Queen Victoria was perhaps the most widely represented figure in the nineteenth century, and her visual image, sculpted or painted, still dominates public spaces scattered throughout every continent. The very familiarity of Victoria as an icon, along with the sizeable bibliography of works devoted to the narrative of her life, would suggest that there is little more to be said. This issue of 19 challenges this idea; indeed, we contend that the repetition of orthodoxies in text and image has forestalled serious discussion of the Queen’s public image and, crucially, of Victoria’s own role in the construction of her image to political ends. It addresses Victoria’s self-fashioning through three topics: Victoria’s crafting and curating of her own image in a range of visual media; the circulation of this image in the United Kingdom and across the British Empire; and the question of how we interpret and curate Victoria’s image and its material legacy in a decolonizing age.

Cover image: Thomas Jones Barker, ‘The Secret of England’s Greatness’ (Queen Victoria Presenting a Bible in the Audience Chamber at Windsor), 1862–63, oil on canvas. © National Portrait Gallery, London.

Editors: Joanna Marschner (Guest Editor), Michael Hatt (Guest Editor)

Introduction

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Visualizing Victoria

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Circulation and Display

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Victoria Today

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