Diagram of the Colors Used to Paint the Portrait of Queen Victoria

ca. 1838

Not on view

While in London in May 1838, Sully painted a half-length portrait of Queen Victoria (The Wallace Collection, London) for the engravers Hodgson and Graves, who produced mezzotints for sale from the image. Sully made this meticulous visual record of the palette he used for the portrait, documenting the pigments with descriptions of fifteen color mixtures. Once back in Philadelphia, he referred to this ink-and-oil paint key for the full-length composition he would paint in duplicate, one version for the Society of the Sons of Saint George (2021.140) and one for himself to exhibit on tour (destroyed by fire).

Artwork Details

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Title: Diagram of the Colors Used to Paint the Portrait of Queen Victoria
Artist: Thomas Sully (American, Horncastle, Lincolnshire 1783–1872 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Date: ca. 1838
Culture: American
Medium: Brown ink and oil on paper
Dimensions: 4 7/8 x 7 11/16 in. (12.4 x 19.5 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: 2021.235
Curatorial Department: The American Wing

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

Thomas Sully

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