The First Council of Queen Victoria

Wilkie's The First Council of Queen Victoria of 1838, depicting the eighteen-year-old queen presiding over her first Privy Council meeting on the morning after William IV's death, is one of the most significant state paintings of the Victorian era. Wilkie captured Victoria standing alone before the assembled council of older men — prime ministers, dukes, and bishops — with a dignity and composure that reportedly astonished all present. The painting documents the foundational act of one of history's longest reigns, the young queen's bearing establishing the authoritative persona she would project for sixty-three years.

Wilkie renders the Privy Council chamber and the assembled statesmen with careful portrait likenesses. The composition focuses on the diminutive queen presiding over the room of older men, using warm lighting to highlight her central position.