Queen Victoria

1838

Not on view

Sully conceived of his collaboration with Queen Victoria for her commissioned portrait through a series of sittings throughout March, April, and May of 1838. He completed numerous sketches in which he detailed her robes, jewels, throne, and footstool, as well as the various figural positions he envisioned for the finished work. Sully’s final selection for her pose, indicated in this drawing, was highly unconventional, as the youthful, petite monarch appears in mid-step, turning toward the viewer while approaching her throne, rather than seated on it as was typical for royal portraiture. The artist flattered Queen Victoria as both regal and feminine, her upper back sensually exposed and her gaze directed.

Artwork Details

Overview

Title: Queen Victoria
Artist: Thomas Sully (American, Horncastle, Lincolnshire 1783–1872 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Date: 1838
Medium: Black ink on paper
Dimensions: Sheet: 9 in. × 6 3/8 in. (22.9 × 16.2 cm)
Mat: 19 1/4 × 14 1/4 in. (48.9 × 36.2 cm)
Credit Line: Purchase, Brooke Russell Astor Bequest, Louis V. Bell Fund, Mr. and Mrs. Richard L. Chilton Jr. and Anthony W. and Lulu C. Wang Gifts, and funds from various donors, in honor of Morrison H. Heckscher, 2021
Object Number: 2021.141
Curatorial Department: The American Wing

More Artwork

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Hints to Young Painters, and the Process of Portrait-Painting as Practiced by the Late Thomas Sully.

Thomas Sully

J. M. Stoddard & Company

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Standing Draped Female Figure; Portrait of a Cleric; Half-length Portrait of a Man; Figures with Wagons and Horses (Napoleon Scene?) (from Sketchbook), Thomas Sully American, Ink, wash, on paper, American — Standing Draped Female Figure; Portrait of a Cleric; Half-length Portrait of a Man; Figures with Wagons and Horses (Napoleon Scene?) (from Sketchbook)
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Composition with Five Figures in Natural Setting, Two Male, Three Female, with a Lyre (Ponnassus?) (from Sketchbook), Thomas Sully American, Ink, wash, on paper, American — Composition with Five Figures in Natural Setting, Two Male, Three Female, with a Lyre (Ponnassus?) (from Sketchbook)
Thomas Sully
1810–20

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