The Ruthless Portraits of Elizabeth I’s Reign
An exhibition in London traces how depictions of the monarch projected an image of authority, power, wealth, and the right to be regarded as a god in all but name.
LONDON — I emerge from a cab to a drizzly morning in Pall Mall, London’s elite Clubland. The neoclassical Oxford and Cambridge Club is at my back as I prepare to cross the road to Philip Mould Gallery, dealer in Old Masters (and some younger ones).
The generous basement gallery, housing an exhibition of paintings of Elizabeth I and her scheming courtly entourage, is a curious place. Its walls are covered in hessian cloth that looks almost warm, a plum color that one staffer, Libby Mould, tells me suits every kind of painting and spares the gallery from having to repaint the walls after each show. I come face to face with four paintings of Elizabeth I, ranging in age from fairly young to older and attributed to the English School. They generally hide away in private collections, so most are not widely seen or known.
The primary concern of Elizabeth I: Queen & Court is the careful crafting of a royal’s image, and how influential the dissemination of that image can be. It takes us from representation on the warts-and-all end of the spectrum to a kind of self-presentation which speaks of elevation, authority, power, wealth, and the right to be regarded as a god in all but name.
