Carl Ruland (1834–1907)

Carl Ruland became Prince Albert’s librarian in January 1860, succeeding Ernest Becker, and continued Becker’s work on the Raphael Collection, corresponding with private owners and institutions to gather photographs of works in their collections. He returned to Germany in 1863 and went on to become, first, Director of the art collections at the Ducal Museum in Weimar, and then Director of the Goethe National Museum in the same city. Ruland retained a strong connection with the Raphael Collection after his departure from royal service. He visited Windsor on several occasions in the 1860s and ‘70s in order to finish the physical arrangement of the prints and photographs and corresponded frequently with several of Queen Victoria’s courtiers about the catalogue of the collection that he authored at the Queen’s command (privately published in 1876). Ruland also accompanied Princess Alice, then Princess Louis of Hesse, to Italy in 1873 as her guide.