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1 of 253523 objects
Unter den Linden with the statue of Frederick the Great, Berlin c.1858
Pencil, watercolour and bodycolour | 21.6 x 30.5 cm (whole object) | RCIN 920689

Max Michael (1823-91)
Unter den Linden with the statue of Frederick the Great, Berlin c.1858
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A watercolour view of the Unter den Linden in Berlin, with the equestrian statue of Frederick the Great by Christian Daniel Rauch in the centre seen from behind, and to the left and right the Palace, built in the 1830s, & the Academy of Arts and Science. Figures stroll in the street. Signed bottom left with the monogram: 'Max'. There is faint evidence of a grid of squares drawn in pencil, presumably for transfer.
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert visited their eldest daughter Vicky, the Princess Royal, in Germany in the summer of 1858. Vicky had married Prince Frederick William of Prussia in January that year. On 16 August the royal party visited Berlin from Potsdam, where they were staying. Victoria particularly admired the Unter den Linden, describing it in her journal as "the Bond St of Berlin, a broad street, with trees ... very fine & gay, with pretty shops."
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
Perhaps commissioned by the Crown Princess of Prussia on behalf of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert?
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Creator(s)
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Medium and techniques
Pencil, watercolour and bodycolour
Measurements
21.6 x 30.5 cm (whole object)