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Notes
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Queen Elizabeth succeeded her father George VI in 1952. The trustees of the National Portrait Gallery commissioned the Italian artist Pietro Annigoni to paint a new portrait of the Queen in 1969. The Queen herself had expressed a preference for the artist who had painted her once before in 1954; two years after her coronation. Annigoni's second portrait, paid for by the art dealer Sir Hugh Leggatt, took 10 months and 18 sittings to complete. During this period the artist produced the sketch displayed here. This stark and monumental composition proved to be a startling contrast to Annigoni's earlier portrait of the young queen, which was glamorous and romantic. He explained his changed approach: 'I did not want to paint her as a film star; I saw her as a monarch, alone in the problems of her responsibility'.
Title
Queen Elizabeth II
Date
1969
Medium
oil on panel
Measurements
H 198.1 x W 177.8 cm
Accession number
4706
Acquisition method
Given by Sir Hugh Leggatt, 1970
Work type
Painting
National Portrait Gallery, London
St Martin’s Place, London, Greater London WC2H 0HE England
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Queen Elizabeth (1900–2002), the Queen Mother, Half-Length Senate House, University of London -
HRH the Duchess of Kent (b.1933), Chancellor of the University of Leeds (1965–1999) The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery, University of Leeds -
Eric Arthur Barber (1888–1965) Exeter College, University of Oxford -
Charles McMoran Wilson (1883–1977), 1st Baron Moran Royal College of Physicians, London -
Queen Elizabeth II National Portrait Gallery, London -
Vittorio Gui (1885–1975) Glyndebourne -
Elizabeth II (1926–2022) Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust
