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1 of 253523 objects
Eugenio Agneni (1816-1879)
The Children's Fancy Ball at Buckingham Palace, 7th April 1859 dated 1859
Pencil and watercolour | 31.0 x 45.0 cm (whole object) | RCIN 919909
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A watercolour depicting the fancy dress ball held in the Ball Supper Room at Buckingham Palace to celebrate the sixth birthday of Prince Leopold, the youngest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Signed "AGNENI".
The children who attended Prince Leopold's birthday ball were aged between six and fourteen, and came dressed in a wide variety of costumes including national dress. Prince Leopold and his brother Prince Arthur were dressed as two sons of Henry IV of England.
Agneni's watercolour of the event shows the room's original colour scheme, devised by Prince Albert and Ludwig Grüner, his artistic adviser. At this time, the dome was decorated as a blue tent with cords and covered with gold stars. Illusionistic birds were painted on the sky. The upper part of the room was divided into panels, each surrounded by a rich frame with alternating Raphael arabesques in colour and the royal arms in monochrome on a gold ground, and panels of coloured marble were painted on the lower parts of the walls. The room was entirely altered in the reign of King Edward VII.
This watercolour was originally mounted in View Album VIII. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert compiled nine View Albums during their marriage. These albums contained watercolours and drawings documenting their life together and were arranged in chronological order. The albums were dismantled in the early twentieth century and rebound in new volumes both in a different arrangement and with additional items, but a written record of their original contents and arrangement still exists.Provenance
Commissioned by Queen Victoria for her View Album; Agneni was paid 30 gns on 23 June 1859 for this watercolour.
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Creator(s)
Commissioner(s)
Subject(s)
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Medium and techniques
Pencil and watercolour
Measurements
31.0 x 45.0 cm (whole object)
Object type(s)
Other number(s)
RL 19909