victorians: Arthur James Balfour, 3 of 6 The Victorians Portraits and Politics forehead. His level grey eyebrows shade large grey-green eyes which look steadily into the distance to your right. His long and straight nose is strongly chiselled rather than smoothly formed. A wide grey moustache is centrally parted, curling up to end beyond the corners of his mouth. NPG 6620 The Victorians: Arthur James Balfour, 4 of 6 The Victorians Portraits and Politics The Lobby of the House of Commons, 1886 By Liberio Prosperi ('Lib') (active 1886 – 1903) Oil on canvas, about 1886 13 x 19 1/4 in. (33 x 48.9 cm) A chromolithograph after this picture was published in the ‘Vanity Fair Christmas Supplement’ in 1886. Seventeen men stand in the wide Lobby of the House of Commons in long black jackets, trousers of sober colours and black shoes. Many wear high collars and bow ties, and some wear black top hats. They strut, stoop, lounge or wag a finger and murmur and mutter and gossip. There is an element of humorous caricature to their appearances. The gothic architecture of the Lobby of the House of Commons resembles a Cathedral interior. On the left of the painting elaborately carved arches and niches punctuate the limestone wall behind the men. High above their heads daylight enters from windows on the left whose wide stone window frames are visible just below the top of the picture. The groups of men cast dark pools of shadow onto the chequered tile floor. Tiles of pale blue and white rectangles alternate with tiles of pale red and white. Between fluted columns on the right, in a high dark NPG 5256 The Victorians: The Lobby of the House of Commons, 1 of 8 The Victorians Portraits and Politics arched recess spanned by gothic niches in gold leaf, a clock hangs just above their heads. At centre foreground, in left profile, with an over- large bald head and a residue of curly white hair, stands the elderly leader of the Liberal Party and former Prime Minister, Gladstone, surrounded by a group of four men. To the left of Gladstone the slight dark-haired Joseph Chamberlain uses the fingers of his open left hand to reinforce a point he is making. Between these two men Charles Stewart Parnell, the leader of the Irish Nationalist party, is shown standing a little further back. Parnell is one of the tallest figures and has a high domed head, long brown hair and full beard and moustache. No doubt the chief concern in this area of the painting is Home Rule in Ireland over which Chamberlain resigned from Gladstone’s cabinet in 1886. Gladstone’s decision to pursue a policy of Home Rule in 1866 had split the Liberal party to the core. Behind Gladstone stands the slight figure of Lord Randolph Churchill facing to the right. A red rose is in his buttonhole, his right hand on his hip and his left hand in the pocket of his narrow grey trousers. Wearing a tall top hat on his high bald head he has NPG 5256 The Victorians: The Lobby of the House of Commons, 2 of 8 The Victorians Portraits and Politics brown hair, protruding small round ears, bulging eyes and a wide triangular moustache that hides most of his mouth. He is talking to the taller figure of the Marquess of Hartington who faces Gladstone’s back. Hartington stoops and turns his right ear to hear Churchill better. Churchill was an energetic campaigner against Gladstone over Home Rule for Ireland. Hartington too was vehemently opposed to Home Rule and with Chamberlain he founded the Liberal Unionists. Therefore there is significance in placing these two behind Gladstone’s back in the picture. At either end of the cluster of figures and groups stand short comical figures with white beards resembling garden gnomes. On the left there is a portly policeman, Inspector Denning, facing you and standing to attention, and on the extreme right is the aged hooknosed Mr Hansard, the printer to the House of Commons, with his walking stick. The second figure in at the right is the tall figure of Lord Hill with nose held high strutting out of the picture. The second figure in on the left is the Clerk of the House of Commons wearing a wig and peering with an exaggerated stoop towards the left. NPG 5256 The Victorians: The Lobby of the House of Commons, 3 of 8 The Victorians Portraits and Politics family. Leveson-Gower turns his bulbous face towards the short, very slight and very dapper figure of the 6th Earl Spencer who looks excited as he tilts his head back smiling broadly with big eyes. Spencer has a long straight nose, brown hair parted on the left, a fine moustache curling up at the ends, and a clean- shaven chin. He wears a high white collar above his black long-tailed jacket. Beneath his narrow black trousers his tiny pointed shoes have raised heels. These three might be discussing horses and hunting. NPG 5256 The Victorians: The Lobby of the House of Commons, 6 of 8 NPG 5256 The Victorians: The Lobby of the House of Commons, 7 of 8 The Lobby of the House of Commons, 1886 The Victorians Portraits and Politics NPG 5256 The Victorians: The Lobby of the House of Commons, 8 of 8 The Lobby of the House of Commons, 1886 The Victorians Portraits and Politics NPG 6359 The Victorians: Ludwig Mond (Bronze), 3 of 4 Ludwig Mond 1839 – 1909 The Victorians Science and Technology NPG 6359 The Victorians: Ludwig Mond (Bronze), 4 of 4 Ludwig Mond 1839 – 1909 The Victorians Science and Technology The Victorians Science and Technology Sir Robert Ludwig Mond 1867 – 1938 By Edward (Edouard) Lanteri (1848 – 1917) Bronze statuette, 1912 14 1/2 in. (36.9 cm) high Sir Robert Ludwig Mond (1867 – 1938) was the son of Ludwig Mond the industrial chemist and collector of early Italian art. Sir Robert was also an industrialist and carried out research in his father’s firm which laid the foundations of Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) in 1926. In 1930 he became President of the Faraday Society. Sir Robert Ludwig Mond was also an archaeologist and devoted time and finance to a number of expeditions in Egypt. He bequeathed some very significant finds to the British Museum. Sir Robert Ludwig Mond sitting full length is exquisitely sculpted in bronze on a very small scale. His head is just one inch long, or less than 3 centimetres. This portrait at the age of forty-five is of a distinguished figure of knowledge and learning. He sits on a heavy wooden upright armchair using both armrests with his right leg crossed over his left. His right hand clasps a document resting on his right thigh, his thumb uppermost. His left hand NPG 5316 The Victorians: Sir Robert Ludwig Mond (Bronze), 1 of 5 NPG 5316 The Victorians: Sir Robert Ludwig Mond (Bronze), 4 of 5 Sir Robert Ludwig Mond 1867 – 1938 The Victorians Science and Technology NPG 5316 The Victorians: Sir Robert Ludwig Mond (Bronze), 5 of 5 Sir Robert Ludwig Mond 1867 – 1938 The Victorians Science and Technology The Victorians Science and Technology Charles Darwin 1809 – 82 By John Collier (1850 – 1934) Oil on canvas, 1883 49 1/2 x 38 in. (125.7 x 96.5 cm) The great scientist, Charles Darwin (1809 – 82), formulated the theory of evolution by natural selection. His meticulous survey of life-forms and the conditions which govern their development resulted in his famous work, ‘On the Origin of Species’. He wrote other important books on botany, zoology, geology and evolution. This three-quarter length portrait is a copy by the artist of a painting he undertook for the Linnaean Society in 1881. It shows Darwin in the year before his death. According to Darwin’s third son, Francis. The portrait represents him standing facing the observer in the loose cloak so familiar to those who knew him and with his slouch hat in his hand. Many of those who knew his face most intimately, think that Mr. Collier’s picture is the best of the portraits and in this judgment, the sitter himself was inclined to agree. Light falls on Darwin from the top left, highlighting his sparse, silvery-white hair, long curly white beard NPG 1024 The Victorians: Charles Darwin, 1 of 4 NPG 1024 The Victorians: Charles Darwin, 4 of 4 Charles Darwin 1809 – 82 The Victorians Science and Technology The Victorians Science and Technology Sir Richard Owen 1804 – 92 By Henry William Pickersgill (1782 – 1875) Oil on canvas, about 1845 56 1/4 x 44 in. (142.9 x 111.8 cm) From the mid 1830s Sir Richard Owen (1804 –92) was the leading British comparative anatomist and one of the most formidable opponents of Darwin’s evolutionary theories. He was superintendent of the Natural History Department of the British Museum and designed new natural history galleries at South Kensington (now known as The Natural History Museum). This three quarter length portrait is said to represent Owen lecturing on the pearly nautilus, a mollusc with a chambered external shell, that was the subject of one of his best known works. He displays the shell with the opening facing him in the palm of his left hand at waist level. It is pale and shiny with gradations of horizontal brown stripes, the shape similar to that of a garden snail’s shell but very much larger. Owen rests his right hand next to a glass jar situated on a table at the bottom left of the picture. The jar contains the soft grey body of the mollusc depicted in anatomical detail. Some of its NPG 938 The Victorians: Sir Richard Owen, 1 of 4 The Victorians Science and Technology many tentacles are visible pointing upwards. Owen’s face, turned to our left is youthful and clean- shaven. Light emphasises a high, square forehead with a receding hairline and a prominent, rounded chin. Dark eyes are widely set above a broad, flat nose. His thin lips are slightly parted as if he is about to speak. Formally dressed, the russet-coloured panels at the front of Owen’s dark academic gown drop down over a black tailcoat. A high, black velvet cravat sets off the brilliant white of his starched shirt and stiff pointed collar. NPG 938 The Victorians: Sir Richard Owen, 2 of 4 The Victorians Science and Technology Michael Faraday 1791 – 1867 By Thomas Phillips (1770 – 1845) Oil on canvas, 1841 – 1842 35 3/4 x 28 in. (90.8 x 71.1 cm) Michael Faraday (1791 – 1867) was a chemist and experimental physicist whose discoveries provide the basis of modern electrical technology. Born the son of a blacksmith, and apprenticed to a bookbinder he devoted his leisure to science. Largely self-taught he was engaged by Sir Humphry Davy as his assistant at the Royal Institution in 1813. Faraday liquefied chlorine and other gases, and in 1823 discovered benzene. He became involved in running the Royal Institution and in 1826 established both the Friday evening discourses for members of the Royal Institution and the Christmas lectures for children which continue to this day. On 29 August 1831 he made his greatest discovery: electromagnetic induction. This breakthrough led to a series of experiments carried out over the following ten weeks which are now acknowledged as the basis of modern electrical technology. He effectively invented the first electric transformer NPG 269 The Victorians: Michael Faraday, 1 of 6 The Victorians Science and Technology and generator. In the following decade he rewrote the theory of electrochemistry, coining the words electrode, anode, cathode, and ion in the process, and he established the laws of electrolysis. Further discoveries culminated in the 1850s with establishment of the field theory of electromagnetism. This remains one of the cornerstones of physics. Faraday oversaw the programme to electrify lighthouses around the British Isles. He undertook enquiries into explosions at the Waltham Abbey gunpowder factory and at Haswell Colliery, for the Home Office, as well as advising the National Gallery and other owners of works of art about conservation issues. Throughout his life he was deeply committed to the Christian literalist beliefs of the Sandemanian sect. In 1858 Prince Albert arranged for him to have a grace and favour house at Hampton Court Palace where he spent his last years and died. He appeared on the £20 note from 1991 until 1999. This portrait shows Michael Faraday with two essential pieces of laboratory equipment: on the left NPG 269 The Victorians: Michael Faraday, 2 of 6 The Victorians Science and Technology is a Cruikshank battery of the sort he used in his electrical experiments, while on the right flames indicate the furnace that was necessary for a range of laboratory work at this time. Although it could be that the flames represent instead his enquiries into explosions at the Waltham Abbey gunpowder factory. The background of the painting is almost black. Michael Faraday is in a very dark setting wearing a buttoned black jacket and a wide black neck-cloth around a very high white collar. His face, shirt front and hands are abruptly picked out from the darkness by a shaft of light. He leans towards the left of the painting with his elbow resting on a tabletop and his hands clasped with interlaced fingers in front of his waist. His square chin rests between the ends of his collar. The firm shapes of his full mouth, with its regular wavy upper lip and wide bowl shape of the lower lip, add to the look of powerful concentration in his gaze. Dark brown eyes look into the distance to your right. His eyes are set between thick brown eyebrows slanting down to his nose, and high cheekbones with warm red cheeks. His nose has a firmly rounded end. Long brown hair, NPG 269 The Victorians: Michael Faraday, 3 of 6 NPG 269 The Victorians: Michael Faraday, 6 of 6 Michael Faraday 1791 – 1867 The Victorians Science and Technology The Victorians Statesmen Octavia Hill 1838 – 1912 By John Singer Sargent (1856 – 1925) Oil on canvas, 1898 39 3/4 x 30 1/2 in. (101 x 77.5 cm) Octavia Hill (1838 – 1912) was a social reformer, influenced by Christian Socialism. Encouraged by John Ruskin, she devoted her life to housing reform, supervising the building and management of numerous dwellings. She was widely involved with other charitable activities and became a founder of the National Trust. She is depicted half-length, seated with hands clasped in front of her, against a warm red, brown background. Turned slightly to our right, she holds her ample figure erect, her brown eyes gazing upwards to our left. She looks as if she might be remembering an amusing incident. The two highlights in her eyes bring her expression to life. Her features are strong with a well defined nose and firm chin. Her face is kindly but there is also a hint of the steely resolve and dedication, for which she was so admired. Bright light falls on top of Hill’s grey hair which is parted in the centre and gathered loosely at the NPG 1746 The Victorians: Octavia Hill, 1 of 4 The Victorians Statesmen back of her head. There is a vivid contrast in the darkness of the background to our right together with the softly lit black fabric of Hill’s voluminous sleeves and a creamy white diaphanous scarf, worn round her neck and gathered at the waist. The texture of the scarf is painted with squiggles, curves, dabs and downward strokes where it catches the light. Hill’s blouse is just visible beneath and is of a silvery white with a high ruffled neckline. This portrait was commissioned from Sargent by her friends and was given to Hill on her sixtieth birthday. It has a fine carved wooden frame of leaves and flowers. NPG 1746 The Victorians: Octavia Hill, 2 of 4 The Victorians Statesmen John Burns 1858 – 1943 By John Collier (1850 – 1934) Oil on canvas, 1889 49 x 36 1/4 in. (124.5 x 92.1 cm) John Burns (1858 – 1943) was a Labour leader and politician. He left school at the age of ten and, as an apprentice engineer, became active in the trades union. He joined the Social Democratic Foundation in 1885 and travelled the continent studying labour conditions. Burns was elected MP in 1892 but refused to join the Independent Labour Party and moved towards the liberals. He became a member of the cabinet as President of the Local Government Board, 1905 – 14 and of the Board of Trade in 1914, but resigned in opposition to the war and took no further part in public life. This portrait was painted when Burns was forty, in the year that he became well known for his leadership in the London dock strike. It portrays him three-quarter length, standing before us, both hands firmly grasping his waist. With head slightly tilted to our left, he confronts the viewer with an enquiring expression. The most arresting features of his face are the NPG 3170 The Victorians: John Burns, 1 of 4 The Victorians Statesmen prominent black arched eyebrows above large brown eyes. Burns’ complexion is sallow, his black hair cut short and dark beard and moustache neatly trimmed. He has high cheek bones and his nose is rounded at the tip. The white collar and cuffs of his shirt stand out in contrast to his black double breasted jacket and black trousers and the warm red of his tie is picked up in the reddish brown colour of the background. NPG 3170 The Victorians: John Burns, 2 of 4 NPG 3170 The Victorians: John Burns, 3 of 4 John Burns 1858 – 1943 The Victorians Statesmen The Victorians Statesmen His abdication followed insoluble constitutional problems raised by his proposed marriage to the American divorcee, Wallis Simpson. Queen Mary and Princess Mary visited hospitals and welfare organisations during the First World War. After a nursing course in 1918, Princess Mary worked at Great Ormond Street and in 1926 was appointed Commandant in Chief of British Red Cross Detachments. The cavernous drawing room is shadowy. Light filters into the background, softly illuminating crystal chandeliers, a grand piano at the left edge, small in the background and the polished floor of a room glimpsed through an open doorway. In the foreground at the right edge, pale pink flowers stand in a large round vase, a tall stem with a profusion of narrow, drooping leaves stand out in silhouette against a sunlit window. The Royal Family are portrayed full length and posed together in the lower half of the painting. About a quarter of the way into the portrait from the left edge, George V stands formally, both hands resting on the hilt of a sword pointing downwards in front of him. He gazes directly at the viewer with NPG 1745 The Victorians: The Royal Family, 2 of 7 The Victorians Statesmen large grey eyes. His brown hair is cut very short, moustache and beard, neatly clipped. The King is dressed in naval uniform. Light from two floor to ceiling windows at the right edge glints on the gold of such details as his golden epaulets, stiff collar and cuffs and the medals across his chest. The King and Queen both wear vivid blue shoulder sashes, the only strong colour in a composition of muted greys, pale yellows and white. Queen Mary holds herself erect and gazes with a serious expression in the same direction as her daughter. There is a resemblance between the two; the Queen’s hair, swept back is also light brown and curly, her eyes large and blue, her lips full. The visible brush marks on her dress are in tones of cream, bright white and greys giving the effect of ivory silk. Three long strands of pearls fall down across her chest, one strand reaching to her waist. She wears silvery chokers and a coronet glistens on her hair. The badge of the Red Cross is visible pinned at her left breast. Princess Mary, aged sixteen, sits on a footstool in front of a sofa between the King and Queen. She leans gracefully against the Queen, who is seated NPG 1745 The Victorians: The Royal Family, 3 of 7 The Victorians Statesmen on the sofa to her left. The Princess rests her left arm on her mother’s knee. The raking light from the windows delineates the left side of her face, defining a straight nose and full lips. Her blue eyes look out of the painting to our right. Bold brushwork describes the three ruffles at the bottom of her long white skirt and a pale blue sash, tied at the waist that drops to the floor. Light falls in a bright lozenge on her lap and picks out a bracelet on the Princess’s right arm and a string of pearls at her neck. The Princess’s hair is light brown and wavy and brushed behind her shoulders. The Prince of Wales stands behind the Queen and Princess Mary, his hands resting on the top of the sofa so that only his upper body and head are visible. He appears younger than his nineteen years. His clean-shaven face is turned to our left with a proud expression. The white wing-collar of his shirt stands out in contrast to his dark waistcoat and jacket. Medals gleam on his chest. This portrait was the centre of attention at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition where it was exhibited in 1913. The critics noted its ‘romantic impressionism’ and hailed it as ‘a veritable triumph NPG 1745 The Victorians: The Royal Family, 4 of 7 NPG 1745 The Victorians: The Royal Family, 7 of 7 The Royal Family at Buckingham Palace, 1913 The Victorians Statesmen The Victorians Early Victorian Arts Charles Dickens 1812 – 70 By Daniel Maclise (1806 – 70) Oil on canvas, 1839 36 x 28 1/8 in. (91.4 x 71.4 cm) Charles Dickens (1812 – 70) was the most famous and most popular of all Victorian novelists. Dickens was a highly prolific writer. The combination of comedy, pathos, and social satire in his serialised novels won him thousands of contemporary readers, and many of his characters, such as Mr Micawber, Mrs Gamp, Mr Pickwick, Quilp, and Uriah Heep, have entered the British national consciousness. Through his fiction he also did much to highlight striking abuses of 19th-century society and to prick the public conscience. The Irish painter Daniel Maclise was a close friend of the novelist and portrayed Dickens on more than one occasion as well as making portraits of his wife and children. This portrait was made just after the publication of ‘Nicholas Nickleby’ and was regarded by contemporaries as a good likeness. Dickens’ fellow novelist Thackeray wrote, ‘as a likeness perfectly amazing: a looking-glass could not render a better facsimile. Here we have the real identical man Dickens’. NPG 1172 The Victorians: Charles Dickens, 1 of 5 The Victorians Early Victorian Arts Charles Dickens is a slight, agile looking figure wearing a narrow sleeved long-tailed dark brown jacket with very wide lapels and matching narrow trousers. He sits on the left side of the painting at a writing table which stands on the extreme right. Dickens directs his body towards the table. His left hand reaches over onto the table to press down on some handwritten pages. His feet wearing sharply pointed winklepicker shoes rest on the carpet almost at the extreme right edge of the painting. From the window behind him bright patches of sunlight cast the shadow of the window frame onto the wood- panelled wall above the writing desk. Charles Dickens looks away from his desk and turns to his head round to look up at the window over his right shoulder. He has large blue-grey eyes. Long brown wavy hair is swept away from his forehead and hangs in a rounded mass over his ears and above his shoulders. His face is very fine featured with high brows arching into a long very slender curved nose. The full red lips of his bow- shaped mouth are relaxed. His chair is upholstered in red and has elaborately decorative carved armrests and legs. His coat-tail NPG 1172 The Victorians: Charles Dickens, 2 of 5 NPG 1172 The Victorians: Charles Dickens, 5 of 5 Charles Dickens 1812 – 70 The Victorians Early Victorian Arts The Victorians Early Victorian Arts The Brontë Sisters (Anne Brontë, Emily Brontë and Charlotte Brontë (Mrs A.B. Nicholls)) By Patrick Branwell Brontë (1817 – 48) Oil on canvas, about 1834 35 1/2 x 29 3/8 in. (90.2 x 74.6 cm) This is the only surviving portrait of the three celebrated novelists, the Brontë sisters. Charlotte Brontë (1816 – 55) first published ‘Jane Eyre’ under the assumed male name ‘Currer Bell’. She was the eldest, born in 1816. Emily Brontë (1818 – 48) was author of ‘Wuthering Heights’ published under the name ‘Ellis Bell’ and Anne Brontë (1820 – 49) was author of ‘The Tenant of Wildfell Hall’ published under the name ‘Acton Bell’. The artist was their brother, Patrick Branwell Brontë, born in 1817. He went to London to study painting at the Royal Academy but only stayed a few days. The Brontë children grew up in a parsonage surrounded by moorland at Haworth near Bradford in Yorkshire and remained there. All four died young. Emily and Patrick both died in 1848, Emily was thirty and Patrick was thirty-one. In the following year their younger sister Anne died at the age of twenty-nine. Charlotte was the eldest and lived the longest, dying at the age of thirty-nine NPG 1725 The Victorians: The Brontë sisters, 1 of 6 The Victorians Early Victorian Arts in 1855. The novelist Elizabeth Gaskell gave a description of the portrait as she had seen it in 1853. After that it was thought to have been lost until it was discovered folded up on top of a cupboard in 1914. She stated elsewhere that at the time of the portrait Charlotte was eighteen, Emily was sixteen and Anne was fourteen. In the centre of the group a male figure, previously concealed by a painted pillar, can now be discerned; it is almost certainly a selfportrait of the artist, Patrick Branwell Brontë. This painting is damaged with cracks in the form of a cross through the centre where the canvas has been folded. The original canvas has been laid on a new canvas so that the original stretcher marks and unpainted edge are all visible. It shows three young women from the waist up, standing around a small writing table in front of a limestone pillar. All three wear white collars with v-neck openings which spread wide across their shoulders above long- sleeved velvet dresses which have belts. Their sleeves are very wide at the elbow but tight along the wrist. Anne, the shortest and youngest, is to your left in NPG 1725 The Victorians: The Brontë sisters, 2 of 6 NPG 1725 The Victorians: The Brontë sisters, 5 of 6 The Brontë Sisters (Anne Brontë, Emily Brontë and Charlotte Brontë (Mrs A.B. Nicholls)) The Victorians Early Victorian Arts NPG 1725 The Victorians: The Brontë sisters, 6 of 6 The Brontë Sisters (Anne Brontë, Emily Brontë and Charlotte Brontë (Mrs A.B. Nicholls)) The Victorians Early Victorian Arts The Victorians Early Victorian Arts Sir Edwin Henry Landseer 1802 – 73 By John Ballantyne (1815 – 97) Oil on canvas, about 1865 31 1/2 x 44 1/2 in. (80 x 113 cm) Sir Edwin Henry Landseer (1802 – 73) was a celebrated animal painter, a sculptor, and an engraver, who was born in London. Landseer was a child prodigy, first exhibiting at the Royal Academy at the age of fourteen. He went on to become Queen Victoria’s favourite painter. He was highly successful, being probably the most popular painter of his age. Edwin Landseer earned vast sums from the sale of engravings made from many of his paintings by his brother, Thomas. Landseer established his reputation with animal subjects which parodied human behaviour. He became known for acutely realistic portrayals of dogs, usually of highbred species in gallant poses. Landseer also gained fame as a painter of deer, eagles and other wildlife, often using them to express moral sentiments. Sir Edwin Landseer worked in the studio of Baron Marochetti sculpting the lions for the base of Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square. The project NPG 835 The Victorians: Sir Edwin Landseer (Lions), 1 of 6