Coronation of Queen Victoria

Henry Thomas Ryall

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The nineteen-year-old queen was crowned in Westminster Abbey on June 28, 1838. She is here shown on the ancient throne of Edward I facing the Archbishop of Canterbury as her nobles hail their monarch with raised coronets. Noblewomen stand behind the throne and the royal family witnesses the ceremony from the side. Victoria's coronation imitated that of her uncle William IV and was modest when compared to the lavish ceremonies held by George IV. Ryall's print is based on an 1839 painting by Hayter in the Royal Collection.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.

Metropolitan Museum of Art