# Queen Victoria

**Thomas Sully** (American, 1783–1872)  
1838  
Oil on canvas  
94 x 58 in. (238.8 x 147.3 cm)

Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2021.140. [The museum's record](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/14826).

## About this work

The young Queen Victoria looks back over her shoulder with a fresh, girlish face, painted from life by the American artist Thomas Sully in London in 1838, the year of her coronation. Sully had been commissioned by the Society of the Sons of St. George in Philadelphia to paint a full-length portrait of the new queen, and this bust-length study, made during her sittings, was his record of her features. Its spontaneity and charm made it widely admired and copied.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

Thomas Sully painted this in 1838, aged 55. It is now at The Met in New York.

### How it was made

- **Oil paint.** Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.

### [Thomas Sully](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/thomas-sully)

American, 1783–1872; born in Horncastle, Lincolnshire; died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Sully was taken from England to America as a child by his actor parents and settled in Philadelphia in 1808. After brief study with Gilbert Stuart, he went to London, where he worked under Benjamin West and came under the influence of Thomas Lawrence. He became Philadelphia’s leading portraitist, known for graceful, flattering likenesses in a fluid manner. In 1838 he returned to London to paint the young Queen Victoria, the year after her accession.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Painting
- Culture: American
- The artist was 55
- Real size: about 94 × 58 in (239 × 147 cm). The original is larger than our largest print, 8 × 10 in, so every print is a reduction.
- Century: 19th century
- Movement: [Romanticism](https://www.ochreeditions.com/movements/romanticism)
- Subjects: Portraits, Women, Queen Victoria
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/864.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/864/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/queen-victoria-met-14826).