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.

Prince Alfred (1844–1900) was the second son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. He was an extrovert with an enquiring mind and enjoyed learning. He taught himself the violin when he was a child and later his niece, Princess Alice of Albany, remembered 'the erratic movements of his bow over the strings, which he fingered with exuberant originality but with little regard for the score'. He later helped establish the Royal College of Music. He enjoyed a career in the navy and was made Admiral of the Fleet in 1893.

Here he is painted wearing a dress (as was usual for children at this time) and carrying a straw hat.

Inscribed on the back with the names of the artist and sitter and the date, November 1846.