AN oil sketch of Queen Victoria which was painted just four months after her accession to the throne at the age of 18 is to go on display in Scotland for the first time.
The work of Scottish artist Sir David Wilkie (1785-1841) is the earliest image of Victoria as reigning monarch and will appear in an exhibition at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh next month.
The preparatory sketch shows Victoria in near profile and wearing a bonnet, just as she appears in Sir David's finished work The First Council Of Queen Victoria.
But Victoria disliked the painting, which was completed in 1838, commenting in her journal: "Everyone was horrified when they saw it yesterday."
Deborah Clarke, exhibition curator of the Royal Collection Trust, said: "This sensitive and freely-painted oil sketch by the well-known Scottish artist Sir David Wilkie was the first of over 500 portraits of the Queen to be painted throughout her long reign and I am delighted this will be on display in Edinburgh for the first time."
Sir David succeeded Sir Henry Raeburn as limner to the king in Scotland in 1823 and was appointed painter in ordinary in 1830.
He retained his office on the accession of William IV in 1830 and again on the accession of Queen Victoria. He was the only artist to serve as painter in ordinary to three successive monarchs.
The sketch will be shown as part of the exhibition the Scottish Artists 1750-1900: From Caledonia to the Continent, the first dedicated to Scottish art in the Royal Collection.
It opens at The Queen's Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse, on August 6.
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