Prince Albert sculpture found to have been made by his daughter Victoria

A sculpture of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s husband, which has been on display for the last 160 years at Windsor Castle, was found to have been made by his daughter, Victoria, Princess Royal and later German Empress.

This discovery was made during research for European Sculpture in the Collection of His Majesty The King, a comprehensive catalogue of sculptures in the Royal Collection. Prince Albert and his eldest daughter had a close relationship. Victoria, like her sisters Alice and Louise, took lessons in sculpting.

Victoria made the sculpture in memory of his early death in 1861 alongside her tutor, Hugo Hagen. She wrote to her mother from Berlin, “It is a work which completely engrosses me… I feel very nervous … I hope you will like it. How I wish you were here to give advice!” Queen Victoria wrote back, “I like it extremely.” And she only added that the nose was a little too thick. Princess Victoria later gifted the sculpture to her mother for Christmas 1864.

The catalogue’s author, Jonathan Marsden, found that Princess Victoria created the bust by examining archival correspondence between the Queen and her daughter.

Jonathan Marsden said,  “The publication of the catalogue raisonné marks the completion of one of the largest cataloguing projects undertaken by Royal Collection Trust, recording almost 2,000 works of art and bringing this part of the Royal Collection into the light. Sculpture can easily fade into the background, yet closer examination can reveal works of art of quality and significance with their own stories to tell. By sharing our discoveries, both through the catalogue and online, we hope visitors to the palaces will have a renewed appreciation of these beautiful works of art and pieces of history. For researchers and specialists, the catalogue represents an important new body of evidence, the foundation for future scholarship.”