She is back. Queen Liliʻuokalani's gold-leafed portrait has returned home to ʻIolani Palace after being featured at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.
The oil painting of Hawaiʻi’s last reigning monarch was on view outside of Hawaiʻi for the first time. It left the palace in November 2022.
State archivist Adam Jansen was awake early Wednesday morning to help install the portrait in the Blue Room at ʻIolani Palace.
"We were very fortunate in this partnership with the National Portrait Gallery. They desperately wanted the (William F.) Cogswell portrait of Her Majesty Queen Liliʻuokalani to be the premier piece of the collection," Jansen said.
"It was put in a place of prominence as you walked in the door. It was the thing that drew everybody's eye. So they really pulled out all the stops to be able to facilitate this loan."
The portrait arrived in Hawaiʻi this week after a long stint in an exhibit entitled “1898: U.S. Imperial Visions and Revisions," which marked 125 years since the United States first acquired overseas territory through warfare and congressional action.
In the portrait, Liliʻuokalani stands next to the Hawaiian throne, with adornments that speak to her royalty.
"When Queen Liliʻuokalani purchased the portrait in the middle of her brief reign, she likely viewed it as a means to assert her right to the throne," the Smithsonian Magazine wrote.
Museum visitors were invited to contemplate how the political struggles in places like the Philippines, Guam and Hawaiʻi differed and, yet, were the same.
"Everybody came away moved," Jansen said. "Keep in mind, it's 10 feet tall. It's absolutely enormous in scope, larger than life. And the way they had it hung and lit, it was absolutely exquisitely beautiful."
Back in Honolulu, state sheriffs, which included several women officers, and members of the royal societies welcomed the portrait — which returned with some upgrades.
The Smithsonian Institution restored the canvas and the frame as part of the loan agreement. Jansen said the portrait looks as good as it did the day it was painted in the 1890s.
"If the people of Hawaiʻi were going to be without her portrait for 10 months, there had to be something that they would get in return for her absence," Jansen said.
"Having that frame regilded and strengthened was really important to ensuring the long-term viability of that frame, and also making sure that the portrait is presented in its finest light."
How did we get here? Read and listen to The Conversation's past stories about the portrait's journey:
This story aired on The Conversation on March 20, 2024. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1. Sophia McCullough adapted this story for the web.
