Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
British Galleries, Room 54

The Funeral procession of Mary II

Engraving
1695 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Object Type
This print is an engraving and etching. An etching is produced by biting lines in a metal plate with acid. An engraving is made by cutting lines into a plate with a special tool. Here the printmaker has used both methods on a single piece of metal. The lines were then filled with ink and printed onto paper to produce the image.

Subject Depicted
Queen Mary's funeral took place on the 15 March 1695, several months after her death on 28 December. A grand and solemn ceremony was arranged despite her wishes to the contrary. It was an occasion for the nation to express its grief at the loss of a much-loved monarch, but also an opportunity for Mary's husband, William, to reinforce his position as the rightful monarch. This was important to counter any claim to the throne by the exiled Roman Catholic ruler, James II.

Unlike other prints of funeral processions of the period, this one places the event in context. The artist shows the funeral cortège snaking away from the spectator towards the entrance of Westminster Abbey, London, where the Queen was to be buried. He gives a sense of the crowds of citizens that witnessed the event and indicates the season by the leafless tress in the top right-hand corner.

Ownership & Use
The spectacle of a royal figure being carried to the grave has always had great power. Printmakers and publishers responded rapidly to the demand for prints of such a solemn event. This example was intended for a Dutch market. Mary had spent her early adulthood at the Dutch court in The Hague. She had been a popular figure and the citizens of Holland would have been keen to obtain images of her funeral.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleThe Funeral procession of Mary II (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Engraving and etching, ink on paper
Brief description
Engraving depicting the Funeral Procession of Mary II
Physical description
Engraving
Dimensions
  • Height: 34.2cm
  • Width: 41.8cm
Dimensions checked: Measured; 12/07/1999 by sp
Gallery label
British Galleries: This Dutch print records the funeral procession in London of Queen Mary on 5 March 1695. The artist included a stray dog at the end of the procession to suggest that mourning for the Queen swept the whole country. The print is missing the original Dutch text that identified the principal mourners.(27/03/2003)
Object history
Engraved by Lorenz Scherm (active 1690 - after 1734); published in The Netherlands by Carel Allard (born in Amsterdam, 1648, still active in 1706)
Summary
Object Type
This print is an engraving and etching. An etching is produced by biting lines in a metal plate with acid. An engraving is made by cutting lines into a plate with a special tool. Here the printmaker has used both methods on a single piece of metal. The lines were then filled with ink and printed onto paper to produce the image.

Subject Depicted
Queen Mary's funeral took place on the 15 March 1695, several months after her death on 28 December. A grand and solemn ceremony was arranged despite her wishes to the contrary. It was an occasion for the nation to express its grief at the loss of a much-loved monarch, but also an opportunity for Mary's husband, William, to reinforce his position as the rightful monarch. This was important to counter any claim to the throne by the exiled Roman Catholic ruler, James II.

Unlike other prints of funeral processions of the period, this one places the event in context. The artist shows the funeral cortège snaking away from the spectator towards the entrance of Westminster Abbey, London, where the Queen was to be buried. He gives a sense of the crowds of citizens that witnessed the event and indicates the season by the leafless tress in the top right-hand corner.

Ownership & Use
The spectacle of a royal figure being carried to the grave has always had great power. Printmakers and publishers responded rapidly to the demand for prints of such a solemn event. This example was intended for a Dutch market. Mary had spent her early adulthood at the Dutch court in The Hague. She had been a popular figure and the citizens of Holland would have been keen to obtain images of her funeral.
Collection
Accession number
E.2266-1889

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Record createdMarch 27, 2003
Record URL
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