An allegorical oil-on-panel portrait of Elizabeth I, circa 1588, formerly attributed to George Gower and now catalogued as by an unknown English artist. Elizabeth is shown surrounded by symbols of royal majesty, with scenes behind her of English fireships attacking the Spanish Armada and the fleet wrecked on a stormy coast, marking the 1588 victory. Her hand rests on a globe, fingers covering the Americas, signalling England's claim to command of the seas. Three versions survive: the primary version at Woburn Abbey, a cut-down version at the National Portrait Gallery, London, and the "Drake" version at the Queen's House, Royal Museums Greenwich. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Subject Matter
Devotional FunctionSourced to the subject's own accountThe portrait functioned as state image-making rather than as a private likeness: full length allegorical portraits of this scale and cost were made to be displayed to visiting ambassadors and the political elite, circulating a chosen image of providential victory and command of the seas that the queen's government wanted foreign courts and her own nobility to carry away with them. 1 Classification
Object TypeSourced to the subject's own account Medium (class)Sourced to the subject's own account Connections
Belongs to Tradition
Derived: this work depicts a figure already recorded as belonging to this tradition; the work-to-tradition link is inferred from that live depicts edge and the figures own attested tradition affiliation, not independently sourced beyond it.
Depicts
The portrait's sole subject, one of the best known images of Elizabeth I.
Source Armada Portrait (Wikipedia)
Originated In
Source Armada Portrait (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Armada Portrait (Wikipedia)
Wikipedialead sentence
The Armada Portrait of Elizabeth I of England is the name of any of three surviving versions of an allegorical panel painting depicting the Tudor queen surrounded by symbols of royal majesty against a backdrop representing the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588.
catalogue record, medium/object-type description
An allegorical oil-on-panel portrait of Elizabeth I, circa 1588, formerly attributed to George Gower and now catalogued as by an unknown English artist.
- In Group: Royal and State Portraits, lead image caption identifies the sitter as Elizabeth I in state dress
Originated In: England, Lead
The Armada Portrait of Elizabeth I of England
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