Queen Victoria Opening Parliament, 1837

Queen Victoria’s first State Opening of Parliament in November 1837 was a historic occasion—the eighteen-year-old queen addressing the assembled Lords and Commons. Hayter, newly appointed as her official painter, was commissioned to record the event. This version in the Parliamentary Art Collection is likely the preparatory sketch for a larger composition, documenting the theatrical splendor of constitutional monarchy. George Hayter was the preeminent British history and portrait painter of the early Victorian era, appointed Principal Painter in Ordinary to Queen Victoria in 1841.

The panoramic composition places the tiny figure of Victoria at the center of the vast Gothic chamber, surrounded by hundreds of robed figures. Hayter’s academic training in history painting serves this complex multi-figure scene well.