BUST OF VICTORIA

GUILLAUME GEEFS (1805–1883)
Belgian

Date : 1841

Dimensions : 49 × 15,5 × 15,5 cm

Material : White Carrara marble

Signature : “Gme Geefs, statuaire de S.M. le Roi des Belges Brux. 1841”

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Historical and artistic context

A remarkable bust of the still very young Princess Royal Victoria, eldest daughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, executed in 1841 when the princess was barely one year old. The work stands as an exceptional testimony to the artistic refinement of Guillaume Geefs, official sculptor to King Leopold I of the Belgians.

This bust is distinguished by its finesse, the delicacy of the pearls carved in the marble, and the elegance of the embroidery on the tunic. The expression of the young princess is perfectly transcribed in stone, with a remarkable sensitivity to the features of a child of royal blood.

To fully appreciate what led Guillaume Geefs to produce this bust, one must consider the particular relationship between Leopold I and Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, mother of the young princess. Leopold, who had become King of the Belgians in 1831, had been the principal architect of the union between Victoria and Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Following their marriage, Geefs received a prestigious commission for a bust of Albert of Saxe-Coburg. On this same occasion, and we may state this with a considerable degree of certainty, he also produced the present bust of the young Princess Royal Victoria, then the first child of Albert, barely one year old.

The identification is confirmed by comparison with two portraits executed the following year: the painting by Franz Xaver Winterhalter (1842) and the family portrait by the English portraitist John Lucas (also 1842), both of which bear a strong resemblance to the sculpted features. Furthermore, Geefs was well accustomed to portraying the close family of Leopold I in marble, having produced childhood busts of Prince Louis-Philippe of Belgium, Leopold II, Princess Charlotte of Belgium, and the Count of Flanders.

Literature

  • ENGELEN, C. MARX, M. La Sculpture en Belgique à partir de 1830. Louvain : Engelen – Marx, 2006. Tome III p. 1614 – 1624.

  • FRANZ HERRE, KAISERIN FRIEDRICH. Eine Engländerin in Deutschland. Stuttgart: Hohenheim Verlag, 2006.

  • VAN LENNEP, J., 1992, Catalogue de la sculpture : artistes nés entre 1750 et 1882. Bruxelles : Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique.