A watercolour depicting the royal party on the dais under the baldacchino, at the crossing of the Crystal Palace, with Prince Albert standing at the head of the Commissioners, reading their report to the Queen. The verso is inscribed with the title, date and artist.

In his capacity as President of the Society of Arts, Prince Albert set up a committee to organise exhibitions with the aim of improving British industrial design. An exhibition in Birmingham in 1849 was followed by the first truly international exhibition, the Great Exhibition of Products of Industry of All Nations, held in Joseph Paxton's 'Crystal Palace' in Hyde Park, London, in the summer of 1851. Half the exhibition space was devoted to British manufacturing, and the other half was offered to foreign countries to display their achievements and specialisms. Six million people visited the exhibition to see over 100,000 exhibits from around the world, divided broadly into raw materials, machinery, manufactures and the fine arts; Queen Victoria herself visited no fewer than thirty-four times. The substantial profits were used to establish the South Kensington Museum, renamed the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1899.

The opening of the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations took place on 1 May 1851. On a raised dais in the central crossing of the Crystal Palace, built in Hyde Park and enclosing several of the park’s mature trees, the Queen received the report of the Commissioners, led by Prince Albert. The Queen described the day as ‘one of the greatest and most glorious days of our lives’.

Text adapted from Victoria & Albert: Art & Love, London, 2010