Born in Freiburg im Breisgau, Graefle studied in Munich with two artists of the ‘Nazarene movement’, Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld (1794-1872) and Peter von Cornelius (1784-1867). He was a close associate of Franz Xaver Winterhalter and was sometimes employed by the royal family as a worthy and more tractable substitute. Queen Victoria is dressed in mourning. On the table next to her is a box of Foreign Office papers and a bust of Prince Albert by William Theed which is still in the Royal Collection. Albert had died in 1861. When the Queen was sitting for her portrait she wrote in her Journal that Graefle was ‘such a clever painter & paints so fresh and cleanly. His likenesses are also very good’. Signed and dated: 'Albert Graefle pt 1864.' Inscribed on the back with the names of the artist and sitter and the date, January 1864.