Sydney Morning Herald 10 June 2012
Read more: Artist jubilant when the Queen donned robes and diamonds
Artist jubilant when the Queen donned robes and diamonds
"she was shimmering"
excerpts
When the Australian painter Ralph Heimans walked through the gates of Buckingham Palace, he was armed with just one guarantee: 60 minutes with the Queen to capture her diamond jubilee portrait. ''My concept, the context I wanted to place her in for this portrait, is unusual because it is outside the palace. We'd had a hint, an email with an informal OK 10 days before, so I had to race around and use that time to visit sites and find exactly the right setting."
The setting chosen for the portrait to celebrate the Queen's 60 years on the throne is top secret: all will be unveiled to the public in the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra in October. What is known is that his canvas measures 3.2 x 2.5 metres. He hinted that the portrait would explore the dynamic between the Queen's public role and "the very human and personal part". The setting was of special significance to her diamond jubilee, he said.
"We had also asked if the Queen could wear specific robes but we were told that due to her commitments and the time required, this might not be possible,'' he said. ''But when she arrived it was wonderful; she had gone to the effort, there were two pages carrying the robes and she was wearing Queen Victoria's diamonds. I was not expecting to be so stunned, she was shimmering … The theatre of the entry was unforgettable.
"We stood at one end of the corridor and it took her five minutes to walk down, the light was shining beautifully through the windows and every time she took a step the light shone off the diamonds … The anticipation as she came closer and closer, it was quite a dramatic entrance and nothing like it have I ever seen."
.