That Naughty Queen Victoria

A new exhibit of paintings commissioned or purchased by Queen Victoria shows that she was a sensualist who liked to see lots of naked flesh. William Frost's The Disarming of Cupid, above, is one of three nudie works she gave as birthday presents to her husband. The curator:

The image of the buttoned up, reclusive widow clad in black has obscured the first half of Queen Victoria's story – that of a very natural, uninhibited young woman attracted to the sensuous and the physical who not only didn't mind nudity, but actually enjoyed it.

Many of the works were pretty bold choices for a queen. Most other Victorian wives would have felt apprehensive at the idea of their husband surrounded by nude, bathing beauties on the walls at home, but it just shows how confident she was.

Prince Albert had a taste for purity, so she may well have been attempting to loosen him up a little.