The Portrait of Queen Elizabeth I from the Old Master Part I series of a recent Christie’s Auction fetched the price of £907,200, more than 3x the low estimate on July 2. While the live auction did exceptionally well for the respective painting, many other artworks, like The Madonna of the Cherries and Master of Monte Oliveto, raised about the estimated amount.
The Portrait of Queen Elizabeth I, attributed to George Gower, is a 47.4 x 34.6 cm oil-on-panel artwork portraying Queen Elizabeth in bust-length, wearing an embroidered red dress with white chemisette and embroidered ruff, with a jeweled chain and headdress. What makes this artwork important is the fact that this fresh and beautiful portrait of the queen is one of the earliest likenesses from her reign displaying her confidence as she was just thirty-four. According to the technical examinations at the Yale Center for British Art, and a thorough reassessment by Edward Town and Jessica David, this artwork possibly displays a new style of portrait, created following a draft proclamation of 1563. Due to its stylistic affinities, this portrait was attributed to George Gower, the most successful artist who worked in oils at the court of Elizabeth I and one of the chief architects of her iconography.
The artwork further presents an excellent rendering of Elizabeth’s features, headdress, costume, and jewels. When the Conservation Department at the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, did infrared imaging, they found that there was carbon underdrawing around the sitter’s eyes, nose, and ear, but it is still unclear whether the portrait was drawn freehand or from a pattern. There are strokes of dark brown paint delineating Elizabeth’s silhouette and small puffs of fabric on her costume. This similar paint mixture was applied around her facial features to reinforce contours beneath the upper modeling layers. The complete examination by the conservation team is available.
Commonly known as the Hampden portrait type, this artwork was formerly in the collection of the Earl of Buckinghamshire at the Little Hampden Lodge. Though the delineation of the face is mechanical, which is consistent with a tracing made from a template, the hand lines are softer. Further proportions, costume, and palette, have an obvious relationship to the Fonthill portrait.
Being the finest artwork from the 1500s, this painting has a remarkable history and the Christie’s auction has gone wild with its price. Read the entire information about the painting from here.
Resource.
Featured Image: Portrait of Elizabeth I by George Gower; Attributed to George Gower, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Related Reads.
