Queen Victoria’s first visit to her wounded soldiers - Maja, Nynne I og Henrik

Queen Victoria’s first visit to her wounded soldiers

 

This analysis will focus on the oil painting Queen Victoria’s first visit to her wounded soldiers painted by Jerry Barrett in 1856. Queen Victoria was very affected by the suffering of her troops in the Crimea, and therefore she and Prince Albert, amongst others, visited the wounded soldiers.

In the centre of the painting Queen Victoria is placed wearing a blue dress and gloves, black cape and a pink bonnet. In front of her are her two oldest sons, the Prince of Wales and Prince Alfred. Her husband Prince Albert is on her right holding her arm. With her are also her cousin George, who is the Duke of Cambridge, Lord Hardinge who is the Commander-in-Chief of forces, Colonel Eden who is the Commandant of the Chatham garrison and Dr Reade who is the staff surgeon of the hospital. Colonel Eden and Dr Reade are placed in the right side of the painting wearing red uniforms. The wounded soldiers are to be seen on the left and the right side of the painting in their beds. The soldier on the bed talking to the prince is Sergeant Leny, and the badly injured soldier in the bed behind him is James Higgins. At the far right Sergeant John Breese who lost his right arm at Inkerman. After this visit Queen Victoria appointed him as her personal bodyguard.

Queen Victoria’s first visit to her wounded soldiers is a very sad painting painted in simple, cold colours. The faces on the different people in the painting are sad and blue, and there is no smile to be seen. And if there is a modest smile it is a smile of respect to the wounded soldiers. The room looks poor because of the potato bags used as sheets on the beds and the damaged floor. There is a contrast between the wealthy in the painting and the poor. The wealthy people are dressed in fine clothes as Queen Victoria’s dress. Their clothes are painted in strong colours as black and red to show their strength where the poor are painted in cold and faded colours to show their weakness and illness. Also the Royal family is looking down upon the wounded sergeant where he is looking up. This shows the different social classes where the Royal family represents the high social class, and the wounded soldier represents the lower class.

When looking upon the painting for the first time the Royal family talking to Sergeant Leny are the most noticeable but then your eyes are moving towards James Higgins in his bed where the sun comes in from the window and enlightens him. If you paint a big cross on the painting they will lead to the Royal family and Sergeant Leny who represents the centre of the painting and one of the two focus points. Another focus point are the two uniformed officers in red at the right side of the painting.

The painting is painted in a normal point of view where it seems that the painter has been seated at the right side of the room with a good distance to the happening. The colours and the light in the painting are very natural where the light comes from the sun outside the window. There are both melancholic colours and more bright, strong and happy colours. This shows two emotional sides of the painting. It shows the sadness about the wounded soldiers but also a hope about a brighter future for the soldiers and a deep respect for what they have done for the country.

The painting is from the Victorian Era where Victorian ideals are to be seen. Even though Queen Victoria is a strong and powerful woman her husband is supporting her by holding her arm just like ideal Victorian women followed and listened to their husbands. The ideal Victorian woman had the responsibility of the children and on the painting Queen Victoria is also very close to her children whereas Prince Albert is not as close to them but behind Queen Victoria instead.