SLIKAR

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Xaver_Winterhalter
+
http://www.winterhaltermenzenschwand.de/en/thepainterbrothers/

BBC unveils Prince Albert's sexy oil painting of

Queen Victoria
Reveals an intimate side of the demur monarch known only to
her beloved consort, Prince Albert
An entire era is named for her and symbolizes uptight attitudes about sensuality.
But it turns out Queen Victoria may have had a behind-closed-doors side never seen by the 19th Century public.
Imperious, unapproachable, often speaking in an aloof plural first person as in, We are not amused she gave
her name to the Victorian Age, during which pregnant women went into seclusion, piano legs wore trousers and
doctors did not examine female patients, instead used dolls on which women demurely pointed to the area of their
symptoms.
However, Her Majesty posed for a racy portrait that Windsor Castle has kept behind closed doors for more than a
century.

The never-before-unveiled Queen Victoria (Painting courtesy Buckingham Palace)

The portrait was painted in 1843 by Franz Xaver Winterhalter, commissioned by Victoria and given to Prince Albert,
her beloved
husband. Under British custom, when a female is the head of state, she bears the
title
queen, but her husband is
only a duke and bears the title of prince.
Six year into her reign, the 24-year-old Victoria commissioned the painting, which she gave to her husband as a
surprise birthday present.
It was Alberts favorite portrait of her, says Desmond Shawe-Taylor, official Surveyor of the Queens Pictures.

Albert thought it was so daring that he kept it in a private room at Windsor Castle and did not let anyone else view
it.
It was clearly intended as a loving expression, said Shawe-Taylor, and reads as if it is extremely intimate and
alluring that secret for your eyes only effect.
Even after Victorias death, the painting considered to be too overtly sexual to be shown to the public. Its existence
was not revealed until 1977, more than 130 years after it was painted.
BBC is unveiling the intimate portrait as part of a 2012 series highlighting the royal familys collection of artworks.
Also revealed is a book written by King Henry VIII in defense of the Catholic church. It was written before his
famous rift with the Vatican which resulted in the founding of the Church of England after the Pope refused annul
for Henrys marriage.
Timed to coincide with the Queens Diamond Jubilee, the eight-part series features 50 of the most fascinating
objects among the million or more items collected by Britains kings and queens over hundreds of years.
Also featured will be a photograph from Queen Victorias
family
album, taken when she attended the wedding of her
grandson, the Grand Duke of Hesse, to Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
Victoria sits in the center of the picture, taken in Coburg, Germany, in 1894.
To her right is her grandson, Germanys Kaiser Wilhelm II, who would lead his country to war against Britain in
World War I. Immediately behind him is Czar Nicholas II of Russia, who was assassinated with his wife and
children in 1918 during the Russian Revolution.
+
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/queen-elizabeth-II/8931869/Secrets-of-Queens-greatest-treasures-to-b
e-revealed-in-major-new-BBC-series-The-Art-of-Monarchy.html
+
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/queen-elizabeth-II/8931869/Secrets-of-Queens-greatest-treasures-to-b
e-revealed-in-major-new-BBC-series-The-Art-of-Monarchy.html
+
http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/sites/default/files/V%20and%20A%20Art%20and%20Love%20%28Gere%29.p
df
+
http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/collection/406010/queen-victoria-1819-1901
+
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/dec/02/bbc-art-queens-jubilee-radio