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Queen Victoria

Thomas Sully American
1838
Not on view
The majestic coronation portrait of Queen Victoria (1819–1901) shown ascending to her throne (2021.140) marks a high point of Sully’s successful career. The offer to paint the newly crowned royal came in 1837 from the Philadelphia chapter of the Society of the Sons of Saint George, a benevolent association committed to supporting indigent English emigrants and their families. Sully accepted the Saint George commission, which took him to his native England, but did not complete the portrait until his return to Philadelphia in autumn 1838. The artist executed this bust-length oil study of Queen Victoria’s crowned head and bare shoulders over the course of four sittings at Buckingham Palace in May 1838. Her youthful beauty is expressed in the luscious painterly style that characterizes Sully’s strongest work.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Queen Victoria
  • Artist: Thomas Sully (American, Horncastle, Lincolnshire 1783–1872 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
  • Date: 1838
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 36 x 28 3/8 in. (91.4 x 71.5 cm)
  • Credit Line: Bequest of Francis T. S. Darley, 1914
  • Object Number: 14.126.1
  • 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
1873
Portrait of a Lady, Thomas Sully American, Watercolor on ivory, American
Portrait of a Lady
Thomas Sully
ca. 1843
Mrs. Thomas Sully (Sarah Annis), Thomas Sully American, Watercolor on ivory, American
Mrs. Thomas Sully (Sarah Annis)
Thomas Sully
ca. 1802
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)
Thomas Sully
1810–20
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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