The Inauguration of the Great Exhibition

The Inauguration of the Great Exhibition
Artist	David Roberts
Year	1852
Type	Oil on canvas, history painting
Dimensions	86.4 cm × 152.4 cm (34.0 in × 60.0 in)
Location	Royal Collection

The Inauguration of the Great Exhibition is an 1852 history painting by the British artist David Roberts. It features a panoramic of the opening of the Great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park on 1 May 1852.^[1] Queen Victoria and the royal family, including Prince Albert, the Prince of Wales and the Princess Royal, are shown under a baldacchino canopy in the centre. On the left an equestrian statue of the queen produced by Thomas Thornycroft is visble.^[2]

After being impressed by smaller oil painting he had produced of the scene, the Queen and Albert commissioned Roberts to produce a larger and more detailed version of the event. They made constant suggestions for alterations for the work in a series of meetings.^[3] The painting was displayed at the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition of 1853 at the National Gallery in London. It was given as a gift by Victoria to Albert and was hung at Buckingham Palace. It remains in the Royal Collection.^[4]

• The Opening of the Great Exhibition by Queen Victoria by Henry Courtney Selous

• Carlisle, Janice. Picturing Reform in Victorian Britain. Cambridge University Press, 2012.
• Clarke, Deborah & Remington, Vanessa. Scottish Artists 1750-1900: From Caledonia to the Continent. Royal Collection Trust, 2015.
• Marsden, Jonathan. Victoria & Albert: Art & Love. Royal Collection, 2010.
• Sim, Katherine. David Roberts R.A., 1796–1864: A Biography. Quartet Books, 1984.