The Royal Academy Exhibition of 1869 was the hundred and first annual Summer Exhibition of the British Royal Academy of Arts. It took place between at Burlington House in London between 3 May and 31 July 1869 during the Victorian era and was considered a success, attracting more than three hundred thousand visitors.
This was the first year the exhibition was held at Burlington House in Piccadilly, following the move from the academy's former home at the National Gallery if was also celebrated as the centenary of the inaugural Royal Academy Exhibition of 1769. It was opened by Queen Victoria as was traditional. The new rooms designed by architect Sydney Smirke were widely praised.
Amongst the works on display were several from artists associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, including John Everett Millais. His portrait of Nina, the daughter of Frederick Lehmann, attracted wide praise. Francis Grant, who had been elected President of the Royal Academy three years earlier, submitted portraits of High Society figures. Edwin Landseer, a specialist in animal paintings, sent in several works including The Swannery Invaded by Sea Eagles produced towards the end of his career.
The French artist Rosa Bonheur featured two paintings of sheep in Scotland and the Pyrenees respectively while Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot submitted a landscape. Daniel Maclise displayed King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid, his penultimate work sent in to the academy.
<Gallery Mode="packed" Heights="200"> File:Nell Gwynn (Powell Frith).png|Nell Gwynn by William Powell Frith File:Millais - Vanessa, 1868.jpg|Vanessa by John Everett Millais File:William Holman Hunt - The Birthday.jpg|The Birthday by William Holman Hunt File:The Swannery Invaded by Sea Eagles.png|The Swannery Invaded by Sea Eagles by Edwin Landseer File:King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid by Daniel Maclise.tif|King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid by Daniel Maclise File:Richard ansdell ra an unwelcome visitor d6462326095139).jpg|An Unwelcome Visitor by Richard Ansdell File:1869 Frederic Leighton - Electra at the Tomb of Agamemnon.jpg|Electra at the Tomb of Agamemnon by Frederic Leighton File:Frederic Leighton (1830-1896) - Saint Jerome - 03-1343 - Royal Academy of Arts.jpg|Saint Jerome by Frederic Leighton File:Lord Frederick Leighton FLL006.jpg|Icarus and Daedalus by Frederic Leighton File:Frederic Leighton (1830-1896) - Helios and Rhodes - N03015 - National Gallery.jpg|Helios and Rhodes by Frederic Leighton File:James Clarke Hook (1819-1907) - Caught by the Tide - 681 - Guildhall Art Gallery.jpg|Caught by the Tide by James Clarke Hook File:Charles West Cope - Home Dreams - Google Art Project.jpg|Home Dreams by Charles West Cope File:General Garibaldi's Residence at Caprera MET DT10724.jpg|Garibaldi's Residence at Caprera by Frederick Richard Lee File:Frederick Richard Lee (1798-1879) - Morning in the Meadows - 03-1205 - Royal Academy of Arts.jpg|Morning in the Meadows by Frederick Richard Lee File:The Disgrace of Cardinal Wolsey.jpg|The Disgrace of Cardinal Wolsey by John Pettie File:William Frederick Yeames (1835-1918) - The Fugitive Jacobite - RBWM, 78 - Windsor Guildhall.jpg|The Fugitive Jacobite by William Frederick Yeames File:Luther's First Study of the Bible.png|Luther's First Study of the Bible by Edward Matthew Ward File:George Jones (1786-1869) - Lucknow, Evening. The Sufferers Besieged at Lucknow, Rescued by General Lord Clyde, November - N00800 - National Gallery.jpg|The Sufferers Besieged at Lucknow by George Jones File:George Jones (1786-1869) - Cawnpore, Passage of the Ganges - 643 - Glasgow Museums Resource Centre.jpg|Cawnpore, Passage of the Ganges by George Jones File:Charles Edward Johnson (1832-1913) - The Last of the Spanish Armada - VIS.1422 - Sheffield Galleries and Museums Trust.jpg|The Last of the Spanish Armada by Charles Edward Johnson File:Joseph Noel Paton (1821-1901) - Caliban (from 'The Tempest' by William Shakespeare) - 1804 - Glasgow Museums Resource Centre.jpg|Caliban by Joseph Noel Paton File:Lawrence Alma-Tadema 04.jpeg|A Pyrrhic Dance by Lawrence Alma-Tadema File:Coming Out of the Mist.png|Coming Out of the Mist by Richard Ansdell File:Albert Joseph Moore - A Venus.jpg|A Venus by Albert Joseph Moore File:Alexander Johnston (1815-91) - Flora Macdonald - RCIN 406295 - Royal Collection.jpg|Flora Macdonald by Alexander Johnston File:Henry Dawson - London from Greenwich Hill - Google Art Project.jpg|London from Greenwich Hill by Henry Dawson File:Thomas Sidney Cooper (1803-1902) - Milking Time in the Meadows - 03-1316 - Royal Academy of Arts.jpg|Milking Time in the Meadows by Thomas Sidney Cooper File:French Sloop Entering the Harbour of Tréport.png|French Sloop Entering the Harbour of Tréport by Edward William Cooke File:Thomas Jones Barker - The Moss-trooper.jpg|The Moss-Trooper by Thomas Jones Barker File:Alexander Fraser (1827-1899) - A Sheepfold, Haslemere - NG 1481 - National Galleries of Scotland.jpg|A Sheepfold by Alexander Fraser File:John Frederick Lewis (1804-1876) - The Doubtful Coin - 1891P28 - Birmingham Museums Trust.jpg|The Doubtful Coin by John Frederick Lewis File:Thomas Armstrong (1832-1911) - The Hay Field - P.9-1917 - Victoria and Albert Museum.jpg|The Hay Field by Thomas Armstrong File:Paul Falconer Poole (1807-1879) - The Prodigal Son - TWCMS , G2597 - Laing Art Gallery.jpg|The Prodigal Son by Paul Falconer Poole File:'Prodigal's Return' by Sir Edward John Poynter, 1869.jpg|The Prodigal's Return by Edward Poynter File:Liszt, by Healy (1869).jpg|Liszt by George Peter Alexander Healy File:Nina, daughter of Frederick Lehmann, by John Everett Millais.jpg|Portrait of Nina Lehmann by John Everett Millais File:A Man in Armour (Frith).jpeg|A Man in Armour by William Powell Frith File:Sydney Stanhope, 6th Earl of Harrington (Grant).jpg|Earl of Harrington by Francis Grant File:Daniel Macnee (1806-1882) - Sir William Jackson (1805âÂÂ1876), Bt, Member of Parliament for North Derbyshire - BIKGM-4372 - Williamson Art Gallery and Museum.jpg|Sir William Jackson by Daniel Macnee File:Sir Moses Montefiore (1784âÂÂ1885).jpg|Moses Montefiore by Solomon Hart File:Charles Lucy (1814-1873) - The Right Honourable William Ewart Gladstone (1809âÂÂ1898), MP - 360-1872 - Victoria and Albert Museum.jpg|William Gladstone by Charles Lucy File:Thomas Worsley by George Richmond.jpg|Thomas Worsley by George Richmond </gallery>