The NPG prepares to show its biggest portrait: The Duke of Wellington's Funeral Procession
This article originally appeared on Culture24.
The National Portrait Gallery is preparing to show the longest painting in its collection for Waterloo200
Detail of Panoramic View of the Entire Funeral Procession of Arthur, Duke of Wellington, the panel showing Wellington’s horse led by his Groom by Samuel Henry Gordon Alken and George Augustus Sala, 1853© National Portrait Gallery, LondonIt’s also the National Portrait Gallery’s biggest ‘portrait’, which probably accounts for it being stored away in the gallery’s Archive since 1911.
Now as part of the commemorations marking the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo the monumental print is to be shown in public in a special one-off event.
Its eight panels will be fully visible in a specially made display case housing the entire work in the Victorian Gallery as part of the free one-hour event on Thursday June 18 to commemorate the Battle of Waterloo. It will be the first time the panorama has been seen at full length at the Gallery.
The impressive print, which details the funeral cortege - including the Royal Family, platoons of soldiers and Wellington's riderless horse with wellington boots facing backwards in the stirrups, was made by George Augustus Sala as one of many souvenirs produced to commemorate the event.
By this time, the controversies of Wellington’s ill fated political career were twenty years in the past and his death felt like the passing of an age. Wellington died as the quintessential Victorian, but his funeral was a reminder of the time forty years before when he gained his heroic reputation.
The procession to St Paul’s Cathedral was watched by a crowd estimated at one and a half million people. Other than for monarchs, with the possible exception of that given for Sir Winston Churchill, there has not since been a state funeral on a comparable scale.
“This extraordinary panoramic print has remained hidden in the National Portrait Gallery’s Archive Collection for many years,” said Paul Cox, the National Portrait Gallery’s Associate Curator. “Few, if any, original purchasers of this souvenir can have had the space to see it at its full length. It is a rare and exciting opportunity to see it displayed in this way on the 200th anniversary of the battle of Waterloo.”
While other versions are in existence, many have been divided and framed in shorter lengths. The Gallery’s version is still in its complete original form and in good condition.
Alongside the work visitors to the exhibition will be able to see a screen displaying the whole length of the work as a moving image. A Portrait Explorer version, viewable in the Gallery’s Digital Space, will allow visitors to see in more detail those in the procession while an iPad app will enable visitors to take the work home with them.
The event comes as a fitting coda to the NPG’s biographical exhibition Wellington: Triumphs, Politics and Passions (March 12 – June 7 2015), which will explore not only the political and military career of the victor of this great battle - but also his personal life through portraits of his family and friends.
- The display of the entire Panoramic View of the Entire Funeral Procession of Arthur, Duke of Wellington takes place in the Victorian Galleries, National Portrait Gallery, London on Thursday June 18 2015, 10-11am. Admission is free.
Detail of Panoramic View of the Entire Funeral Procession of Arthur, Duke of Wellington, the panel showing the Funeral Carriage by Samuel Henry Gordon Alken and George Augustus Sala, 1853© National Portrait Gallery, LondonMore on Waterloo200.
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