Elizabeth in Portraiture

Elizabeth wanted her portraits to show purity, chastity, her love of peace, her success as a ruler at home and her conquest of the new world.

The combination of the renascence and Elizabeths popularity meant that her portraits became full of symbolism.

The cult of Elizabeth is an idea that we set in stone that we should celebrate this idea of her as the virgin queen, she is the sacred one and the deliverer of people.

She was very aware of what her image was and it was all part of the propaganda at the time.

What was she like?

·      Height 5’4”

·      Skin was blemished by small pox & burned by lead oxide makeup.

·      Teeth blackened by decay

·      Halitosis

·      Alopecia

The queens popularity grew during this time and there was an increasing request for portraits but she destroyed those that didn’t fit her propaganda. The style of the queens portraits also changed throughout the years due to painting techniques changing and it is the renascence which brought ink more life like and elaborate paintings.

Elizabeth recognised the value of public relations and was no stranger to self marketing.

Most portraits are instantly recognisable. She tends to wear a crown but also has other symbols of power.

Noble men and noble women wore symbols of loyalty. In the early years her portraits were simple but over the years they become more rich and complicated.

Portraits of Elizabeth I (no date). Marilee Mongello. Available at: http://www.marileecody.com/eliz1-images.html (Accessed: 27 October 2014).

Coronation Portrait;

Holding the orb and sceptre

Hair down as she is unmarried

Contrast of pale skin and hair.

Queen Elizabeth I (no date). Available at: http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw02077/Queen-Elizabeth-I?LinkID=mp01452 (Accessed: 27 October 2014).

Armada Portrait;

The gaze away indicates power. Very controlling.

There is a crown to show she is queen

The ships on the left are the English those on the right are the Spanish ships being destroyed.

Pearls show the high status of purity.

Imperial ambitions- her hand is on south America, the source of Spain's gold.

History at a Glance (no date). Posts about Princes in the Tower on History at a Glance. Available at: https://examininghistory.wordpress.com/tag/princes-in-the-tower/ (Accessed: 27 October 2014).

Tudor rose;

The Tudor Rose was used to refer to the Tudor dynasty and emphasis her right to the throne.

It also had religious connotations as a symbol of the Virgin Mary.

Mari Lee Cody. 2008. Elizabeth Rainbow 1. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.marileecody.com/gloriana/elizabethrainbow1.jpg. [Accessed 27 October 14].

The Rainbow portrait-1600.

The gown is embroidered with English wild flowers, she is posed as Astrea; The virginal heroine in English literature. Her gown is embroidered with eyes and ears to symbolise she sees everything. A sense of omniscience.

The pearls symbolise her virginity and purity.

Above her gown there is a crescent shaped jewel to allude to Cynthia the goddess of the moon.

The jewelled serpent on her arm holds a heart shaped ruby in its mouth symbolises wisdom and in turn the ruby signifies the queens heart; Wisdom has captured the queens heart.

There is celestial sphere above her head connoting her passion controlled by wisdom

In her right hand she holds a rainbow which symbolises peace and the inscription “no rainbow without sun” tells the people that she brings peace.

She is late 60’s in the picture and she is seen as being ageless and immortal.

.Available at: http://www.marileecody.com/eliz1-images.html (Accessed: 27 October 2014).

The Pelican Portrait 1575 Nicholas Hilliard

In this painting there are a number of symbols such as pearls, the Tudor Rose and the pelican pendant pinned to her chest.

The pelican symbolises love. That is because it has a whole host of associations that Elizabeth adopted herself. It is a myth that Mother pelicans will pluck their own breast to feed their children and often die in the process; an undying love.

The Tudor period follows the medieval period the pelican was seen as a symbol of Christs sacrifice and so it was easy for Elizabeth to adopt this symbolism to represent herself as the mother of her people.

She is dressed in a colour that made up most of her wardrobe (black white red and gold) these colours send messages of wealth and status. They are the most expensive to produce.

She also wore bright colours that were dyed with cochineal. When she does choose to wear red its doing a two finger salute to Spain, they had the power over cochineal and its use was restricted and limited to the wealthy.

Blackwork is embroidery of black thread on white cloth used to create a lace like effect, popular when lace was difficult to obtain. This is visible in this portrait and the blackwork is constructed of lots of Tudor roses.

She has cherries tucked in her right ear which symbolise her virginity; the cherry remains intact.

 

Queen Elizabeth I (no date b) Hilliard, N. National Portrait Gallery. Available at: http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw02074/Queen-Elizabeth-I?LinkID=mp01452 (Accessed: 27 October 2014).

The phoenix portrait, 1572, Nicholas Hilliard.

A lot of the symbolism alludes to her unmarried status. The jewel at her breast a phoenix symbolising rebirth and chastity alludes to her virginity and that she would regenerate the dynasty; she would marry and have children. Showed other monarchs that she was available.

Tudor rose is shown in this portrait too.

Queen Elizabeth I, The Ermine Portrait', Nicholas Hilliard, 1585, from the Elizabeth I and her People exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery

The Ermine Portrait, 1585, Nicholas Hilliard.

The ermine was a symbol of royalty and in this portrait it wears a little gold crown which symbolises majesty and purity.

She is wearing a bejewelled black gown on a black portrait one of her favourite colours.

She wears the three brothers jewel

She has the sword of state that rest next to her to symbolise justice and she holds and olive branch to symbolise peace.

Available at: http://www.shafe.co.uk/crystal/images/lshafe/Metsys_Elizabeth_I_The_Sieve_Portrait_c1583.jpg (Accessed: 27 October 2014).

The Sieve Portrait.

The sieve is a symbol of virginity and purity reaching back to ancient roman, where the vestal virgin, Tuccia, reputedly proved her purity by having water unsplit through a sieve.

It was to glorify Elizabeth's virginity and associate England with the roman empire.

It was all about making her seem available and unmarried, pure to her state.

History Of The Monarchy (no date) Royal.gov. Available at: http://www.royal.gov.uk/historyofthemonarchy/kingsandqueensofengland/thetudors/elizabethi.aspx (Accessed: 27 October 2014).

 The book

This image was included in the portrait of Elizabeth as a 14 year old and the portrait was comminsioned by Edward as a gift. The image of her finger marks the pages of the small book, this demonstrates her pious Protestantism which must have pleased her brother.

Other Symbols

 Gloves represent elegance, olive branches represent peace, crowns, orbs and septres signify monarchy.

Dogs represent faithfulness, the breed associated with the Tudors was the greyhound.

Modern days status symbols; 

small dogs, designer accessories, over sexualisation, big booty, gold is more valuable than rocks, engagement rings.

The setting which someone chooses to be pictured and the setting within which someone is portraited shows more their ambitions and wants.