Princess Gouramma (1841-1864) Signed and dated 1852

Oil on canvas | 153.2 x 91.8 cm (support, canvas/panel/str external) | RCIN 403841

Durbar Corridor, Osborne House

Description
Winterhalter was born in the Black Forest where he was encouraged to draw at school. In 1818 he went to Freiburg to study under Karl Ludwig Sch?ler and then moved to Munich in 1823, where he attended the Academy and studied under Josef Stieler, a fashionable portrait painter. Winterhalter was first brought to the attention of Queen Victoria by the Queen of the Belgians and subsequently painted numerous portraits at the English court from 1842 till his death.

Princess Gouramma (1841-64) was the daughter of the ex-Raja of Coorg. She was baptised in the Chapel at Buckingham Palace on 1 July 1852 and took the name ‘Victoria’, with Queen Victoria as her Sponsor. She had been considered a suitable bride for the Maharaja Duleep Singh whose portrait is also in the Royal Collection (RCIN 403843), but he declined to marry her. In 1860 she married Colonel John Campbell.

Here the Princess is depicted in Indian dress and rich jewellery, leaning on an Indian table. She is holding a Bible, an allusion to her conversion to Christianity.

Signed and dated: F Winterhalter / 1852.
Provenance
Painted for Queen Victoria

source: http://www.royalcollection.org.uk / Royal Collection Trust / Home> Collection> Explore The Collection