Memorial sculpture and architecture

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert collected and commissioned art to celebrate their relationship, family and shared history. In her attempt to continue this tradition following Prince Albert’s premature death, Queen Victoria regularly commissioning new paintings, decorative objects and monuments that memorialised her beloved husband. Many of the works were photographed, and a selection of the resulting glass plate negatives is listed below. This includes a series showing the maquettes submitted by William Theed (1804-1891) as proposals for Prince Albert’s memorial in Kensington Gardens, and a group documenting the detailed progress in the construction of the Royal Mausoleum at Frogmore. Negatives in this section also depict works that memorialised Queen Victoria’s mother, Princess Victoria, Duchess of Kent (1786-1861), a key figure in the royal couple’s life.