A watercolour showing two monochrome bistre lake scenes, possibly executed under the tutelage of WL Leitch. The upper study shows a large villa on the edge of the lake shown in the foreground. A boat is shown to the left and mountains are shown in the background. A castle is shown on the banks of a lake in the study below, with the lake shown in the foreground and in the background to the left. Mountains are shown in the background.

From the age of eight Queen Victoria received regular lessons in drawing and watercolour from professional artists including Richard Westall (1765 – 1836) and Edward Lear (1812 – 88). However, it was the Scottish landscape painter William Leighton Leitch (1804 – 83) with whom she had the most enduring relationship, as he taught her for 22 years. Before teaching Queen Victoria, Leitch had established an impressive reputation as an art tutor, with his pupils including the Duchess of Buccleuch, the Duchess of Sutherland and Queen Victoria’s lady-in-waiting Charlotte Canning.