| Portrait of Queen Victoria | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | David Wilkie |
| Year | 1840 |
| Type | Oil on canvas, portrait painting |
| Dimensions | 271.5 cm× 190.5 cm(106.9 in× 75.0 in) |
| Location | Lady Lever Art Gallery, Merseyside |
'Portrait of Queen Victoria is an 1840 portrait painting by the Scottish artist David Wilkie. It depicts the reigning British monarch Queen Victoria around the age of twenty one. It depicts the young sovereign in her robes or state beside the crown. [1] Known for his genre paintings, Wilkie been Principal Painter in Ordinary under William IV and was reapointed when Victoria succeeded to the throne in 1837. [2]
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The work was displayed at the Royal Academy Exhibition of 1840 at the National Gallery in London where it met with widespread criticism. The Prime Minister Lord Melbourne wrote that Wilkie "never could paint portraits and never will". Queen Victoria particularly disliked it. The hostile reception to the painting upset Wilkie. That autumn he embarked on a tour of the Middle East, but died on his return voyage near Gibraltar in June 1841. After his death Victoria preferred artists such as George Hayter, Francis Grant and Winterhalter to portray her. [3]
As late as 1899 Victoria intervened to stop it being acquired by the National Portrait Gallery. [4] Having at one point hung in the British Embassy in Paris it is today in the Lady Lever Art Gallery in Liverpool, having been acquired in 1906. [3]
