A photograph of a white plaster bas relief. Two boys in medieval costume are seated on a bed, the taller has one hand pressed to his heart and the other arm around the smaller boy’s shoulders. The smaller boy has his hand on a whippet’s back; the dog rests his forepaws on the boy’s lap. The background hints at the children’s piety: a Bible rests on a table to the right, and a crucifix hangs on the back wall. On the right, an arched door with heavy lock and barred window indicates their captivity. The composition is contained within an arched frame made up of pillars on both sides with a royal coat of arms at the top. Roses adorn the top corners in reference to the Wars of the Roses.
Image: A photograph of a white plaster bas relief. Two boys in medieval costume are seated on a bed, the taller has one hand pressed to his heart and the other arm around the smaller boy’s shoulders. The smaller boy has his hand on a whippet’s back; the dog rests his forepaws on the boy’s lap. The background hints at the children’s piety: a Bible rests on a table to the right, and a crucifix hangs on the back wall. On the right, an arched door with heavy lock and barred window indicates their captivity. The composition is contained within an arched frame made up of pillars on both sides with a royal coat of arms at the top. Roses adorn the top corners in reference to the Wars of the Roses.

Victoria, Princess Royal, took up sculpture after her marriage and move to Berlin. A lover of Shakespeare, she chose the Princes in the Tower as one of her first subjects, modelling a relief which she packaged and sent home to Windsor.

Victoria's choice of this scene reflected her interest in both Shakespeare and English history, as well as a broader Victorian fascination for images of childish innocence. Victoria's father Prince Albert wrote to her: ‘The Children in the Tower must certainly furnish a good Composition for sculpture; you will probably have introduced the dog, to indicate the approach of the murderers.’

In fact, the dog, a symbol of loyalty, was drawn from the painting on the same subject by Paul Delaroche. Rather than imitating Delaroche's Cavalier spaniel, Victoria chose a whippet - possibly in reference to the coat of arms of Elizabeth Woodville, the princes' mother.

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