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 Schüler 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. The Queen recorded in her Journal on 24 August 1843: ‘Winterhalter has made, in only 2 sittings, the most spirited & beautiful likeness of the Boy, imaginable’. Prince Albert Edward was the first son and second child of the nine children of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, and the first heir born to a reigning sovereign since 1762. He was usually known by both names, except in the family, where he was called Bertie. When he ascended the throne in 1901, he declared himself Edward VII. He was made Prince of Wales aged one month. Signed and dated: F Winterhalter / 1843. Inscribed on the back with the names of the artist and sitter and the date, 1843.