Goetz von Berlichingen was a successful drama written in 1773 by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, based on the memoirs of the sixteenth-century knight and adventurer-poet, Goetz von Berlichingen. The scene depicted here is taken from Act IV, scene iii of Goethe’s play when the hero is summoned to attend the Imperial Commissioners in the Council House at Heilbronn. When the magistrate, standing on the left, rings a bell, a party of armed men appears. Goetz, however, strikes one of them down and snatches a sword from another. The painting is stated to have been painted in Brussels, where Prince Albert and his brother stayed for 10 months, 1836-7, and to have been given by Prince Albert to the Queen of the Belgians. Signed and dated: Albrxt. / 1837. Inscribed on the back with the title and dates.

Provenance: Painted by Prince Albert at Brussels in 1836; given to the Queen of the Belgians in 1850; bequeathed by her to Queen Victoria (Queen Victoria’s acquisitions 1851); recorded in the Queen’s Dressing Room at Buckingham Palace in 1876

Text from Royal Collection Trust website

Object description
Type: Easel painting
Location: Osborne House, Isle of Wight
Material: Oil on canvas
Artist: Prince Albert, Prince Consort (1819-61)
Date: 1836

Image Details
Date: 11 June 2024
Camera body: iPhone Xs
Lens: Wide Camera 26mm ƒ/1.8
Focal Length: 26mm
Aperture: ƒ/1.8
Shutter Speed: 1/15s
ISO: 800
Licensing: Image of a Royal Collection Trust asset. This image cannot be licensed.