This website presents our knowledge and research on this important aspect of the Royal Collection. As of April 2026 it will not be regularly updated and new research on this topic will sit within the main website.

Landscape, Nature and Architecture

Technological improvements enabled Prince Albert to collect photographs of places that were significant to him

AIMÉ CIVIALE (1821-93)

Refuge d'hiver a Barberine

1859-68

Poitevin process | 26.2 x 34.9 cm (image) | RCIN 2370838

Photograph of a little mountain shelter near Barberine in the Franco-Swiss border. The hut stands in front of fir trees on a terrace jutting out from the mountainside. Snow-capped mountains rise in the background.

  • Creator(s)

    Aimé Civiale (1821-93) (artist)

  • 26.2 x 34.9 cm (image)

  • Acquired by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert

  • Subject(s)
    • Arts, Recreation, Entertainment & Sport
      • Architecture
        • Domestic architecture
          • Huts
    • Natural Sciences & Mathematics
      • Botany
        • Systematic botany
          • Trees
            • Firs
    • Geography
      • Physiography
        • Mountains
    Object type(s)
      • visual works
        • albums
          • photograph albums