iCloud empty

Hi all,

I have a question about recorvering my photos from a device that is not working anymore, via my iCloud. The situation:

A few days ago my iPhone X just shut down. I was chatting my a colleague via Whatsapp and I had a black screen. I tried everything, all the tips on the internet (yes I know, volume button up, volume button down etc etc.) but nothing is working to get it back on.

My main concern are my photos. I would be really sad if I lost them all. But, of course I have a account with iCloud. I do know that I received an e-mail that my iCloud was full, so maybe not all my photos have a back-up. But well, that my own fault.

I wanted to enter my iCloud account via my Windows laptop. I needed to verify my account via my iPhone X or my phone number. So.. I could not enter my account. Today I was able to borrow an iPhone for a second, so I put in the SIM card in that phone and was able to send to verify code to that phone. This way, i could enter my iCloud via my laptop. I was so happy!

But now: my iCloud is empty... So, does anybody have any tips to find out if there was ever anything backed up?

Thank you in advance!

Note: due to the corona virus, we are in a total lockdown. (And I don't think we have a Apple Support shop right here - Curaçao)