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Lot Essay
A view of Rio de Janeiro by Brierly taken on the outward leg of the Duke of Edinburgh's voyage to the Australian colonies in 1867-68.
Brierly was invited by the Duke of Edinburgh to join his expedition round the world on the latter's appointment to the command of HMS Galatea in 1867. Prince Alfred, created Duke of Edinburgh in May 1866, commissioned the corvette Galatea specially for a voyage to the Australian colonies: 'On 18 January the Queen wrote to the Prince of Wales saying that Prince Alfred had 'of his own accord proposed a voyage to Australia - & I encouraged him very much in this plan - as it is a colony of such importance one in wh: beloved Papa took such interest & to wh: None of our Princes have yet been' (WRA T 5/4).
The original scheme was that the Galatea should sail right round the world and return to Portsmouth in January 1869. Because of the attempted assassination of the Duke in March 1868, the ship came home and reached Portsmouth on 26 June 1868. Brierly was invited to be in attendance throughout the trip.' (D. Millar, The Victorian Watercolours and Drawings in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, I, London, 1995, p.116)
The cruise was the subject of John Milner and Brierly's The Cruise of HMS 'Galatea': Captain H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh, K.G., in 1867-1868 (London, 1869) and thirty-seven watercolours by Brierly illustrating the voyage, dating between 18 February 1867 and 26 June 1868 (alongside five screens of paintings by Chevalier illustrating the Duke's second trip to Australia in 1869-70) were exhibited at the South Kensington Museum and subsequently at the Crystal Palace at Sydenham in 1872.
Brierly was invited by the Duke of Edinburgh to join his expedition round the world on the latter's appointment to the command of HMS Galatea in 1867. Prince Alfred, created Duke of Edinburgh in May 1866, commissioned the corvette Galatea specially for a voyage to the Australian colonies: 'On 18 January the Queen wrote to the Prince of Wales saying that Prince Alfred had 'of his own accord proposed a voyage to Australia - & I encouraged him very much in this plan - as it is a colony of such importance one in wh: beloved Papa took such interest & to wh: None of our Princes have yet been' (WRA T 5/4).
The original scheme was that the Galatea should sail right round the world and return to Portsmouth in January 1869. Because of the attempted assassination of the Duke in March 1868, the ship came home and reached Portsmouth on 26 June 1868. Brierly was invited to be in attendance throughout the trip.' (D. Millar, The Victorian Watercolours and Drawings in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, I, London, 1995, p.116)
The cruise was the subject of John Milner and Brierly's The Cruise of HMS 'Galatea': Captain H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh, K.G., in 1867-1868 (London, 1869) and thirty-seven watercolours by Brierly illustrating the voyage, dating between 18 February 1867 and 26 June 1868 (alongside five screens of paintings by Chevalier illustrating the Duke's second trip to Australia in 1869-70) were exhibited at the South Kensington Museum and subsequently at the Crystal Palace at Sydenham in 1872.