The Marriage of the Prince of Wales by William Powell Frith, RA (1819-1909). 1866. Oil on canvas. H 154.9 x W 215.9 cm Accession no. WAG 117; gift from Jane and Maria Lowndes, 1923. [Click on the images to enlarge them.]
Closer view of the bride and groom.
The ceremony was held at St George's Chapel, Windsor. It was a poignant occasion: the Queen herself, dressed in her usual mourning colours, was visibly moved as she watched the ceremony from her vantage point above the choir (see Ehrman 121-22). Despite having little feeling for the monarchy as an institution, Frith caught the spirit of the occasion. But the experience, together with the honour of having been commissioned for such a work, was offset by the labour and difficulties that followed. Having to depend on photographs instead of sittings for some of the dignitaries was one problem, and even when sittings could be arranged, transporting the large canvas to Windsor and back was tricky and costly (see Woodcock 149). These are the practicalities that the art connoisseur need not consider. The painting received its fair share of praise as well as some criticisms: looking back, the Illustrated Review of 5 June 1873 called it "charmingly commemorative" (588).
Image (with cropped version) reproduced here under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial licence (CC BY-NC), via Art UK, which was also the source of the caption material. Text by Jacqueline Banerjee.
Bibliography
Ehrman, Edwina. "Frith and Fashion." William Powell Frith: Painting the Victorian Age, edited by Mark Bills and Vivien Knight. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, in association with Guildhall Art Gallery and Mercer Art Gallery, Harrogate Museums and Arts, 2006 [Review]. 111-29.
"Study for The Marriage of the Prince of Wales. Art UK. Web. 22 November 2022.
"William Powell Frith, RA." The Illustrated Review. Vol 5. No. 76: 588-93. Internet Archive. Digitizing spnsor the Kahle/Austin Foundation. Web. 22 November 2022.
Woodcock, Sally. "Very Efficient as a Painter: The Painting Practice of William Powell Frith." William Powell Frith: Painting the Victorian Age, edited by Mark Bills and Vivien Knight. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, in association with Guildhall Art Gallery and Mercer Art Gallery, Harrogate Museums and Arts, 2006 [Review]. 145-55.
Created 22 November 2022