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.

Queen Victoria had been wanting a new portrait of herself since at least March 1858. She wrote to the Princess Royal, her eldest daughter, before Winterhalter arrived, that the artist was 'to paint a full length of me in grand costume'. After the portrait was completed, along with a companion painting of Prince Albert (RCIN 405130), she described them as 'truly magnificent'. The Queen is wearing the Robes of State, the circlet, and the earrings and necklace made by Garrard's, the jewellers in 1858, the year before this was painted. Her left hand rests on some papers, next to the Imperial State Crown, and in the distance we can see a view of Westminster. The two portraits were regarded as the new official likenesses of the Queen and Prince Albert and many copies were made.

Signed and dated: Fr. Winterhalter /1859.