The First of May 1851

Franz Xaver Winterhalter painted ‘The First of May’ in nineteenth-century England to commemorate the first birthday of Prince Arthur, the seventh child of Queen Victoria. This is no simple family portrait: its iconography evokes the symbolic power of the British monarchy. The Duke of Wellington presents Victoria with a casket; in the background, we see Prince Albert, along with Windsor Castle. The scene recalls the tradition of displaying the Christmas tree for the first time, an invention of Victoria’s German husband. The painting emphasizes Victoria’s role as a mother and her dedication to her family, and idealizes the Royal Family as a patriarchal and dynastic model for the nation to emulate. But the historian might ask: how effective was this form of propaganda in an era of burgeoning republicanism? The answer lies in part in the illustrated press, which spread images of the Royal Family, as well as in the history of Victoria's relationships with her subjects.