Overview

• Research for European Sculpture in the Collection of His Majesty The King identified Princess Victoria as the modeller, with carving by her tutor Hugo Hagen.
• Catalogue author Jonathan Marsden ruled out the longstanding attribution to Robert William Sievier after assessing subject age and stylistic evidence.
• Archival letters between Queen Victoria and her daughter described the work in progress, enabling the bust’s identification.
• Princess Victoria presented the sculpture to Queen Victoria for Christmas 1864, and it has been displayed in St George’s Hall at Windsor for more than a century, seen by over a million visitors annually.
• The catalogue, published Tuesday by Modern Art Press with the Royal Collection Trust, records nearly 2,000 works and is positioned as a foundation for future scholarship.