The ''Armada Portrait'' of

Elizabeth I of England Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...

is the name of any of three surviving versions of an

allegorical As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory throughou ...

panel painting A panel painting is a painting made on a flat panel of wood, either a single piece or a number of pieces joined together. Until canvas became the more popular support medium in the 16th century, panel painting was the normal method, when not pain ...

depicting the Tudor queen surrounded by

symbol A symbol is a mark, Sign (semiotics), sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, physical object, object, or wikt:relationship, relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by cr ...

s of royal majesty against a backdrop representing the defeat of the

Spanish Armada The Spanish Armada (often known as Invincible Armada, or the Enterprise of England, ) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by Alonso de Guzmán, Duke of Medina Sidonia, an aristocrat without previous naval ...

in 1588.

Iconography

The combination of a life-sized portrait of Elizabeth I with a landscape format is "quite unprecedented in her portraiture",Strong 1987, ''Gloriana'', p. 130–133 although allegorical portraits in this format, such as the ''Family of Henry VIII: An Allegory of the Tudor Succession'', a 1572 portrait attributed to

Lucas de Heere Lucas de Heere or Lucas d'Heere (Ghent, 1534 – possibly Paris, 29 August 1584) was a County of Flanders, Flemish Portrait painting, painter, Watercolor painting, watercolorist, print artist, biographer, playwright, poet and writer.

pre-date the ''Armada Portrait''. English art in this period was isolated from trends in

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Italy, and owed more to Flemish

manuscript illumination An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared document where the text is decorated with flourishes such as borders and miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Church for prayers and liturgical books such as psalters and ...

and

heraldic Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known branc ...

representation than to

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

ideas of unity in time and space in art. The 'Armada Portrait' is no exception: the chair to the right is viewed from two different angles, as are the tables on the left, and the background shows two different stages in the defeat of the Armada. In the background view on the left, English

fireship A fire ship or fireship is a large wooden vessel set on fire to be used against enemy ships during a ramming attack or similar maneuver. Fireships were used to great effect against wooden ships throughout naval military history up until the adv ...

s drift towards the Spanish fleet, and on the right the Spanish ships are driven onto a rocky coast amid stormy seas by the " Protestant Wind". On a secondary level, these images show Elizabeth turning her back on storm and darkness while sunlight shines where she gazes,

iconography Iconography, as a branch of art history, studies the identification, description and interpretation of the content of images: the subjects depicted, the particular compositions and details used to do so, and other elements that are distinct fro ...

that would be repeated in

Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger Marcus Gheeraerts (also written as Gerards or Geerards; 1561/62 – 19 January 1636) was a Flemish artist working at the Tudor court, described as "the most important artist of quality to work in England in large-scale between Eworth and van ...

's 1592 "Ditchley" portrait of the queen. Columnas Plus Ultra

The queen's hand rests on a globe below a crown (probably not the state crown), "her fingers covering the Americas, indicating England's ommand of the seasand reams of establishing coloniesin the

New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

".Hearn, ''Dynasties'', p. 88Andrew Belsey and Catherine Belsey, "Icons of Divinity: Portraits of Elizabeth I" in Gent and Llewellyen, ''Renaissance Bodies'', p. 11–35 The queen is flanked by two columns behind, probably a reference to the famous

impresa Impresa Sociedade Gestora de Participações Sociais SA () is a Portuguese Mass media, media Conglomerate (company), conglomerate, headquartered in Paço de Arcos, in Oeiras Municipality, Portugal, Oeiras municipality. It is the owner of SIC (P ...

Charles V Charles V may refer to: Kings and Emperors * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise Others * Charles V, Duke ...

, Philip II's father, which represented the

Pillars of Hercules The Pillars of Hercules are the promontory, promontories that flank the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar. The northern Pillar, Calpe Mons, is the Rock of Gibraltar. A corresponding North African peak not being predominant, the identity of ...

. The composition was painted following the greatest threats to Elizabeth's power, therefore this portrait aimed to reinforce her position as a capable female monarch.

Art historians The history of art focuses on objects made by humans for any number of spiritual, narrative, philosophical, symbolic, conceptual, documentary, decorative, and even functional and other purposes, but with a primary emphasis on its aesthetics ...

Andrew Belsey and Catherine Belsey have pointed out the striking

geometry Geometry (; ) is a branch of mathematics concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. Geometry is, along with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. A mathematician w ...

of the painting, with the repeating patterns of circles and arches described by the crown, the globe, and the sleeves,

ruff Ruff may refer to: Places *Ruff, Virginia, United States, an unincorporated community *Ruff, Washington, United States, an unincorporated community Other uses *Ruff (bird) (''Calidris pugnax'' or ''Philomachus pugnax''), a bird in the wader famil ...

, and gown worn by the queen. Cultural historian, Isabel Davis, has noted that the portrait is composed using the structure provided by a Portolan map or sea chart: a ring of wind roses or compasses linked by a rhumbline network. Belsey and Belsey also contrast the figure of the Virgin Queen wearing the large pearl symbolizing

chastity Chastity, also known as purity, is a virtue related to temperance. Someone who is ''chaste'' refrains from sexual activity that is considered immoral or from any sexual activity, according to their state of life. In some contexts, for exampl ...

suspended from her

bodice A bodice () is an article of clothing traditionally for women and girls, covering the torso from the neck to the waist. The term typically refers to a specific type of upper garment common in Europe during the 16th to the 18th century, or to the ...

in front of her groin, it is also representative of Cynthia (Artemis), Greek Goddess of the moon and Virgin. They are further contrasted to the

mermaid In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are ...

carved on the chair of state, which they claim either represent female wiles luring sailors to their doom, or that the mermaid symbolises the executed Queen Mary. Davis, in contrast, argues that the mermaid contributes to the cartographic design of the portrait. Elizabeth is facing away from the mermaid, possibly indicating that their conspiracies and Mary's execution have been put behind by Elizabeth. The crown also symbolises the

English monarchy English usually refers to: * English language * English people The English people are an ethnic group and nation native to England, who speak the English language in England, English language, a West Germanic languages, West Germanic la ...

. The chains of pearls in the portrait may represent the pearls which Elizabeth had bought from the collection of Mary, Queen of Scots in 1568, or further a reference to her mother Anne Boleyn.

Versions

There are three surviving versions of the portrait, in addition to several derivative portraits: * The version at

Woburn Abbey Woburn Abbey (), occupying the east of the village of Woburn, Bedfordshire, England, is a country house, the family seat of the Duke of Bedford. Although it is still a family home to the current duke, it is open on specified days to visitors, ...

* The version in the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London that houses a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. When it opened in 1856, it was arguably the first national public gallery in the world th ...

, which has been cut down at both sides leaving just a portrait of the queen. * The version owned by the Tyrwhitt-Drake family, which may have been commissioned by Sir

Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English Exploration, explorer and privateer best known for making the Francis Drake's circumnavigation, second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580 (bein ...

, was first recorded at Shardeloes in

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

in 1775. Scholars agree that this version is by a different hand, noting distinctive techniques and approaches to the modelling of the queen's features. This version was heavily overpainted in the later 17th century, which complicates attribution and may account for several differences in details of the costume.Arnold, ''Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd'', p. 34–36 The Drake version was purchased for the nation for £10.3 million in July 2016 following an Art Fund appeal. The work is hung in the national collection of

Royal Museums Greenwich Royal Museums Greenwich is an organisation comprising four museums in Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater L ...

(RMG), in the

Queen's House Queen's House is a former royal residence in the London borough of Greenwich, which presently serves as a public art gallery. It was built between 1616 and 1635 on the grounds of the now demolished Greenwich Palace, a few miles downriver fro ...

, a 17th-century royal residence built on the site of the original Greenwich Palace, Elizabeth I's birthplace. The first two portraits were formerly attributed to Elizabeth's Serjeant Painter

George Gower George Gower (c. 1540–1596) was an English portrait painter who became Serjeant Painter to Elizabeth I of England, Queen Elizabeth I in 1581. Biography Very little is known about his early life except that he was a grandson of Sir John Go ...

, but curators at the National Portrait Gallery now believe that all three versions were created in separate workshops, and assign the attributions to "an unknown English artist". Image:Queen Elizabeth I by George Gower.jpg, National Portrait Gallery version Image:Armada Portrait Elizabeth I Queens House.jpg, The "Drake" version, now at Queen's House, Royal Museums Greenwich

Notes

References

* Arnold, Janet: ''Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd'', W S Maney and Son Ltd, Leeds 1988. *Cooper, Tarnya; Bolland, Charlotte (2014). The Real Tudors : kings and queens rediscovered. London: National Portrait Gallery. pp. 151–154. . *Davis, Isabel, Conceiving Histories: Trying for Pregnancy, Past and Present, MIT Press, 2025. *Gent, Lucy, and Nigel Llewellyn, eds: ''Renaissance Bodies: The Human Figure in English Culture c. 1540–1660''Reaktion Books, 1990, *Hearn, Karen, ed. ''Dynasties: Painting in Tudor and Jacobean England 1530–1630''. New York: Rizzoli, 1995. * Strong, Roy: ''Gloriana: The Portraits of Queen Elizabeth I'', Thames and Hudson, 1987, (Strong 1987)

External links

* Discussion by

Janina Ramirez Janina Sara Maria Ramirez (; ' Maleczek; born 7 July 1980), sometimes credited as Nina Ramirez, is a British art historian, cultural historian, and TV presenter. She specialises in interpreting symbols and examining works of art within their h ...

Art Detective Podcast, 14 December 2016
{{Elizabeth I 1588 paintings Renaissance paintings 16th-century portraits Portraits of Elizabeth I of England

Iconography

Versions

See also

Notes

References

External links