Elizabeth I (1533 - 1603)

artist unknown, 1594 - 95

oil on canvas, 108 x 78.1 cm

Elizabeth reigned from 1558 to 1603. This portrait, which is the only one in oils in which the Queen actually looks old, was, according to the inscription, painted in the thirty seventh year of her reign (which began on 17 November 1594). It may have been the source of portraits which were ordered to be defaced by the Privy Council in 1596. There are copies in the Deanery, Westminster, and King's School, Gloucester.

PROVENANCE Dukes of Buccleuch by 1801

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