Prince Philip of Württemberg (1838-1917) Signed and dated 1841
Oil on canvas | 73.3 x 59.2 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 403604
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Winterhalter was born in the Black Forest where he was encouraged to draw at school. In 1818 he went to Freiburg to study under Karl Ludwig Schüler and then moved to Munich in 1823, where he attended the Academy and studied under Josef Stieler, a fashionable portrait painter. Winterhalter was first brought to the attention of Queen Victoria by the Queen of the Belgians (with portraits like this one); he subsequently painted numerous portraits at the English court from 1842 till his death. Prince Philip was the only child of Princess Marie d’Orléans and Duke Alexander of Württemberg. His mother had died on 2 January 1839 and the portrait was arranged by the Queen of the Belgians and Queen Marie-Amélie, his aunt and grandmother. Queen Victoria commented on the portrait: ‘we are charmed with it; this Child is lovely, and this Picture beautiful, and beautifully painted. I can’t help thinking what a nice husband he wd make for Pussy’. Pussy was the nickname of Victoria, the Princess Royal, Queen Victoria’s eldest daughter. She in fact married Frederick William, King of Prussia. In 1854 the Queen described Philip as the handsomest man she had ever seen. Franz Xaver Winterhalter was to become one of Queen Victoria’s favourite artists and this portrait was an important demonstration to the Queen of Winterhalter’s ability before she had met him. Signed and dated: F Winterhalter Paris 1841. On the back of the original canvas was an inscription giving the names of the artist and sitter and the date, 1841.
Provenance
Given to Queen Victoria in 1841 by Maire Amelie, Queen of the French; recorded in the Queen's Sitting Room at Buckingham Palace in 1873
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Creator(s)
Acquirer(s)
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Medium and techniques
Oil on canvas
Measurements
73.3 x 59.2 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
100.8 x 87.2 x 12.3 cm (frame, external)
Category
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Other number(s)
Alternative title(s)
Prince Philip of Württemberg (1838-1917), when a child