The Art and Love Exhibition, showcasing numerous works of art collected by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, is now on at the Queen’s Gallery. The exhibition offers a unique perspective on the devotion the couple had for each other and their mutual love of art.
Victoria was notoriously fussy when it came to artists’ depictions of her, and frequently rejected submissions by English artists, preferring to keep royal patronage to a selection of Europeans. Franz Winterhalter was one of these favoured few, and the central room of the exhibition hosts one of his most impressive works of the couple with their young children. A series of Miroy Fréres clocks are also a stunning addition to a highly impressive collection.
The principal curator Jonathan Marsden worked in conjunction with 13 other curators for three years, compiling the collection of over 400 works, the majority of which were given from one to the other as a token of their love and devotion.
In a speech given to announce the upcoming opening of the exhibition, Marsden described the collection as “the first act of an opera”, referring to the jubilance of the couple and indeed Victoria’s happiness, which was starkly contrasted by a period of extended mourning following the sudden death of her husband. Marsden was keen to emphasise that it was “not a Victorian exhibition, but a romantic one”, and certainly viewing the works, one does feel privy to an intimacy between the two displayed through their complementary tastes in art during their 21 years together.
The exhibition runs until 31st October at the Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace.
For more information, visit www.royalcollection.org.uk/default.asp?action=article&ID=32
