![Edmund Blair Leighton - In Times of Peril [1897]](http://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7319/28381257412_3a581a38a2_b.jpg)
In Time of Peril appeared at the Royal Academy exhibition of 1897, the year that marked the triumphant sixtieth anniversary of Queen Victoria's reign. It depicts two young princes spirited away from danger and being comforted by their glamorous mother. The royal refugees and their precious cargo arrive at a protective monastery - safe from harm, if not from public scrutiny. It was a canny choice of subject, for dynastic anxieties inevitably lurk in the wake of ageing monarchs. Following its acquisition by the Mackelvie Trust, In Time of Peril quickly became one of the most popular pictures in the Gallery, copied by generations of Auckland's art students.
[Auckland Art Gallery, New Zealand - Oil on canvas, 124.5 x 168.9 cm]