I really enjoyed my recent research trip to London's National portrait gallery. I was able to see the famous portraits painted of Queen Elizabeth in person and get a close look at the detailing of symbolism in her portraiture. What I found most interesting whilst viewing the art in the Elizabethan section of the gallery was that every portrait I saw screamed, vanity and superiority and the people in these portraits always looked cool. The way that the artist had decided to present them in these portraits, always made them appear bigger and better then you no matter who they were.
Portrait One.
What I liked about this portrait
- The portrait celebrates and symbolises pregnancy and new family connections
-The children in this portrait pose in front of her mother Anne Pope, in very adult clothing, hairstyles and make-up
-Anne Pope's daughter; Jane Wentworth, interestingly appears to have the same bright red hair and pale skin worn also by her mother and the reigning Queen at the time;Queen Elizabeth
- I feel like the feature of her children with her in the portrait and that she is pregnant, symbolises youth as well fertility because she is able to bare so many children, and kings usually seemed young women to marry because of this, so that they could a next heir to the thrown
- The clothing Anne Pope wears in this portrait, appears to be expensive as her gown seems to be made out of luxurious material only the upper class could afford
- When is see the portrait it makes me view these people as the 'perfect Elizabethan family', they are rich, have the perfect number of kids and all look well groomed
The inscriptions have been said that "The plain symbolic theme of this portrait is forgiveness. The three fragmentary Latin inscriptions can be interpreted as: (left) 'She gives and does not expect'; (right) 'She can but does not take revenge', and (bottom right) 'In giving back she increases (?)'. The sonnet (right), perhaps composed by Lee, though fragmentary, can mostly be reconstructed. Its subject is the sun, symbol of the monarch.
As reported by; The National Portrait Gallery(1592) Available from URL:http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw02079/Queen-Elizabeth-I-The-Ditchley-portrait?LinkID=mp01452&search=sas&sText=queen+elizabeth&role=sit&rNo=10 .
- The clothing Anne Pope wears in this portrait, appears to be expensive as her gown seems to be made out of luxurious material only the upper class could afford
- When is see the portrait it makes me view these people as the 'perfect Elizabethan family', they are rich, have the perfect number of kids and all look well groomed
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Portrait Two.
What I liked about this portrait
- I love how big and extravagant Queen Elizabeth's gown is in this portrait, the accessories and jewellery she wears with her gown, symbolise her wealth and her power with just the size of her gown alone
-This portrait was commissioned for Sir Henry Lee, who from 1559-90 was Queen Elizabeth's champion
-Queen Elizabeth's feet stand on Oxfordshire on the globe featured in portrait, this is symbolic as Sir Henry Lee lived near Oxford
-There are inscriptions on this portrait painting also, I used the National Portrait Gallery website to further research these inscriptions as I did not find much information in the gallery;
The inscriptions have been said that "The plain symbolic theme of this portrait is forgiveness. The three fragmentary Latin inscriptions can be interpreted as: (left) 'She gives and does not expect'; (right) 'She can but does not take revenge', and (bottom right) 'In giving back she increases (?)'. The sonnet (right), perhaps composed by Lee, though fragmentary, can mostly be reconstructed. Its subject is the sun, symbol of the monarch.
As reported by; The National Portrait Gallery(1592) Available from URL:http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw02079/Queen-Elizabeth-I-The-Ditchley-portrait?LinkID=mp01452&search=sas&sText=queen+elizabeth&role=sit&rNo=10 .
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| Queen Elizabeth I ('The Ditchley Portrait')(1592) The National Portrait Gallery, London.by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger |
Portrait Three.
What I like about this image
- I find the rich strawberry blonde colour of Queen Elizabeth's hair in this portrait really striking, especially how it blends in with her luxurious robe and gown she's wearing
-The composition of her pose and how she appears in the portrait makes Queen Elizabeth look really powerful
-This particular portrait is referred to as 'The Coronation Portrait'
-In this portrait Queen Elizabeth is crowned and wears a gold robe cloth around her which she previously wore at her coronation on 15th January 1559
-In this portrait Queen Elizabeth holds two symbolic objects; a orb which in royal terms the is described as a 'golden globe surmounted by a cross, forming part of the regalia of a monarch'. And the other symbolic object is a sceptre, which is a symbolic wand held in the hand of royalty or a ruling monarch
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| Queen Elizabeth I National Portrait Gallery,London. By Unknown Artist (1600) |
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