State Portrait of Queen Victoria (Franz Xaver Winterhalter, 1859)

Franz Xaver Winterhalter's 1859 state portrait of Queen Victoria, painted as one of a formal pair with a matching state portrait of Prince Albert, commissioned for display in the royal residences rather than as a private family image. Winterhalter, the leading European court portraitist of his generation, first visited England in 1842 and returned repeatedly over the following decades to paint Victoria, Albert and their growing family, producing more than 120 works for the couple in all. The 1859 state portraits present Victoria and Albert in the formal dress and regalia of reigning monarchs rather than as sitters in an informal domestic scene. The painting remains in the Royal Collection and is displayed at Buckingham Palace and other royal residences alongside the bulk of Winterhalter's royal output. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/