| The First Council of Queen Victoria | |
|---|---|
_-_The_First_Council_of_Queen_Victoria_-_RCIN_404710_-_Royal_Collection.jpg) | |
| Artist | David Wilkie |
| Year | 1838 |
| Type | Oil on canvas,history painting |
| Dimensions | 153 cm × 240 cm (60.1 in × 94 in) |
| Location | Royal Collection,Kensington Palace, London |
The First Council of Queen Victoria is an 1838history painting by the ScottishartistDavid Wilkie.[1] It depicts the first meeting of thePrivy Council following the succession ofQueen Victoria to the throne following the death of her uncleWilliam IV. It represents the actual meeting that took place in the Red Saloon atKensington Palace on 20 June 1837, when the eighteen year-old queen met with senior politicians from both the governingWhig Party and the oppositionTories.
Those depicted include several former and futurePrime Ministers as well as the current incumbentLord Melbourne. The other premiers include theDuke of Wellington,Earl Grey,Lord John Russell,Lord Aberdeen,Lord Palmerston and SirRobert Peel.[2] Other notable figures include thepoliticians theMarquess of Anglesey, theMarquess of Lansdowne,Lord Holland,Lord Lyndhurst,John Wilson Croker as well as Sir Thomas Kelly, theLord Mayor of London.Charles Greville thediarist who offers one of the best written accounts of the scene is also shown.[2]
Seated at the centre of the table is Victoria's uncleErnst Augustus,Duke of Cumberland who becameKing of Hanover on his brother William's death as theGuelphic Law restricted the succession of woman. Another of the Queen's uncles, theDuke of Sussex, is also present seated at the opposite end of the table from Victoria. The general impression of those elder statesman and royals is to emphasise Victoria's youth and femninity.[3]
Victoria expressly requested that Wilkie paint it and had strong ideas about who should be included. Wilkie felt under increasing pressure as it became clear the young Queen expected it to be completed in time for theRoyal Academy's nextSummer Exhibition beginning the following May. Wilkie had to schedule sittings with the various subjects in the painting, many of whom were busy public figures.[4]
Wilkie appears to have drawn inspiration from paintings of the youngJesus Christ in the temple lecturing the elders.[5] He shows Victoria, the only woman on the room and by far the youngest, seated on adias and dressed in white to emphasise her purity and innocence in sharp contrast to distinguish her from the darker clad experienced politicians. In reality she had worn mourning black for her uncle on the occasion.[2]
Working against the clock, Wilkie was able to complete it in time to be displayed at theRoyal Academy Exhibition of 1838 atSomerset House.The Spectator noted it was the centre of attention at the exhibition and was widely discussed by critics, although the painting's reception was mixed.[6] Victoria was dissatisfied with the result considering it to be inaccurate and, although she purchased the work, in future turned toGeorge Hayter for major ceremonial paintings.[2] His works includeThe Coronation of Queen Victoria (1839) andThe Marriage of Queen Victoria (1842).
It was hanging in the Grand Corridor ofWindsor Castle in 1860 and today remains part of theRoyal Collection on display atKensington Palace.[2]