Princess Elizabeth of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1830-1851), whose tomb is the largest represented in the painting, was the eldest child of Queen Victoria’s half sister, Princess Feodora of Hohenlohe Langenburg. The consumptive princess died in Venice, having retired there in late 1850 in the hope that her health would rally.

This is a copy by August Peters (1837-1901) of a painting by the Venetian landscape painter Frederick Pau Nerly. Peters was active in Brunswick, and his work is represented in the Duke Anton Ulrich Museum, in Brunswick. A white tomb, punctuated by a large cross, rears up from a graveyard peppered with smaller, less impressive headstones and cypress trees. A high brick wall encloses the space, separating it from the larger grassy expanse of the cemetery which is marked by simple wooden crosses. A rear view of the monastery and the church of San Michele all’Isola can be seen in the background above the Venetian Lagoon, outlined against the mountains beyond.