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There was likely a rather basic castle at Kenilworth in Saxon times but it became prominent after the Norman Conquest. Henry II ‘nationalised’ it in the 1180s and then built it into a major fortress. The castle was made more palatial in the 1360s.
In 1563 Elizabeth I gifted it to Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, her favourite. Elizabeth’s famous visit of 1575 almost ruined Dudley. She was accompanied by several hundred hangers-on and no expense was spared for the 19 days of feasting and entertainments. This was above the cost of preparing sumptuous queenly chambers.
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Source: Scan of original.
Image: P...
Date: 15th November 1950.
Repository: Local Studies at Swindon Central Library.
With the recent floods, the Kenilworth mere, which formed part of the castle defences lake is back.
Kenilworth Castle is located in the town of the same name in Warwickshire, England. Constructed from Norman through to Tudor times, the castle has been described by architectural historian Anthony Emery as "the finest surviving example of a semi-royal palace of the later middle ages, significant for its scale, form and quality of workmanship".[1] Kenilworth has also played an important historical role. The castle was the subject of the six-month long Siege of Kenilworth in 1266, believed to be the longest siege in English history, and formed a base for Lancastrian operations in the Wars of the Roses. Kenilworth was also the scene of the removal of Edward II from the English throne, the French insult to Henry V in 1414 (said by John Strecche to have encouraged the Agincourt campaign), and the Earl of Leicester's lavish reception of Elizabeth I in 1575.
The castle was built over several centuries. Founded in the 1120s around a powerful Norman great tower, the castle was significantly enlarged by King John at the beginning of the 13th century. Huge water defences were created by damming the local streams and the resulting fortifications proved able to withstand assaults by land and water in 1266. John of Gaunt spent lavishly in the late 14th century, turning the medieval castle into a palace fortress designed in the latest perpendicular style. The Earl of Leicester then expanded the castle once again, constructing new Tudor buildings and exploiting the medieval heritage of Kenilworth to produce a fashionable Renaissance palace.
Kenilworth was partly destroyed by Parliamentary forces in 1649 to prevent it being used as a military stronghold. Ruined, only two of its buildings remain habitable today. The castle became a tourist destination from the 18th century onwards, becoming famous in the Victorian period following the publishing of Sir Walter Scott's novel Kenilworth in 1826. English Heritage has managed the castle since 1984. The castle is classed as a Grade I listed building and as a Scheduled Monument, and is open to the public.
St Catherine's Island a small tidal island linked to Tenby by Castle beach at low tide. The island, which is known colloquially as St Catherine's Rock, is the location of a castle named St Catherine's Fort. In Tenby, Pembrokeshire, South Wales.
During the reign of Elizabeth I, the Earl of Pembroke was the owner of St Catherine’s Island. Later, the ownership passed to the Corporation of Tenby, which took possession of several crown lands. It is recorded in 1856 that a few sheep inhabited the island. An observer described them as “half wild sure-footed creatures that run, turn and look, run again and leap from crag to crag almost with the agility of the Alpine Chamois”.
For many centuries, a tiny church was the only building on the Island. The remains of the church were demolished when St Catherine's Fort was constructed in 1867. It served as a zoo for several years.
The island is formed from an outcrop of limestone, on average 25m high, the island is riddled with tidal caves. The island is approximately 200 metres (660 ft) long and 60 metres (200 ft) wide. The area below the high waterline at St Catherine's Island is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The stretch directly in front of the island is known as the Catterns.
In 2014 the island was opened to the public for the first time since 1979 but closed a few years later. The Final Problem, the third and last episode of the fourth series of the BBC TV series Sherlock was filmed on the island, with it standing in as a maximum-security prison.
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End of an era… The Bullied ‘Pacific’ No. 70 ‘Elizabeth II’ in Royal purple livery before it reverts to its BR lined green No. 34027 ‘Taw Valley’. The repainting of this heritage locomotive into purple for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in June delighted thousands of members of the public since its first appearance in May. The loco is seen approaching Hampton Loade station with a service from Kidderminster to Bridgnorth during the Severn Valley Railway’s autumn steam gala on 15th September 2022.
From the film 'The Golden Age'.
Join my Group which celebrates 'Queen Elizabeth I' and all she represents at:
Elizabeth I – The Virgin Queen (1533-1603) - Part of the Regal Twelve series.
http://alexiasinclair.com/the-regal-twelve
The daughter of King Henry VIII, Elizabeth was born into royalty at Greenwich Palace near London. Henry, hoping for a male heir, declared Elizabeth illegitimate, accused her mother of adultery and had her beheaded. Succeeding her sister to the throne, Elizabeth ruled with the knowledge that effective rule depended upon popular support. Advisors urged the queen to marry to strengthen ties with allies and to produce heirs to the throne, yet Elizabeth chose instead to marry England. Strategically aligning herself with the catholic figure the Virgin Mary, Elizabeth secured a shift of power through her embodiment of symbolic virginity. Purified, she was transformed from an illegitimate protestant woman to ‘the virgin queen’. Her purification began with a physical transformation by cutting off her hair, whitening her skin and adorning herself in pearls; symbols of purity and wealth.
Photographer: Alexia Sinclair.
Hair: Illustrated
MUA: Leeby Sotherine & Sahra Bull
Lighting: Softbox left (key) softbox right (fill) 1 stop difference between the two.
Model: Louise Van de Vorst, Chadwick Models
Retoucher/Post: Alexia Sinclair
Rings, Orb, Sceptre, Pearls and Crown & Chess set all composites.
© Alexia Sinclair
1581, 4th April, Deptford, London. Queen Elizabeth I boards a docked Golden Hinde and Knights Francis Drake.
Sir Francis Drake had arrived back at Plymouth, England towards the end of 1580 following three years at sea circumnavigating the globe, amongst other enterprises. For his trouble he is knighted by Elizabeth I.
This film was visually stunning.
Join my Group which celebrates 'Queen Elizabeth I' and all she represents at:
Hatfield House is a sumptuous Jacobean house with gardens, where Queen Elizabeth I grew up.
It is located in a large estate, the Great Park, near the town of Hatfield in Hertfordshire, England.
Hatfield House est une somptueuse demeure jacobéenne agrémentée de jardins, où a grandi la reine Elizabeth I.
Elle est située dans un grand domaine, le Great Park, à proximité de la ville de Hatfield dans le Hertfordshire, en Angleterre.
Queen Elizabeth I visited Robert Dudley at Kenilworth Castle in 1566 and again in 1568. However it was her final stay in 1575, complete with an entourage of several hundred, that has passed into legend.
No expense was spared for the July visit which lasted for 19 days and is reputed to have cost Dudley £1000 per day, an amount that almost bankrupted him. Elizabeth brought an entourage of thirty-one barons and four hundred staff, and twenty horsemen a day arrived at the castle to communicate royal messages.
The splendour of the pageantry eclipsed anything that had ever been seen in England before. Apart from dancing, music, and hunting everyday in Dudley's new deer park, reached by his new gatehouse and bridge over an arm of the mere, Elizabeth was entertained with lavish displays and mock battles on the mere, upon which had been built a mock floating island complete with the legendary Lady of the Lake attended by nymphs, and a firework display that could be heard from twenty miles away. The festivities are said to have been the inspiration for Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and it is possible that an impressionable eleven year old Shakespeare could have been in the huge crowds that gathered around the castle.
A lovely little Elizabethan house/manor, even more interesting as it's only partly restored/refurbished
The remains of Kenilworth Castle in Kenilworth, Warwickshire. It was first constructed in Norman times and updated through to Tudor times, the castle has been described by architectural historian Anthony Emery as "the finest surviving example of a semi-royal palace of the later middle ages, significant for its scale, form and quality of workmanship".
Kenilworth has also played an important historical role. The castle was the subject of the six-month long Siege of Kenilworth in 1266, believed to be the longest siege in English history, and formed a base for Lancastrian operations in the War of the Roses. Kenilworth was also the scene of the removal of Edward II from the English throne, the French insult to Henry V in 1414 (said by John Strecche to have encouraged the Agincourt campaign), and the Earl of Leicester's lavish reception of Elizabeth I in 1575.
The castle was built over several centuries. Founded in the 1120s around a powerful Norman great tower, the castle was significantly enlarged by King John at the beginning of the 13th century. Huge water defences were created by damming the local streams and the resulting fortifications proved able to withstand assaults by land and water in 1266. John of Gaunt spent lavishly in the late 14th century, turning the medieval castle into a palace fortress designed in the latest perpendicular style. The Earl of Leicester then expanded the castle once again, constructing new Tudor buildings and exploiting the medieval heritage of Kenilworth to produce a fashionable Renaissance palace.
Kenilworth was partly destroyed by Parliamentary forces in 1649 to prevent it being used as a military stronghold. Ruined, only two of its buildings remain habitable today. The castle became a tourist destination from the 18th century onwards, becoming famous in the Victorian period following the publishing of Sir Walter Scott's novel Kenilworth in 1826. English Heritage has managed the castle since 1984. The castle is classed as a Grade I listed building and as a Scheduled Monument, and is open to the public.
Metro London newspaper. July 2001:
News feature about the refurbishment and opening of the main Walkway to the Tower of London; lined with reproducytions of a series of 30 paintings that Stephen B Whatley was commissioned to paint for the Tower of London in 2000.
Many of the original paintings can be viewed on this site.
From the archives... artist Stephen B Whatley's work which has since 1982 been the subject of features in newspapers & magazines including The Guardian, Guardian Weekend magazine, HELLO! magazine, MAJESTY magazine, Metro London Newspaper, The New York Times, The Sunday Express, The Daily Telegraph, The London Times newspaper, TIME magazine and USA TODAY.
Odd, but I overlooked posting this shot taken at the Renaissance Pleasure Faire 2009... odd, because it is one of my favorites, depicting Elizabeth I, Queen of the Renaissance Pleasure Faire.
Hardwick Old Hall is one of the most innovative houses of the Tudor period. It was built between 1587 and 1596 by Bess of Hardwick, who was among the richest and best-connected women of the Elizabethan age. A radical modern mansion, it drew on the latest Italian innovations in house design. Although the Old Hall is now a magnificent shell, it remains a glittering reflection of Bess’s status and aspirations.
Viewed from a footpath that skirts the site of the great lake (often called the mere) that was created in the early 13th century by King John, making Kenilworth one of the most formidable fortresses in the kingdom.
St Catherine's Island a small tidal island linked to Tenby by Castle beach at low tide. The island, which is known colloquially as St Catherine's Rock, is the location of a castle named St Catherine's Fort. In Tenby, Pembrokeshire, South Wales.
During the reign of Elizabeth I, the Earl of Pembroke was the owner of St Catherine’s Island. Later, the ownership passed to the Corporation of Tenby, which took possession of several crown lands. It is recorded in 1856 that a few sheep inhabited the island. An observer described them as “half wild sure-footed creatures that run, turn and look, run again and leap from crag to crag almost with the agility of the Alpine Chamois”.
For many centuries, a tiny church was the only building on the Island. The remains of the church were demolished when St Catherine's Fort was constructed in 1867. It served as a zoo for several years.
The island is formed from an outcrop of limestone, on average 25m high, the island is riddled with tidal caves. The island is approximately 200 metres (660 ft) long and 60 metres (200 ft) wide. The area below the high waterline at St Catherine's Island is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The stretch directly in front of the island is known as the Catterns.
In 2014 the island was opened to the public for the first time since 1979 but closed a few years later. The Final Problem, the third and last episode of the fourth series of the BBC TV series Sherlock was filmed on the island, with it standing in as a maximum-security prison.
Information Source:
St Catherine's Island a small tidal island linked to Tenby by Castle beach at low tide. The island, which is known colloquially as St Catherine's Rock, is the location of a castle named St Catherine's Fort. In Tenby, Pembrokeshire, South Wales.
During the reign of Elizabeth I, the Earl of Pembroke was the owner of St Catherine’s Island. Later, the ownership passed to the Corporation of Tenby, which took possession of a number of crown lands. It is recorded in 1856 that a few sheep inhabited the island. An observer described them as “half wild sure footed creatures that run, turn and look, run again and leap from crag to crag almost with the agility of the Alpine Chamois”.
For many centuries a tiny church was the only building on the Island. The remains of the church were demolished when St Catherine's Fort was constructed in 1867. It served as a zoo for a number of years.
The island is formed from an outcrop of limestone, on average 25m high, the island is riddled with tidal caves. The island is approximately 200 metres (660 ft) long and 60 metres (200 ft) wide. The area below the high waterline at St Catherine's Island is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The stretch directly in front of the island is known as the Catterns.
In April 2014 the island was opened to the public for the first time since 1979 but closed a few years later. In 2016 The Final Problem, the third and last episode of the fourth series of the BBC TV series Sherlock was filmed on the island, with it standing in as a maximum security prison.
This is the Elizabethan Garden, recreated in 2009, based on a letter written by Robert Langham on 'The Magnificent Pageants presented before Queen Elizabeth at Kenilworth Castle in 1575'. Fortunately, his description is very detailed, and along with other research made recreation possible. Now over 20 years old, it's looking pretty established.
At the far end is the aviary in Italianate style, which has birds. In front is a marble fountain with two 'Athlants' or Atlas figures holding the world on their shoulders, with water spouts. The water falls into the bowl of the fountain with an eight-sided base with classical scenes of Neptune and other watery characters.
The Cross of St George, the English Flag, fluttering from the mast of the 1973 reconstruction of the Golden Hinde, at Bankside, Southwark, London.
The original Golden Hinde, captained by the privateer Francis Drake, circumnavigated the globe between 1577 and 1580, returning with enough treasure to pay off the national debt. The endeavor earned Drake his knighthood and netted Queen Elizabeth I and other investors a 4700% return on investment! This full size replica was constructed in Appledore, North Devon using traditional methods, and launched in 1973. It has also circumnavigated the globe, and in total has travelled 140,000 mi (230,000 km), equivalent to more than five times around the globe. Since 1996 she has been berthed at St Mary Overie Dock on Cathedral Street, in Bankside, Southwark, London, between Southwark Cathedral and Clink Street.
Shot with a Nikon D40, fitted with a Tamron 70-300mm F4/5.6 DI LD (Nikon AFS) lens and processed in GIMP and Photoscape.
St Catherine's Island a small tidal island linked to Tenby by Castle beach at low tide. The island, which is known colloquially as St Catherine's Rock, is the location of a castle named St Catherine's Fort. In Tenby, Pembrokeshire, South Wales.
During the reign of Elizabeth I, the Earl of Pembroke was the owner of St Catherine’s Island. Later, the ownership passed to the Corporation of Tenby, which took possession of several crown lands. It is recorded in 1856 that a few sheep inhabited the island. An observer described them as “half wild sure-footed creatures that run, turn and look, run again and leap from crag to crag almost with the agility of the Alpine Chamois”.
For many centuries, a tiny church was the only building on the Island. The remains of the church were demolished when St Catherine's Fort was constructed in 1867. It served as a zoo for several years.
The island is formed from an outcrop of limestone, on average 25m high, the island is riddled with tidal caves. The island is approximately 200 metres (660 ft) long and 60 metres (200 ft) wide. The area below the high waterline at St Catherine's Island is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The stretch directly in front of the island is known as the Catterns.
In 2014 the island was opened to the public for the first time since 1979 but closed a few years later. The Final Problem, the third and last episode of the fourth series of the BBC TV series Sherlock was filmed on the island, with it standing in as a maximum-security prison.
Information Source:
This is the Elizabethan Garden, recreated in 2009, based on a letter written by Robert Langham on 'The Magnificent Pageants presented before Queen Elizabeth at Kenilworth Castle in 1575'. Fortunately, his description is very detailed, and along with other research made recreation possible. Now over 20 years old, it's looking pretty established.
This is one of a pair of loggias at either end of the high terrace above the Elizabethan Garden.
Explored 14-08-2018. Highest position #361
Hatfield House
The home of the 7th Marquess and Marchioness of Salisbury and their family.
The Estate has been in the Cecil family for 400 years.
In 1611, Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, and the son of Lord Burghley, the chief minister of Elizabeth I built this fine Jacobean House adjoining the site of the Old Palace of Hatfield.
The deer park surrounding the house, and the older building of the Old Palace, had been owned Henry VIII who had used it as a home for his children, Edward, Elizabeth and Mary. It was while she was living in the Old Palace, in 1558, that Elizabeth learned of her accession to the throne.
The House was splendidly decorated for entertaining the Royal Court, with State Rooms rich in paintings, fine furniture and tapestries.
Superb examples of Jacobean craftsmanship, such as the Grand Staircase with its fine carving, and the rare stained glass window in the private chapel can be seen throughout the house .
www.hatfield-house.co.uk/house-park-garden/history
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatfield_House
The Library
The Library houses an extensive collection of more than 10,000 volumes, dating from the 16th century to the present day.
The room occupies the site of the original Great and Withdrawing Chambers on the west side of the House. In contrast, the rooms on the east side were reserved for the King.
The Library was formed in about 1782, when the dividing wall between the two rooms was removed. The rebuilt chimneypiece incorporates a remarkable mosaic portrait of Robert Cecil which was made in Venice and presented as a gift to him in 1608.
Most of the chairs were made for the room in 1782 and have only recently been recovered in Nigerian goatskin to match the original crimson leather.
The windows overlook the West Garden and the Old Palace. The cast-iron rails of the balcony were supplied from Paris in 1875.
www.hatfield-house.co.uk/house-park-garden/the-house/the-...
Phillip Mould:
This image, and those generated around it, represent one of the most successful sovereign statements of English history. It was painted under the aegis of the Queen’s own official Serjeant painter, George Gower, in the late 1580s, the decade in which she finally defeated the Spanish threat, and assured her place as one of England’s most successful and popular monarchs. The portrait was owned by Edward Drewe MP, one of Elizabeth’s ablest lawyers, and has remained in his family ever since. A family legend suggests that the portrait was the gift of Elizabeth herself. It is in part through such portraits that the mystique and power of Elizabeth I was conveyed in her day. As such it is not merely a portrait of a monarch, but a symbolic statement of national supremacy.
George Gower was Elizabeth’s Serjeant Painter from 1581 until his death in 1596. He was also a ‘gentleman’, being the grandson of Sir John Gower of Stettenham, Yorkshire. This was not only unusual for the time (hitherto, artists were effectively ranked as servants), but reveals the increasing status – and importance – of portraiture in sixteenth century England. There is little documentary evidence on Gower’s career, but there is no doubt that he was one of the leading English artists of his generation. His documented portraits, such as those of Sir Thomas and Lady Kytson (1573 Tate Gallery, London) show that he commanded the patronage of the important and wealthy from an early age, while his self-portrait (1579, the first known example by an English artist on such a scale) gives a clear indication of the bold characterization with which he depicted his subjects.
Gower’s technique and style is distinct, and perfectly suited to the display of power, and conspicuous monarchical grandeur seen here. His use of strong light on the head enables his subject’s face to stand out from the rest of the painting, and was perfectly suited to Elizabeth’s personal wish to avoid any shadows across her face. His reluctance to rely too heavily on drawing is made up by strong flesh tones and subtle shadows, so that the face is rendered with precision and power, aided by bold features such as the well-delineated eyes. The unmistakably warm and dry palette has the happy effect of seeming to depict the Queen in the heavy make-up on which she increasingly came to rely. In this example, the overall effect is one of power rather than beauty – but such is Gower’s skill that our focus is held unmistakably by Elizabeth’s face and strong gaze, despite the rich and bright details of her luxurious costume.
There are elsewhere in the portrait signs of a master’s touch. The subtle but noticeable pink tones in the ruff under Elizabeth’s chin skillfully illustrates the reflection of her face in the white lace, giving the ruff a three-dimensional effect so often lacking in sixteenth century portraiture. The deft modeling (with even the hint of veins) in the long and elegant hands of which Elizabeth was so proud is superb, while the folds and lace on the golden silk of her sleeves is redolent of Holbein’s supreme skill in depicting the rich quality of Royal costumes.
As with all portraits of the Queen, there comes the question of the level of her personal involvement. Of course, she did not sit for the many contemporary portraits of her that survive. Instead, artists would have followed patterns of her face, and then either have imagined her costume, or in some cases have painted the actual garment itself. The patterns would have been widely-circulated, and the Queen’s likeness then either traced onto a panel or drawn freehand. Surviving examples of patterns are rare, but those of Bishop John Fisher and Sir Henry Sidney can be found in the National Portrait Gallery, as can one previously believed to show Elizabeth herself.
Which ‘pattern’, therefore, is the Drewe portrait based on? Sir Roy Strong’s catalogue of 1963, Portraits of Queen Elizabeth I, and subsequent Gloriana, The Portraits of Elizabeth I were vital works in dating and attributing the many (invariably unsigned) portraits. According to Strong’s categorization, the Drewe portrait is based on the ‘Darnley’ face pattern, after a painting dated c. 1575 once owned by the Earls of Darnley, and now in the National Portrait Gallery attributed to Federico Zuccaro, an Italian landscape and religious painter to whom the Queen sat for a drawing in May 1575.[1] The Darnley pattern, Strong points out, does not change until the ‘Armada pattern’ is developed, apparently by Gower, c.1588.
And yet, such categorization carries with it the disappointing notion that all portraits of the Queen between c.1575 and 1588 are derivatives, completed at a distance from Elizabeth herself. This clearly cannot be the case with the Drewe portrait. Though Elizabeth is shown in a similar (if reversed) profile, she is unquestionably a different woman to that in the Darnley portrait: noticeably hierarchical, sepulchral in characterization, perhaps reflecting the progression of her historical achievements. It seems implausible that Gower, the Queen’s Serjeant Painter, would have been content to follow a pattern. Rather, he may instead have felt constrained by the dictates of Royal iconography to follow an approved pose – just as Henry VIII was invariably portrayed full-face.
It is to the Queen herself that we should seek an explanation for the repetitive nature of her portraits. From the note of her conversation with Nicholas Hilliard in c.1572 it seems she resolved that her portraits should have no “shadowe at all”[2]. After all, Royal portraits were primarily symbols of power combined with obsequious flattery, not simple likenesses. Considerations of deference (and by the 1580s her fading beauty) further forbade any attempt at realism. And artist’s had to operate within an accepted Royal iconography that began in the fifteenth century. It is certain, however, that Gower’s official position, and the fact that he was a gentleman by birth, would have guaranteed him access to the Queen. The Drewe portrait, with its delicately observed facial contours and expressive, piercing eyes, is a world away from the pallid and formulaic pattern portraits of Elizabeth, reflecting an authority derived from one who had access to the royal presence.
The provenance of this portrait is of interest, and helps confirm the attribution to George Gower. It has traditionally hung in the Grange, the Devon seat of the Drewe family, since its construction by Edward Drewe in the 1590s. Drewe was one of the ablest lawyers of the 16th Century. After a spell at Oxford (while apparently a teenager) he began to practice law at the Inner Temple in 1560. He was called to the Bar in 1574. From then he rose rapidly through the legal ranks; a Justice of the Peace in 1579, and a Member of Parliament (for Lyme Regis) in 1584. He must then have been well-known to the Queen and Privy Council, for in 1588 he was amongst those sharp legal minds, along with Francis Bacon, called to draft Government legislation. The letter makes flattering reading;
“Her Majestie… hath made especiall choice of you, upon knowledge of your sinceritie and sufficiencie in that behalfe, to proceede to the consideracion what statutes in your opinion were requisite to be either established or perfected for the better…
We bid you very hertely farewll.”[3]
In 1589 he was appointed a Serjeant-at-law, and became more familiar to the key members of Elizabeth’s Government. Perhaps his most powerful ally was Francis Russell, the second Earl of Bedford. He corresponded regularly with William Cecil, Lord Burghley. And in 1593 he is recorded as making a speech before the Queen when introducing the Lord Mayor of London to Court. Drewe’s correspondence with the Privy Council typically revolved around interrogations of suspects such as Jesuit spies, often in the Tower of London, and he became an important part of the security apparatus first set-up by Francis Walsingham. One case involved the hapless Yorke and Williams, who, “when confronted together, Yorke swore that they took the sacrament to kill the Queen, and that Williams had wished his sword in her belly.”[4] By 1593 Drewe held the prestigious parliamentary seat of the City of London, and in 1596 he was made a Queen’s Serjeant, and a judge on the Northern circuit. He died suddenly, of ‘gaol fever’, in 1598.
Drewe’s central role in the legal apparatus of the Government helps confirm an attribution to George Gower as the artist of this portrait. Gower had been appointed, in 1581, as the Queen’s Serjeant Painter. In 1584 an attempt was made to make Gower solely responsible for portraits of the Queen, a move that reinforced the government’s wish to maintain control of the Queen’s image. Some twenty years earlier, the Privy Council, at the Queen’s behest, had also attempted a similar measure in reaction to the increasing number of debased images of Elizabeth in circulation. And in 1596, the Privy Council ordered that public officers should aid Gower in seeking out and destroying those unofficial images which caused the Queen “great offence”[5].
The Council’s failure, and that of Gower in the 1580s, is belied by the profusion of awkward and unsatisfactory images of the Queen which survive to this day. Nevertheless, a man of Drewe’s public position would have been the most unlikely person to either commission or own in the 1580s and 90s a portrait of the Queen that did not come from the Serjeant Painter’s ‘official’ workshop. Furthermore, in 1593 Drewe made a speech in Parliament against foreign workers in London, advocating support for “our countrymen” over charity to “strangers”, which sentiments would appear to rule out his patronage of any Flemish or Italian artist.[6] Finally, it may also be worth noting the connection between Drewe and the Bedford family, who commissioned the Armada portrait from Gower in 1588.
The Queen’s jewelry is worth noting here, and may assist in the precise dating of this portrait. Here, the jewelry worn by the Queen (aside from that embroidered into her costume) is surprisingly simple – only a double row of pearls. This is identical to the jewelry worn in the Darnley portrait dated c.1575, as is the chain of pearls and jewels around her waist. And such a combination can again be found in other portraits by Gower of the 1580s, Cornelius Ketel’s ‘Sieve’ portrait c.1580-3, and Marcus Gheerearts the Elder’s c.1585 full length. Furthermore, the lack of certain jewelry again suggests a date in the 1580s, for when Leicester died in 1588 he bequeathed to his 2most dear and gracious Sovereign whose creature under God I have been”[7] an extraordinarily large and elaborate jewel of emeralds, with a rope of 600 pearls. Elizabeth, who locked herself in her room on hearing Leicester’s demise, is shown wearing his gift in the Armada portraits of post c.1588, and other later variants – but not here.
Notes;
[1] Zuccaro had traveled to England apparently at the behest of Lord Leicester. Though some have assumed his purpose was to paint the Queen, it is possible that he had been summoned by Leicester to decorate the interior of Kenilworth Castle (now ruined), before the Queen was due to stay there in July 1575. The exquisite chalk and pencil drawing of the Queen by Zuccaro survives (British Museum), along with a pendant of Leicester. However, there seems little connection between the drawing, either in likeness or style, to the ‘Darnley’ portrait in the NPG.
[2] Strong, loc.cit., p16
[3] Letter from Privy Council to Drewe 27th December 1588, in Acts of the Privy Council of England 1588. Official Publications 1897 Vol XVI
[4] Calendar of State Papers (Domestic) Elizabeth I, 1591-94, August 28th 1594
[5] Strong, loc.cit., p14
[6] Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, citing House of Commons Journal
[7] In Public and Private, Elizabeth I and her world, Susan Watkins, London 1998
Phillip Mould:
This painting of the young Queen dating to c.1558 is ‘undoubtedly the earliest portrait of the Queen after her accession’1. It is remarkable in the simplicity of its conception, and offers a surprising and refreshing alternative glimpse of Elizabeth the woman in comparison with the more familiar, later portraits, in which the individual is obscured and then entirely overwhelmed in a profusion of emblematic and allegorical representation. In the assessment of Malcolm Rogers ‘it is by far the most ambitious and the only one at three-quarter length and showing her hands (which were much admired by contemporaries).’2 Rogers also notes the painting’s superb condition, and the ‘considerable refinement and delicacy of touch’3 evident in the execution. Sir Roy Strong agrees that ‘this very early image, the Clopton portrait is by far the largest and most complete.’4
Survivals of this early pattern are rare, and the present example is unique in showing the Queen at three-quarter length. The few other examples, such as that in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery (NPG 4449), formerly at Northwick Park, show the Queen only at bust-length, and are noticeably more wooden in execution. NPG 4449 reduces the composition to a mere head emerging from an ermine collar, and the Queen’s jewellery is treated in a cursory and schematic manner. Considering the NPG portrait it is easy to understand why Elizabeth was forced in 1563 to issue a proclamation banning the further reproduction of her portrait until she had sat for a new model.
The authority of the Clopton portrait is apparent in the meticulous painting of the Queen’s ruff and cuffs, and the highly realistic depiction of her ermine collar. The painting of the face is in the tradition of English mid-sixteenth portraiture with its hard, delicate rendition of eyes, nose and mouth, but the painter has modelled the face to suggest real presence and animation which elevate it above the ranks of the increasingly mechanical and mask-like reproductions. Perhaps the most telling detail, however, which confirms the status of this portrait is the drawing of the large, square-cut jewel that the Queen wears from the double chain around her neck. This is simplified to its bare outline in NPG 4449, and the male and female figures that flank the cartouche have been misunderstood as mannerist curlicues. Throughout her reign, as her portraiture amply demonstrates, Queen Elizabeth’s jewellery was a vastly important facet of her magnificence. Numerous pieces of emblematic jewellery were worn by her, and given and exchanged between her and favourite courtiers, some of which, such as ‘The Ship Jewel’ in the Victoria and Albert Museum, survive to give a taste of their luxury. Little survives, as it was swiftly dispersed by her successors, James I and Charles I. The Clopton portrait is an important record of what must have been one of the Queen’s favourite and oldest jewels, the jewel known as ‘The Mirror of France’ which had belonged to King Henry VIII her father. The large pendant is represented so exactly that it can be recognised in at least three later portraits. She wears it from a chain around her neck in an anonymous panel portrait dated by Strong to c.1568 and again in the later Portrait of Queen Elizabeth in Robes of State c.1585 – 90 (collection of Lord Tollemache, Helmingham Hall). It is also recognisable in the famous ‘Sieve portrait’ (Marquess of Salisbury, Hatfield House).
This portrait was in the collection of the Rev F. H. Hodgson at Clopton House in Warwickshire, where it hung with portraits of the Clopton family, remaining after the sale of Clopton House in 1930 with Hodgson’s heirs until the 1980s. The Cloptons had been a family of considerable importance in Stratford on Avon, and members of the family had been benefactors and chief citizens of the town since the early middle ages. During the reign of Elizabeth they lived both at Clopton House just outside the town and at New Place, a large gabled building set around three courtyards next to the Guild Chapel built by their ancestor Sir Hugh Clopton, Lord Mayor of London in 1492. This house, where the present portrait may well have hung during their occupancy, was sold to another of Stratford’s prominent citizens in 1597, William Shakespeare, for the considerable sum of £120. Shakespeare would have had frequent dealings with the Cloptons, since he and they were the town’s richest inhabitants and chief landowners in the country nearby. The history of the Cloptons even influenced one of Shakespeare’s plays, since the story of Charlotte Clopton who was hastily interred alive in the Clopton vault during a sixteenth century outbreak of plague, is considered to be the source of the death of Juliet in Romeo and Juliet.
1. Private correspondence with Malcolm Rogers, then Deputy Director of the National Portrait Gallery London August 3rd 1992
2. ibid.
3. ibid.
4. Private correspondence with Sir Roy Strong July 27th 1991
Phillip Mould: "This portrait, previously unknown, is one of only a handful of images that show Elizabeth I at the outset of her reign in 1558. She is shown in a simple black costume with an ermine trim, and holds a pair of gloves in one hand and a prayer book in the other. The portrait is surprisingly un-regal, and were it not for the well established dating of this portrait type, one might find it hard to believe that this austere looking young woman had just acceded to the throne of England. After all, the best known portraits of Elizabeth present her as the ‘Gloriana’ figure so well known to history; an ageless symbol of a nation, immersed in jewels and rich costume.
However, despite its austerity, the present portrait would have had a clearly defined purpose at the time of its commission. We cannot be entirely certain as to what exactly this was, but it must, given the ‘props’ seen in the picture, have centered on religion. Under Elizabeth’s sister Mary, England had undergone a forced programme of religious change designed to return the country to the Catholic fold after the Reformation introduced by Henry VIII and continued Edward VI. The key question at Elizabeth’s accession in 1558 was which religious direction she would chose to take the country towards. It has been argued, therefore, that these early portraits of Elizabeth attempted to portray the new Queen as committed to spreading the English vernacular, and thus continuing the work of Henry and Edward. In this case, the royal coat of arms on the book in the present portrait could allude to the Book of Common Prayer first made available in English under Edward in 1549.
One could equally argue that the picture’s message is one of religious conviction in general, and simply attests to Elizabeth’s seriousness of purpose. There was also the question of Elizabeth’s sex to address, for Mary had unfortunately set a bad precedent as England’s first queen regnant, and 1558 saw the publication of John Knox’s infamous 'First Blast of the Trumpet Against The Monstrous Regiment of Women’.
Elizabeth, therefore, had little choice but to present herself as a pious, solemn monarch. It would have been entirely appropriate that the first images of Elizabeth as Queen presented her as solemnly dressed and holding a religious book
in an obvious display of her piety. But this could be the limit of any religious interpretation. There was little appetite for the extreme religious changes Edward or Mary had tried to introduce, and the prospect of the religious pendulum again swinging violently from one extreme to the other was widely feared. Elizabeth’s religious settlement in 1558-9 was swift but relatively conservative.
In any case, it is clear even in these early images that Elizabeth understood the power of portraiture. Like all the Tudors, she knew well the value of making her subjects aware of her identity, and the context in which it was projected. Her grandfather, Henry VII, was the first monarch to put his own accurate portrait on the English coinage, while her father, Henry VIII, seized on Holbein’s ability to present himself as a strong and majestic ruler in numerous official portraits. As can be seen throughout her reign, Elizabeth repeatedly mobilised her own image as a symbol of royal authority in a conscious demonstration that, despite being a woman, she was the natural and legitimate ruler of England. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of these early portraits, however, is their presentation of Elizabeth the woman, rather than Elizabeth the symbol.
The present portrait is one of only a handful of certainly known versions of this likeness. This portrait type has come to be known as the ‘Clopton’ type, after the previous location at Clopton Hall of the largest of the four examples. The other versions are a small head in the National Portrait Gallery, the present version, and two other similar, though not certainly dated, examples; one sold at Sotheby’s in 1996, and another at the Guildhall, Thetford. Dendrochronoligical analysis of the present example gives an earliest possible felling date for the oak panels as 1535, and a most plausible creation date of 1552 upwards.
Recent further analysis and conservation suggests strongly that this is the earliest example of its type, and occupies a key place in the genesis of these early Elizabethan images. X-ray and infra-red examination has revealed another complete portrait of Elizabeth underneath the present picture, in which she is seen looking directly at the viewer. The costume appears to be more flamboyant, with a larger ruff and elaborate sleeves. Elizabeth’s hands are differently placed,
and there is no book. The picture bears a close resemblance to what must now be considered an earlier likeness of Elizabeth, probably painted before she became Queen, an example of which can be found at Hever Castle in Kent. Another, more flattering example of this ‘face-on’ type can be seen in the ‘Coronation Portrait’ of Elizabeth in the National Portrait Gallery, a picture thought to be a later copy c.1600 of a lost original, but which, in the opinion of the present author, may well be a contemporary portrait, albeit much over-painted.
For whatever reason, the earlier ‘face-on’ portrait type may have been judged improper shortly after Elizabeth’s accession, and a desire must have been expressed for a more formal and becoming image of the new Queen in keeping with the new religious settlement. The result is an early example of a political makeover; the prayer book was added, and the costume reduced. (The process was not new; in Mary’s reign precisely the opposite process had been applied to a portrait of Henry VIII in which an English Bible had been over-painted, on Bishop Gardiner’s orders, with a pair of gloves.) The other versions were therefore possibly worked up from the present example. The change in the angle of Elizabeth’s face is also interesting, and implies an aesthetic alteration. Almost all Elizabeth’s portraits after this date show Elizabeth’s face at a slight angle away from the viewer. Was the initial, face-on portrait, of the type begun by Henry VIII and Holbein, deemed too unflattering for, or by the Queen?"
Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud ben Mohammed Anoun (1558-?) was principal secretary to the Moroccan ruler "Muly Hamet" (Mulai Ahmad al-Mansur), and ambassador to the court of Queen Elizabeth I of England in 1600, to promote the establishment of an Anglo-Moroccan alliance.
The visit of Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud followed the sailing of The Lion in 1551, and the 1585 establishment of the English Barbary Company, which had the objective of developing trade between England and Morocco.Vaughan, p.57 Diplomatic relations and an alliance were established between Elizabeth and the Barbary states.
The last years of the 16th century saw major English successes against Spain, with the English victory against the Spanish Armada in 1588, and the Capture of Cadiz by the Earl of Essex in 1597, and also Moroccan successes against Spain at the Battle of Alcazar in 1578. Emboldened by these successes, Muly Hamet decided to send an embassy to propose a joint invasion of Spain. Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud was accompanied by al Hage Messa and al Hage Bahanet, as well as an interpreter named Abd el-Dodar, an Andalusian by birth, under cover of a trade mission to Aleppo with a stopover in London.Nicoll, p.91 Altogether, the embassy numbered 16 (including some prisoners being returned to England), and sailed onboard The Eagle under Robert Kitchen. He reached Dover on 8 August, 1600.
Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud spent 6 months at the court of Elizabeth, at the age of 42, in order to negotiate an alliance against Spain. Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud spoke some Spanish, but he communicated to the queen through his interpreter who spoke in Italian. They met with the queen on August 19,Nicoll, p92 and again on September 10.
The Moroccan ruler wanted the help of an English fleet to invade Spain, Elizabeth refused, but welcomed the embassy as a sign of insurance, and instead accepted to establish commercial agreements.Vaughan, p.57 Queen Elizabeth and King Hamet continued to discuss various plans for combined military operations, with Elizabeth requesting a payment of 100,000 pounds in advance to King Hamet for the supply of a fleet, and Hamet asking for a tall ship to be sent to get the money. Discussions however remained inconclusive, and both rulers died within two years of the embassy.
The painting of Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud is visible at the Shakespeare Institute at Stratford-upon-Avon.
It has been suggested that the figure of Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud may have inspired the character of Shakespeare's Moorish hero Othello.
The sitter may be Elizabeth I's maid of honour, Helena Snakenborg, who became a powerful figure at court. In 1565 she had visited England with the Swedish princess Cecilia, remaining there as the fiancée of the elderly Marquis of Northampton, whom she was to marry in 1571. The carnation behind her ear may be a symbol of her betrothal. The Marquis was the elderly brother of Queen Katherine Parr. Helena was his third and final wife.
Elizabeth Wriothesley (née Vernon), Countess of Southampton 11 January 1572 – 23 November 1655) was the chief lady-in-waiting to Elizabeth I of England.
She was born in Hodnet, Shropshire, England to John Vernon of Hodnet and Elizabeth Devereux. By her mother, Elizabeth was the great-granddaughter of Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, and also of Walter Devereux, 1st Viscount Hereford, and a great-great-granddaughter of Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset and his wife Cecily Bonville. By her father, Elizabeth was the descendant of John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, William de Ros, 7th Baron de Ros, and the Barons Touchet.
On August 30, 1597 Elizabeth married Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton. The marriage occurred after Elizabeth discovered she was pregnant. Upon discovering this, the Queen had both Elizabeth and her husband locked in Fleet Prison and, after their release, were never again received into her favour.
Elizabeth and Henry had several children, including:
1. Lady Penelope Wriothesley (November 18, 1598 – July 16, 1667) who married William Spencer, 2nd Baron Spencer.
2. Lady Anne Wriothesley 1600 who married Robert Wallop of Farley Wallop.
3. Thomas Wriothesley (March 10, 1607 – May 16, 1667) who became the 4th Earl of Southampton and married Rachel de Massue, daughter of Daniel de Massue, Seigneur de Ruvigny
Lady Mary FitzAlan, Duchess of Norfolk, was the daughter of Henry FitzAlan, 19th Earl of Arundel and his first wife Lady Catherine Grey. Because her only brother had predeceased her, she was the heir to the earldom of her father.
She was the first wife of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, whom she married in 1556. They had one son, Philip Howard, 20th Earl of Arundel, born the following year. Mary died eight weeks after the birth of Philip, and she was buried in Fitzalan Chapel in Arundel. Upon the death of her father in 1580, the earldom of Arundel passed to his grandson Philip.
In 1563 Elizabeth I granted Kenilworth to her childhood friend, and probably her one true love, Robert Dudley, soon to be Earl of Leicester. When he died in 1588 she wrote "His last letter" on his final message to her and kept it in a treasure box next to her bed until she herself died 14 years later.
The Queen made four royal 'progresses' to Kenilworth, and Dudley spared no expense in attempting to impress and woo her.
The Queen's Privy Garden, intended for her use only, was created for her last and most famous visit of 1575 when she stayed for an unprecedented 19 days of lavish festivities.
Long lost, it was recreated in 2009, partly from archaeological evidence, but mostly from a remarkably detailed eye-witness account of its appearance, written by Robert Langham, an official who had sneaked into the garden one day while the queen was hunting.
The garden was only part of the changes Dudley made to Kenilworth to impress the Queen during her visits.
Beyond is the square bulk of Leicester's new gatehouse of 1571. It created a new entrance to the castle which gave access to his newly enclosed hunting park of some 800 acres that was reached via an impressive 600 ft (183 metres) bridge over a branch of the lake. He embellished the park with more walkways, arbours, seats and bowers, but most impressive of all, built what became known as Leicester's Building, a lavish 'state of the art' small country house, built as a wing of the castle in the latest Tudor style purely for the use of the Queen.
This newly identified portrait is thoroughly discussed at www.somegreymatter.com/haringtonportrait.htm.